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 Carpenters In The Forehead/ Child Sexual Abuse: Again, Again, Again, Ad Nauseum:
“Former local priest charged with child abuse” is the headline from a recent edition of the Times-News.
Some readers may have the urge to express the feeling of “Oh my God, there he goes again; ranting about Catholic priests who have sexually abused children.”
Every time that there is another reminder of abuse surfacing its ugly head means that I will express once again my anger and pure disgust at the hypocritical, self-proclaimed righteous institution of the Catholic Church. This is an organization that has been shown to be a passive participant in allowing perverted priests to roam the countryside in search of innocent children. To prey upon them under the guise of God, all the while scheming debauchery. And this time it’s in our own backyard.
If ever there was an absolute truth, it is thus: taking advantage of children and sexually abusing them is a corruption of the soul and the epitome of evil. There can be no wavering or disagreement in the condemnation of such behavior.
Equally evil is the complicity of the Catholic Church hierarchy in allowing such depravity to continue when they are fully aware of what is going on. How dare those accomplices open their mouths and try to tell anyone anything about morals? It is proclaimed in a scream of outrage: they share the guilt with those who engaged in the heinous, despicable deeds. My response to the Catholic Church is, “Go straight to Hell for the duration of all time.”
This time we have been made aware of allegations of abuse by two who have been local priests, Thomas Beven and John Wielebski. Both have denied the accusations, yet the Archdiocese of Baltimore has reported that there is credible evidence to warrant their arrests and dismissals.
It is incumbent, however, for the Archdiocese to come clean and confess, you might say, and to reveal any and all credible evidence. In other words, full disclosure as to what they know and when they knew it. Furthermore, it would be a mockery of justice to withhold documents or to delay in providing them to the public.
Based on knowledge that has come to light from other cases, my bet is that the Archdiocese has had in their possession for many years evidence of their awareness of the hideous crimes, and yet has made the choice to remain silent. This shirking of moral responsibility in the ranks of the Catholic Church and their prior refusals to turn over the loathsome criminals to the judicial system give me substantial justification for believing that the same thing has happened here in Maryland.
Perhaps a deterrent to this evil of being an accomplice to the crime could be accomplished by enacting legislation that would put those who are aware of child abuse and don’t report it in the same jail cell as the perpetrators. But wait a minute; don’t we already have such a law in Maryland and most other states? Of course we do, and it leads me to ask why prosecuting attorneys have not likewise charged the church officials. Why can’t we put some teeth in the law and make the penalty harsh enough that the enablers do jail time? Currently the price for turning a blind, immoral eye is quite variable amongst the states, with some deeming it only a misdemeanor and a paltry fine. A uniform federal law that imposes severe sanctions, including incarceration, would be much more appropriate.
I hold out no hope whatsoever that the Catholic Church will do what is moral and just. They should voluntarily turn over all of the evidence that they have in their possession; evidence that they have likely kept hidden for years on end. They should in no uncertain terms ask for forgiveness for their collusion, and to demonstrate that they recognize the severity of their banal behavior. They need to excommunicate all of those who have been part of the cover-ups, no matter high up they are in the chain of command. And yes, this includes any past or present Pope.
As the saying goes, however, it will be a cold day in Hell before that happens. Repeated and exclaimed once again: the Catholic Church can go to Hell and is admonished to keep their mouths shut as to the preaching of morals on any subject. They have relinquished any right to do so.
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This whole essay amounts to presumption of guilt. A reader has to get to the sixth paragraph before even seeing this comment about the two priests: "Both have denied the accusations..."
Yes, some Catholic priests have been found guilty of child sexual abuse. That doesn't mean that these two are guilty.
I imagine some other clergy, teachers, police officers, clerks, athletes, writers, doctors, etc., etc. have also been found guilty of child sexual abuse. That doesn't mean that everyone in their line of work who is charged with this terrible crime is guilty.
Our legal system does, after all, require a trial before verdict and a verdict before sentencing.
This is a reminder, by the way, that's also much needed by politicians who comment on people accused of terrorism. If we lose the Bill of Rights, which is so trampled upon today, we certainly will miss it when it's gone.
Sincerely,
Mary Meehan
Cumberland, MD
Agreed, not all sexual abusers of children are priests. I would make the contention, however, that if the abuse were made known, the school system, the legal system, the medical system; any system with the exception of the Catholic Church, would do the only thing that is morally correct and report the crimes. They would not knowingly allow the perverted acts to continue under their noses. The Catholic Church owns that morbid distinction, and I will forever condemn them for that behavior.
Being aware of how the Catholic Church hierarchy has behaved in the past, and reading that they believe there is credible evidence of sexual abuse against the two local priests, it is very difficult to believe that they do not have documents that substantiate the allegations. Whether they will obfuscate and try yet again to hide the evidence is another matter altogether.
The crux of my negative comments about the Catholic Church, and my lack of the slightest iota of respect for their institution, is fully warranted based on their previous protection of the abusers. They deserve no diminution of the disgust and disdain heaped upon them.
In fact, if you look at the literature on incest, you'll find that some FAMILY MEMBERS refuse to believe a child who tells them that a parent or other relative is abusing them sexually--or they think the child may be telling the truth, but still refuse to do anything about it. Because they fail to call in the authorities, this horrific crime sometimes goes on for many years in one family.
On the other hand, sometimes there are false charges of child sexual abuse in child-custody disputes and also in criminal cases.
The response to my earlier comment repeats the presumption of guilt in the first App-Ed piece. Was there any effort to reach the two accused priests and give them a chance to defend themselves?
It happens that I've done research on people found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but later exonerated by DNA or other evidence. In some cases, the public--and thus the jury pool--was affected by massive media publicity against the defendants.
False charges of pedophilia can ruin someone's life. They can also lead to murder in prison. Convicts generally share the common human revulsion against child sexual abuse. Some, believing that a very long sentence--even a life sentence--is not enough, appoint themselves as executioners.
Again, we're seeing similar problems with people accused of terrorism. Some Americans are of the "Give him a fair trial before we hang him" school; others don't really care about fairness at all. Many now have no qualms about torture. They are unwilling to confront its deep evil and the way it corrupts everyone it touches.
As I said before, we will miss our old Bill of Rights when it's gone...
Mary Meehan
Cumberland, MD