Never forget, children: priests and bishops are better than the rest of us. They’re holy, good men who follow church teachings and serve God.
Except for the archdiocese of Minneapolis-St Paul, that is.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is facing criminal charges after US officials said church leaders ignored reports that a priest was molesting children.
It’s the archdiocese that’s charged, as a corporation, not people.
Officials alleged that the archdiocese “turned a blind eye” to complaints about priest Curtis Wehmeyer for years.
Wehmeyer, now defrocked, was convicted of molesting two brothers in 2013.
`It is not only Curtis Wehmeyer who is criminally responsible for the harm caused, but it is the archdiocese as well,” said Ramsey County prosecutor John Choi at a news conference on Friday.
“This organization said it protected children when in reality it did not”, said Mr Choi who called the church’s monitoring program for trouble priests “a sham”.
In other words it told lies, in service of protecting itself while leaving children in its care unprotected. How holy.
Lawyers for the victims accused the church leadership of not acting on “numerous and repeated reports of troubling conduct”.
Had clergy acted more quickly, Wehmeyer would not have been able to destroy the evidence that he did.
But they did it all ad maiorem dei gloriam.
H/t Deepak Shetty
Can I drop names? I worked on a Mayoral campaign for Rafael Ortega in St. Paul in 2005, with John Choi. Back before he was famous, you know.
I am very proud of our County Prosecutor for taking this action.
Let me guess; the next move is bankruptcy to shelter the assets. Such moral exemplars!
Hell yes you can drop names. That’s a good one.
Hey, corporations are people too, my friend.
Seriously, that’s unfortunate. The individuals responsible SHOULD be charged.