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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJust when you thought the hypocritical Catholic church could sink no lower they find a way
Meet Green Bay Bishop David Ricken. David Ricken believes he, and every Catholic Bishop has a 1st Amendment right to secretly assign child rapists to pulpits. No really he believes this. http://annfreespirit.over-blog.com/article-us-constitution-allows-bishops-to-transfer-and-conceal-pedophiles-108137785.html
In a stunning motion filed in an Appleton, Wisconsin court the Diocese of Green Bay has argued that bishops and religious officials who operate schools, churches, and youth centers can intentionally conceal and transfer clergy child molesters, even if found guilty of doing so by a jury.
The argument was made by lawyers for Green Bay Bishop David Ricken who are attempting to dismiss a May jury verdict which found the diocese guilty of fraud by intentionally concealing and transferring one of the states most prolific sex offender clerics, Fr. John Patrick Feeney.
Following the logic of the diocese argument, the US Constitution allows a bishop or religious official full civil immunity to secretly assign a cleric to a parish or school to work with children, even if that cleric has or is intending to commit child rape. When a bishop assigns a priest, according to the diocese, that does not mean the bishop believes the priest is safe to be around children.
And any decision a bishop makes about a cleric may not be evaluated or explained by courts because the First Amendment allows religious organizations to essentially do what they want and be accountable to no one.
In other words: According to the bishops of the Catholic Church, American religious liberty is for bishops, not children. The US Constitution does not protect children to freely worship and practice their faith from religious officials who put the protection of sex offender clerics over their safety.
Just read those words and go to the motion itself. Now that was in July, so what is Bishop Ricken doing now? Well here is a link.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/green-bay-bishop-voters-could-put-soul-in-jeopardy-jm7cde2-176052161.html
Bishop David Ricken of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay is urging parishioners to vote against candidates who support abortion or gay marriage.
Ricken recently sent parishioners a letter saying voting for candidates who support what he called "intrinsically evil" positions could "put your own soul in jeopardy."
Ricken's letter said the Catholic Church has a responsibility to speak out on moral issues.
Issues parishioners should keep in mind when voting, the bishop added, also include euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and human cloning.
The bishop's letter did not specify who should get parishioners' votes.
The diocese has 304,000 members in 16 counties.
end of quotes
I am just speechless. He literally claims a right to cover up child rape and has the unmitigated gall to lecture the rest of us on morality. Really?
snacker
(3,619 posts)on many levels...
Divine Discontent
(21,056 posts)Kurovski
(34,655 posts)louis c
(8,652 posts)argiel1234
(390 posts)tax all religious institutions that promote political positions. The catholic church in particular owns billions of dollars in cash assets,etc. tax it all.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)And with the Catholic Church, it's MEN.
bklyncowgirl
(7,960 posts)The Constitution guarentees freedom of religion which means the government cannot interfere with peoples' desire to worship as they choose but it does NOT override laws of the land or make religions exempt from them. you can't just cover up or participate in rape because you are a religion. if the government passed a law that made it a crime to chew gum, you could not do that in church either.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)quinnox
(20,600 posts)not Christianity. (shhh, our President happens to be a Christian)