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Friday, August 24, 2018

In Response to Faithfully Yours

This is my response to "Faithfully yours" whose comments can be found here.  
First of all, our justice system is good, but it is not perfect.  We have set guilty persons free and incarcerated innocent people.  Although our justice system is not perfect, it is better than the justice systems found in totalitarian governments.  Regarding the case of Father Gordon MacRae, you stated: 
Excerpt from New Hampshire attorney general's report on Father Gordon MacRae
March 3, 2003
The Rev. Gerald MacRae was convicted in 1994 on five sexual assault counts stemming from his abuse of teenage boys while he was stationed at St. Bernard's parish in Keene, N.H., in the 1980s. During those years, MacRae repeatedly molested three brothers whom he first met during an earlier assignment in Marlborough. 
After much research was done on the MacRae case, it was found that Father MacRae was never a pastor in the St. Bernard's parish in Keene, New Hampshire at the time his accusers claimed to be sexually abused.  See the story here.  So, why is he still in prison?  Because our justice system is not perfect and can be just as political as our government.  In fact, the court is part of our government. And our justice system is very very slow.  Do not get me wrong.  Despite its imperfection, I still think our justice system is better than what I have seen in other countries especially in communist countries.  

In a similar situation, an accuser claimed that he was sexually abused by Father Ray Cepeda at the Santa Barbara Church in Dededo for 8 years from 1992-1999.  The problem with this accuser's story is that Father Ray was not a pastor of the Dededo parish until 1997.  

What Sean O'Malley said is true.  The Church decades ago did not care about the little ones.  They did not care to determine what was the truth.  Instead, they found it much easier to move the pastors around. Today, the Church STILL has NOT changed.  Hundreds of alleged victims are coming out claiming rape, sexual abuse, and child molestation by the clergy.  And the Church STILL does not care to determine what is the truth.  Instead, they found it much easier to settle out of court. 

Decades ago, the Church should have investigated what is the truth.  If the Church had done that decades ago, those priests who are found guilty would have been defrocked and punished.  But the Church still has not learned its lesson.  Take the McCarrick  case.  Many seminarians, bishops and priests knew that McCarrick was gay.  They knew about his inappropriate behavior with the ADULT seminarians and priests.  

However, recently a man claimed he was sexually abused by McCarrick when he was a minor at St. Patrick's Cathedral during Christmas Eve.  What is wrong with that picture?  Was McCarrick judged according to that sexual allegation alone?  Or was he judged because he was gay and had a history of sexual misconduct with adult seminarians and priests?  

Likewise, Mark Apuron claimed he was raped by his uncle during a gathering of people in which no one heard or saw anything.  What is wrong with that picture?  Also, two accusers in Australia said they were sexually molested by Cardinal Pell while they were swimming in the pool. The problem with their story is that Cardinal Pell does not know how to swim.  So, what is wrong with that picture?  Or should I say, what is wrong with their story? Father McRae was accused of sexually abusing a minor in a parish where he was never assigned to at the time his accusers claimed to be sexually abused.  In fact, his accusers never even met Father Gordon MacRae. What is wrong with that picture?  Does the Church care to investigate any of these allegations?  No. They found it easier to simply settle out of court.  The Church have not changed one bit nor learned its lesson from the past. And the Church is supposed to stand by and represent the truth.  

The people of Guam have been fooled by the Junglewatch Nation, CCOG, and LFM when they introduced and supported a bill to lift the statutes of limitations.  Even Father Mike Crisostomo came out on K57 supporting the bill.  They claimed that they can rebuild the church, and even gave Boston as their example.  Innocent people in Boston suffered as a result of the lawsuits.  And even after 15 years, allegations of sexual abuse are still coming out in Boston.  Today, the jungle have lost a lot of credibility.  Just look at the jungle blog now.  Hardly anyone makes any comments on it.  CCOG and LFM are silent because more and more people are starting to question these allegations.  

There is an anti-Catholic movement out there whose agenda is to destroy the Catholic Church, and this movement have used some of our Catholic brothers and sisters (including our priests and bishops) as instruments to bring down the Church.  

Yes, we pray for genuine victims who have been sexually abused by the clergy.  However, money is NOT going to heal these victims.  We also need to pray for the clergy and the entire Church as well because they are also suffering.  

9 comments:

  1. Diana, the jungle can't take responsibility for what they've done. They are blaming the many lawsuits that are coming out on Apuron, Tenorio, Edivaldo, and Adrian. This is from Janet B.:

    So Adrian/Tenorio/Egivaldo are really responsible for the lawsuits we have today.
    If Byrnes were here 3 years ago, we would have had hope and healing to compensate victims, but no attorney fees.

    http://www.junglewatch.info/2018/07/running-amok-and-doing-whatever-they.html?showComment=1533050810740#c1876598595897266873

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    Replies
    1. Dear Jane Doe,

      No attorney fees? Someone should remind Janet B. that it was Tim Rohr who got Attorney David Lujan to represent the alleged victims.

      Delete
  2. SNAP is one of those organizations out to destroy the Catholic Church.

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  3. It’s sad that children were hurt. 😭☹️ Rather than investigating the complaints, bishops turned a blind eye. But the bishops are still turning a blind eye by not properly investigating these allegations. The lure of money is very strong.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Diana re your "Just look at the jungle blog now. Hardly anyone makes any comments on it. "

    I think the major reason why there are less comments on the junglewatch is that one can't remain anonymous anymore. Anyways, that is why I don't comment there anymore. My view - Junglewatch is not all bad, and, your blog is not all good.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 3:17 am,

      You are incorrect. Below is an anonymous comment in the jungle that was published just last week. As I said, the jungle lost a lot of credibility when the Founder of JungleWatch was accused of child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, and wife beating.

      AnonymousAugust 18, 2018 at 3:34 AM
      Paedophiles and perverts can operate within the Church and the NCW and can rely on good, holy catholics, scrupulous priests and clergy to cry "do not bring the church in to disrepute!" This is a diabolical deception! Now is the time to get real. Disrepute has been brought into the church by SIN. Purification of the Church and offering mercy to all involved means naming and shaming and bringing to justice all complicit in these crimes. Well done Tim and JW.

      http://www.junglewatch.info/2018/08/post-apuron-raped-student-on-weekends.html?showComment=1534527256954#c5436086814685076309

      Delete
  5. There is a deeper battle going on here in Guam in the spiritual sense...satan seems to be inching towards victory over the souls of some who use thier positions of influence on the island to do the "father of lie's" own will. The archangles continue to battle since the begining to this day. The angels here on Guam continue to deliver the good news of the Lord. The victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over death. All this, His glory prevail....
    Can't help that in the flesh...it hardens the heart and need the Lord even more...
    There is the hope that I will see His victory...His glory in my final hours so that I can rest in peace...
    This is desired for all by our God..

    Peace....

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  6. Dear anon at 3:17 AM

    There are clearly still anons commenting on there.So that argument is invalid.People who disagree with jungle watch do not need to comment there anymore as lots of people already question its credibility.

    They do not feel the need to comment on it.Therefore they do not care about being anon or non anon.

    JW at some point posted a few links in a row from the news.In BOLD.Which were about the most recent accusation against apuron.Why am I pointing this out?
    Because it's a good example of how they're running out of stuff to write on the blog.
    I'd do the same if I was losing readers and credibility.
    And well,who's gonna comment on an uncredible source that's running out of ideas?
    Like seriously,posting the same story from different links over and over without giving their own commentary.
    Doesn't that show desperation?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Diana, thanks for responding to my comment by a new post. It is a serious matter you discuss. There could be priests who are jailed erroneously. We cannot always just wait idly for a verdict at the court of law because sometimes doubt arises about the juridical procedure and the the guilty decision. Fr. Gordon MacRae was jailed not by out of court settlement but by prosecution, trial and conviction at the court of law. The judges thought that the circumstances and details of the charges were consistent for conviction even if the exact location of the church was somehow misnamed. I don't know the truth about Fr. Gordon, but I know that the court of law is not always 100% correct. Its verdicts have a certain % of accuracy or inaccuracy. We'll see this happening on Guam, as well.

    Perhaps this is why Pope Francis is calling the scandalous facts revealed at the inspection of 70 years of church documents in Pennsylvania a big shame for the whole Catholic clergy. He emphasizes even before any prosecution and court trial that these acts of abuse are gravely criminal! Cardinal Sean O'Malley who is supporting NCW communities in the Boston area, is quoting the Holy See in approving his statement. He also calls these acts egregious crimes that should not have ever happened. "We remain shamed by these egregious failures to protect children and those who are vulnerable" he says. Again, it is important that we don't just wait for a verdict at the court of law but identify, name and condemn these criminal acts of indecency.

    Pope Francis condemns a culture of abuse related to a homosexual network of unscrupulous priests who penetrated the Holy Order. He condemns a culture of submission. He says "Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated.” We see that a culture of submission to priests was not able to prevent these situations from happening on Guam! There is a kind of worship of clergy assuming priests are beyond reproach. Parents punish their altar server kids who talk bad about a priest. Kids are intimidated and discouraged from telling the truth of abuse. This is a self-defeating attitude that are taken advantage of predator priests to prey on the innocent. We have to change that culture eradicating clergy worship once and for all!

    In the end, settlements work for social justice that is not individual reproach but an all-encompassing justice for all. Pope Francis talks about social justice a lot! Court trails may lead to incorrect verdicts, convicting the innocent or exonerating the guilty so justice would not be served. The church wants the victims to acknowledge in the end that justice was duly served.

    Let's pray for peace in the hearts of the believer to accept guilt where guilt is due and make peace with settling for the truth. Pray that justice is served for all.

    ReplyDelete