Philippine Atheists

Every so often, we read about priests or other religious leaders being accused of sexual crimes against children.

Most of these crimes implicating religious leaders take years to uncover, due to the shroud of secrecy around these monsters in sheep’s clothing, plus the fact that the pious community that supports them tend to invoke harsh censures against those who speak against the religious organization and it’s inherent, means that the whole extent of the damage may never be unraveled.

Imagine, then, the colossal extent of a massive cover-up, involving some 102 pedophilic Irish priests, who have been accused of sexually abusing some 350 children over the cause of some 66 years, stretching back to the good old days of World War II.

102 Irish priests suspected of abuse

DUBLIN (AP) — The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Dublin said Wednesday that 102 of its priests are suspected of sexually or physically abusing at least 350 children since 1940 — the biggest such admission to date in Ireland.

The office of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said it was publishing its findings ahead of this month’s expected formation of a government-appointed commission to investigate the history and handling of such abuse in Ireland. This predominantly Catholic nation has been rocked by waves of church sex-abuse scandals since 1994.

The archdiocese said it conducted a two-year review of the personnel files of more than 2,800 priests who have worked in the Dublin archdiocese, either as parish priests or in religious orders, during the past 66 years.

It found that eight priests in Dublin were convicted of abuse, while 32 priests have been sued for damages by 105 victims at a cost to the archdiocese of $7 million. That figure includes about $2 million in legal bills for both sides.

But the report said costs were expected to increase significantly because 40 cases remained unsettled, while church authorities had positively identified at least 350 abuse victims and “a possible further 40 persons who may have been abused but who it is not yet possible to identify or trace.”

Let’s count the scores here for a moment: 66 yrs of wanton sexual abuse on 350 (plus a possible 40 more) abused children, and $7million dollars worth of settlement. No arrests made. Am I the only one crying “foul play” here?

The Catholic Church seems to harbor the opinion that cash payouts seem to be the best means of keeping their priests off prison cells. Coupled with the sheer scale of criminal acts under the shroud of religious hegemony, the fact that there are many other victims out there who have chosen to remain silent, either out of fear of ridicule or pious obligations, these priests who would otherwise have been punished under the full weight of the law get to walk scot-free, free to carry out their despicable acts under a shroud of religious secrecy as dictated by the church.

It is a major act of hypocrisy when the Catholic Church itself keeps ranting against the purported evils of sexual promiscuity, contraception and abortion, when it has failed dramatically to clean up its own backyard of errant, wayward priests.

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