In Belgium, anti-pedophile priest rips 'silence and omissions' of bishops

The interview with Fr. Rik Deville in Belgium reiterates the all too common history that is repeating itself in different locations throughout the world. As a professional who has worked with both sex abusers and their victims, it is clear to me that the issue is more about the environment within the structure of the Church. Oaths, secrecy, and denial are hallmarks of a power obsessed organization. Anything that is not controlled is suspect. The many years of focus of RC moral theology seemed to the average pew person to have been about their sex lives. This continues for the priests who are expected to live as eunuchs without the benefits of physical castration. Is it any wonder pedo/euphebo philia was rotting the internal hierarchy? Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Perhaps all of this is the way the Holy Spirit is working to change things.

"taking care of the poor and the weak, and renouncing the ostentation of earthly power." A good way to apply this principle here in the USA is the following:
A "preferential option for the poor" should be maintained in our Catholic
Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the
poor, the schools should be closed and the resources used for something else
which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a
church primarily for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the
middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close and the resources used for "Confraternity of Christian Doctrine" and other programs which can
be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic
Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The essential
factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely,
THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the
poor come first. (William Horan -- w.horan@comcast.net.)

European CIVIL LAW is finally stepping in to correct the failings of CANON LAW at long last...

How long till America follows suit?

The stones and the children cry out for justice!

They should make this guy pope!

"Progress isn’t talked about anymore, of putting an end to celibacy, for example, or ordaining women priests."

Sadly that would not be progress at all.

"Deplorable" said the infallible. It will be interesting to see what the Vatican has to say if the Belgian police raids have uncovered more serious wrongdoing by senior Church leaders. Additional egg on the face of the Vatican is a likely outcome.

This guy sounded great until that comment on womenypriests.
Just another heretic.
Cant we have any anti-pedophile priests who are completely Catholic.?

"Progress isn’t talked about anymore, of putting an end to celibacy, for example, or ordaining women priests."

Huh? What planet does this guy live on? The Belgian bishops he is criticizing are precisely among those who have been most eager to talk of "progress."

Cardinal Danneels, who apparently has been accused of covering up the crimes of his good friend Mgr. Vangheluwe, is widely considered a 'liberal' well-known to be a supporter of condoms for combating HIV, female leadership in the Church (he employed women in prominent administrative positions himself), de-centralization and limits to Papal authority. According to people I have spoken to who have intimate knowledge of the Church in Belgium, many of the other Belgian bishops are on the same page as him.

This scandal has nothing to do with 'conservatism' in the Belgian Church. Quite the contrary, it implicates its liberal establishment.

Canon Law is a parallel system and does not exclude or pre-empt the criminal jurisdiction of the civil authorities.

Nor is there anything defective about Canon Law so far as concerns sex abuse. The government-appointed Murphy Commission in Ireland concluded that the Church in Ireland failed precisely because diocesan authorities circumvented (or ignored) Canon Law and attempted to deal with deviant priests "pastorally".

As a Belgian Catholic I've heard a lot more from Fr. Devillé. For quite some time now he keeps shoutong that he has contacted the archbischop and thet other perople involved in higher places. Only, nobody can remember him ever telling them something that severe. And his famous number of claims made by people directly to him have never been passed on to the ministry of justice. In fact, there isn't even a single proof that the alleged files actually exist. For all his talking, and Devillé has been talking quite a lot for quite some time now in the belgian press and even published two books about it an dappearing in the media as much as possible, he has never provided a single peace of evidence to strengthen his claims.

But what most foreign journalists and readers don't know is that Fr. Devillé is not specifically on a crusade against pedophilia in the Church, but on a crusade against the Church as it is in Belgium. After losing his parish he has apparently become and embittered man and tries to sell his message of less institute, more power to the laymen and -women. While the Church in Belgium is already struggling with a shortage of priests Fr Devillé's antics would push it into some sort of pseudo-protestant movement.
Not quite the white knight he's made out to be in this article.

Wake up US Catholics. It's worldwide. Bishops are bishops wherever they are. Protecting their domaine. Not until the Justice department and the FBI start investigating the Catholic Church (Bishops) will the healing begin.

I think Reformation-Countries are infinitely advanced on those Catholic countries that have never reformed their Church.
If you compare Ireland with Belgium you will find that the entire Irish government and way of life is controlled and directed by the clergy. When the Dublin pedophiles were most wanted, the sickly Republic was more or lest told where to go and what to do -- the Chruch authorities simply would not yield up the files. They were the propery of the Vatican. And eventually they were only volunteered in the church's time and as a ploy to the process of winning back a rather slow and retarded secular public. Indeed, the Jesuits, who run the colleges and the city schools, managed to bury reports from the 1930s and at the same time attend and monitor two PENAL COMMISSIONS and never reveal the hidden files...

When you belong to a society like that, then you know that the Beligan way is far better. . . It doesn't negotiate justice with a foreign body or an internally corrosive body: it has the possibility of doing justice in an even-handed way. As between Criminal Law and Cannon Law, every Irish person knows that Cannon Law rules!

Why else would the Irish taxpayer pay for the damages accruing to a pedophile clergy!

Seamus Breathnach

www.irish-criminology.com

Thank you, John, for this informative background piece. It surely was not coincidental that Belgian police struck as all of the nation's bishops were together in a monthly conference. Nor a spur of the moment decision to take away the bishops' cell phones and detain them like suspects for nine hours. Was the search of the tombs of Cardinals van Roey and Suenens for "documents", bizarre as it was, based on a tip from a knowledgeable insider? Are there more surprises to come?

One of the results of the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the Vatican's appeal regarding the Oregon case could well be a legal re-examination of the relationship between the Vatican, the bishops, and priests. If the Vatican is to be treated just like any other organiztion that would make it subject to the RICO Act. This could lead to the siezure of Church property and criminal trials for Cardinal Mahoney and others.

One of the results of the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the Vatican's appeal regarding the Oregon case could well be a legal re-examination of the relationship between the Vatican, the bishops, and priests. If the Vatican is to be treated just like any other organiztion that would make it subject to the RICO Act. This could lead to the siezure of Church property and criminal trials for Cardinal Mahoney and others.

I have followed this issue as it is a heartbreaking one and one that touches upon something else: genocide. In many counrties, including U.S.A, Canada, and Australia the Church run residential schools to "educate" the Aboriginals, where little more than pedophile playgrounds whereing hundreds were sexually abused,as well as physically,mentally,emotionally abused.To a large extent the true nature of this abuse(including selling children to be used in so called "scientific" experiments)has never been fully acknowledged.Mass graves are currently being uncovered in Canada and eye-witnesses report infanticide of babies born to young females raped by priests.
Nuns, shamefull as it is to consider, were also known to pleaure themselves with young boys, forcing them to sit on a chair and sitting on the penis and similar such things. Some boys were so terrified of this as to hide under beds. Unfortunately this did not die out in the 1800's but continued right up until the present moment. There was and is a widespread pattern of floating problem priests from urban areas to remote and rural or Indigenouse areas, thus allowing them to abuse Native kids "out of sight". No pedophile priests or pedophile priest enablers, zero tolerance, and outside prosecution is the answer to restoring the Church to it's first wholesome mission, that of teaching good things regarding Christ. When it gets cleaned up a lot of us might just be inclined to believe as there is also good in the Church. Until then, we see a rotting corruption of perverts who are bringing the Church down from WITHIN.

"It looks to the past, to a power that’s rotting. Progress isn’t talked about anymore, of putting an end to celibacy, for example, or ordaining women priests."

I was nodding in (increasingly indignant) agreement through the interview until this point - and then he lost me.

Fr. DeVille is seriously deluding himself if he thinks ordaining women or married men (beyond the exceptions now permitted) will solve this problem. We have only to look at sexual misconduct rampant among many Protestant and Orthodox clerics, or among public schoolteachers, to know that sexual misconduct isn't so narrowly limited.

Now, if he means to say that the priesthood has been excessively...well, dominated by men who are same-sex attracted (and active in responding to it) - and that altering criteria for admission to it would reduce this phenomenon, that would be a different argument. But I don't think he's making that argument.

What is needed is an emphasis on sound doctrine and more rigorous screening of seminary candidates - something that was lacking in many western seminaries until recently.

What is most striking, actually, is how what has happened in Belgium is such a resounding indictment of the entire regime of Cardinal Daneels - arguably the most "progressive" metropolitan prelate in the entire world. I am curious how Fr. DeVille reconciles these seeming contradictions.

re: "If the Vatican is to be treated just like any other organiztion that would make it subject to the RICO Act."

The RICO Act would not be applicable. That has do do with extortion, and no one has accused church leaders of that.

The point is that the Vatican is ALSO a sovereign state, not just an organization.

12 Apostletts?? Go Luther??

Where in scripture does it say that Jesus PASSED ON HIS AUTHORITY TO 12 Women? Nowhere. Where in scripture does it say that Jesus inserted a side note that says, UPON THIS ROCK I BUILD MY CHURCH, but if any of you decide to protest (as a Luther or Calvin), then go your own way and split the brethren for generations to come? It doesn't. Now some priests and religious are doing it from within. Where in scripture does it say that Jesus told any of his apostles, COME WITH ME and procreate or bring your family for multiple vocations while you care for the laity, your 2 babes, 3 youngsters, and 3 testy teens...and your wife; and while you're at it, advance your studies in philosophy, theology, in the midst of adoring ME and MY FATHER with the heip of the ADVOCATE? Not in our bible. Celebacy is a gift and a virtue which also makes sense on a practical level for priestly duties. And furthermore, celebacy is not the cause of homosexual activity or sexual abuse.

And what level of faith and knowledge does one implicate when one states that Christ's Church is slowly reaching its end because we are down on works of mercy? (The stats on charity probably show the opposite; and only God knows the day and the hour of the end.)

I am appauled at the heresy that comes out of the mouths of priests and religious who push a doctrine contrary to the Magesterium who are well educated and blessed by Jesus. Just because a priest or religious disagrees, doesn't understand the reason or rationale, is depleted of grace, has poor formation, or is in sin like Paul was with scales on the eyes does not justify a persuasion contrary to doctrine or the scripture. Instead of "thinking in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus," we are to be aware of those who "deceive the hearts of the innocent" (Romans) Confusion can ensue in the hearts of many laity with poor catechisis or who are in sin. Scripture says that priests~ teachers of the faith will have the highest accountability to God. Knowing this, one would think that renegade thinkers would be detered from heresy. This makes me wonder if they realize that their example shows where the devil and his principalities have slithered into the detail of their progressive dialogue.