Catholic clergy bribed accused clerical child molesters to go away

Card. Timothy Dolan

It’s just more of the same (not that it’s any less revolting):

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to sexually abusive priests as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee.

Questioned at the time about the news that one particularly notorious pedophile cleric had been given a “payoff” to leave the priesthood, Cardinal Dolan, then the archbishop, responded that such an inference was “false, preposterous and unjust.”

But a document unearthed during bankruptcy proceedings for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and made public by victims’ advocates reveals that the archdiocese did make such payments to multiple accused priests to encourage them to seek dismissal, thereby allowing the church to remove them from the payroll.

A spokesman for the archdiocese confirmed on Wednesday that payments of as much as $20,000 were made to “a handful” of accused priests “as a motivation” not to contest being defrocked. The process, known as “laicization,” is a formal church juridical procedure that requires Vatican approval, and can take far longer if the priest objects.

I wonder, does any other organization on the planet reward members accused of raping children with cash bribes?

At any rate, that makes two scandalized squawks I’m awaiting from Bill Donohue, especially now that his BFF Dolan is under attack. Actually, I wonder whether he’s ill; it’s been nearly a whole week since Catholic groups were oppressed shown their place in Ontario, Canada and he hasn’t yet said one word about how it’s symptomatic of ever-growing anti-Catholic prejudice and whatnot.

(via Joe. My. God.)

Tags: Timothy Dolan • clerical child abuse • child molestation • Catholic Church • bribery