Pittsburgh Maulers or Priesty Molesters.

Not the glorious USFL version. This is the Pittsburgh Catholic Church version.

Yesterday in Pittsburgh the American Catholic Church suffered another huge blow.
A grand jury report was released detailing thousands of kids were molested by about 300 area Catholic Priests, dating back to the 1940s. This is just in Pennsylvania, where incidents occurred in 54 of the state's 67 counties!

The Post-Gazette had wall-to-wall coverage this morning.
Including the names of most of the priests involved. Many are dead. And many of the cases are too old to prosecute. Shocker: The priests in question were protected by the Diocese and the several bishops.

And SHOCKER II: The diocese and the Church fought to keep the grand jury report from being public.

Grand jury report describes a 'ring of predatory priests' in Pittsburgh in the 1970s

Redacted grand jury report on sexual abuse in Pa. dioceses is released

These Pittsburgh diocese priests were named as having been involved in abuse

Grand jury report: Sexually abusive priests were protected in the Greensburg Diocese

Grand jury report criticizes aspects of Cardinal Wuerl's tenure as Pittsburgh bishop

Dozens of pages shielded from public in grand jury report on sexual abuse in Pa. dioceses


Fuck 'em.
Fuck 'em all.

 

I think that was their rallying cry.

 

WHAT

THE

FUCK

I'm more sure than ever there is no god but I want so badly for hell to be real

 

Fucked up thing is, this doesn’t even include Philadelphia because its archdiocese had its own grand jury report that was nearly this bad by itself a decade ago.

Having grown up Catholic and in Pennsylvania, I’ve lost track of how many of these filthy kid-touchers I came into contact with over the years. It’s a fucking miracle I got out unscathed.

 

After Spotlight, I don’t think anyone should ever be suprised what people in positions of authority can think they can get away with. Especially, when this happens.

Journalism is the best defense for this, and it’s sad that so many in America would rather believe an orange pumpkin.

 

I reviewed the list to see what parishes and priests were involved and if i knew any. None here. The bishop from my area was blasted for shuffling some of these bastards around

 

Not surprised to see Bevilacqua’s name come up again. A lot of the Philly debacle happened under his watch. Now we know he learned his craft of protecting predators during his time in Pittsburgh.

 

I saw some of this last night online. On the one hand, I'm absolutely disgusted. On the other, I'm not at all surprised.

Let me be clear in saying I can't imagine what all these poor children went through. I am sad for them and I am enraged for them. I'm going to write about something else, but I didn't want anybody to think I was being dismissive of them. To be abused by someone they are supposed to trust is a terrible violation and we should all be sickened by it.

That said, I think the damage goes even further.

There was a local priest I got to know a little at my last journalism job. Something always felt a little off, but I wasn't sure. Since I left the business, he was accused of molesting boys at one of his previous stops. The church called it a medical leave, but eventually the rest of the story came to light. Even though I'm not a Christian, I still found the whole thing disturbing and disappointing. I can't imagine how this would feel for a Catholic who actually still has faith, one who still participates in the church. I have close friends who have a strong faith. I just don't know how they do it after reading stories like this. I don't know how they can be part of something infected by this kind of systematic abuse. I don't mean that in judgemental way. I truly wonder how they hold on to their faith while this is going on.

I get that it is unshakable in some people. My best friend is one of them. I've told the story before. He beat cancer as a kid. He was diagnosed with it again about a year ago and beat it again. I think about a good man like him having to go through that fight twice and I want to punch a wall. He thanks G-d for giving him the strength to get through it. I'm not judging. I'm impressed. I'm not wired that way, but I'm glad he is because whatever you believe, there is little question faith did give him the strength to help get him survive.

What disturbs me is that is the kind of faith these monsters are abusing. They are using it, and even after we've seen the stories, it's still happening. They are doing terrible damage to the victims, but on some level, they have to be shaking the faith of at least some of the other members of the church, right?

Sorry for the tangent. I've been away for a long time, but Pittsburgh is still home, so I guess this one gets to me a little more.

 

Was Jerry Sandusky Catholic?

 

Methodist and Republican

 

Michigan bill spurred by Nassar scandal concerns Catholic Church

6 months old but timely

Nassar is Catholic