Ooops, but at least he wasn't gay

The Rev. Daniel McCormack has been
arrested and charged after accusations of abuse.


Arrest of Chicago Priest Raises Questions About Reform

By MONICA DAVEY
Published: February 9, 2006

CHICAGO, Feb. 8 — Last August, a young boy told the police that a Roman Catholic priest had groped him after Mass at St. Agatha Catholic Church, a West Side parish.

Officials at the Chicago Archdiocese were told of the claim by prosecutors, but no criminal charges were brought at the time, and the priest, the Rev. Daniel McCormack, was kept on as pastor at the church and as basketball coach at the parish school.

In recent weeks, Father McCormack was arrested and charged with abusing the boy and two other young boys — at least one of them, the boy's lawyer says, in the months since August. The charges have set off a storm of new concerns that the Roman Catholic Church in America has not done enough to address the problems of sexual abuse by priests despite years of a roiling scandal.

Cardinal Francis George, the head of the Chicago Archdiocese and a leader among America's bishops, has been criticized by parents, victims' advocates and at least one priest for his failure to remove Father McCormack after the accusations in August. And leaders of a national review board, assigned to monitor the church's handling of sexual abuse against children, say the case points to a serious loophole in a charter set down in 2002 by the nation's bishops to deal with sexual abuse by priests.

"Chicago is a stark reminder that this problem has not gone away and that there is a culture that continues to breed this sort of thing," said Jane Chiles, a member of the national review board, a group of Catholic laypeople appointed by the American bishops. "The spirit of the charter was that at the moment an allegation is raised, a priest should be removed from the opportunity for contact from children and youth."

At its meeting next week in Austin, Tex., the board plans to discuss concerns that the current policies leave a loophole that could endanger children, Ms. Chiles said.

The Pope is worried about gays in the church, but it's OK to diddle little kids and feel them up if the guy hides he's a pedo?

Gay men have sex with gay men. Child molesters rape children. Big fucking difference. I would hope Rome would notice that.

posted by Steve @ 1:12:00 AM