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Friday, September 7, 2018

PA Grand Jury Report: Part II

Part II of the Media Report is found here

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***SPECIAL PA. JURY REPORT ANALYSIS*** PART II: Mouths Washed Out With Holy Water? Rapes at Airports? Pennsylvania’s Dishonest Grand Jury Report EXPOSED

This is Part II of a special TheMediaReport.com analysis of the Pennsylvania grand jury report.

We will never deny that many stories of clergy abuse are tragically true. Of this we must always be mindful. However, if there is one thing that this site has demonstrated repeatedly over the years, it is that not all accusations are created equal.
Let us look at some of the more alarming abuse claims from Pennsylvania's "grand jury report,"authored by the office of Attorney General Josh Shapiro, that have received wide media attention:
A victim's mouth washed out with holy water?!
It is a stomach-turning story, indeed:
"Monsignor Thomas Benestad made a 9-year-old give him oral sex, then rinse the boy's mouth out with holy water to purify him."
Did this actually happen? No, it didn't. But don't just take our word for it.
Msgr. Thomas Benestad
Msgr. Thomas Benestad
Josh Shapiro won't tell you this, but two entirely separate investigations – one by a former FBI agent and another by officials at the Vatican – thoroughly examined the wild claims against Benestad. Both independently determined that the accusations were bogus. And when one looks at the details of the accuser's outlandish story, it is apparent why investigators cleared Benestad and why his bishop reinstated him.
In 2011, some chap e-mailed the Diocese of Allentown claiming that he had a "memory" (yes, a "memory") from thirty years earlier. He claimed that, starting at nine years old, he was regularly pulled out of weekly CCD class for oral sex for over two years. The accuser says his abuse began when he was told that wearing shorts to CCD class was "sinful," and after a nun escorted him to Benestad's office, Benestad forced him to perform oral sex on him.
But that's not all. After the boy was finished, Benestad would perform oral sex on him as well. Uh-huh. And then Benestad would somehow magically "produce a clear bottle of holy water and squirt it into the victim’s mouth to purify him." Because what priest doesn't keep a "clear bottle of holy water" handy at all times, right?
The accuser's story is such a crock that even a wild-eyed leader at SNAP would have a hard time believing it. Monsignor Benestad has been a priest for nearly a half century, and Benestad's attorney has forcefully replied:
"Monsignor Benestad has never done anything that would be deemed inappropriate with any individual. Monsignor Benestad has never done anything that would be deemed immoral by the church with any individual. Monsignor Benestad has never done anything illegal with any person as judged by any civil or criminal authority."
Attorney General Shapiro is simply nasty for not informing the public that two entirely separate investigations exonerated Monsignor Benestad.
Let's move on.

A scene from 'Airplane'?
Rev. John P. Fitzgerald
Rev. John P. Fitzgerald
In 2014, the Diocese of Pittsburgh spoke to a crook who claimed that years earlier Rev. John P. Fitzgerald sexually assaulted him in an airplane, in a car, and at the Pittsburgh International Airport chapel. The crook also claimed that he was forced to perform oral sex on Rev. Fitzgerald "maybe a half dozen times."
Naturally, Shapiro did not identify the accuser as a crook, but we will have Fitzgerald's attorney explain:
"The allegations of misconduct against Rev. John P. Fitzgerald are false. The allegations contained in the Summary referring to Rev. Fitzgerald are the product of a fabrication made by a convicted thief, a convicted violator of the Controlled Substances Act, a person who 'punched his father in the head and body, kicked his mother in the midsection and choked his sister when they tried to stop him from driving after snorting heroin,' according to a police report filed based on the statements of his father, mother and sister."
And when the accuser sat down for a 2014 interview, he "dramatically changed his allegations." There were also a couple other major problems: The chapel at Pittsburgh International Airport did not even exist until years after the accuser said his abuse occurred. And aviation experts testified that it was "physically impossible" for Fr. Fitzgerald to have been simultaneously flying an airplane and sexually abusing a boy "without crashing the aircraft."
Naturally, Fr. Fitzgerald has vehemently denied the preposterous accusations against him. And it should also be noted that Fr. Fitzgerald has had no other allegations against him in over four decades in ministry.
A priest did what with a crucifix?!
Then there is the case of Fr. Gregory Flohr. In November 2004, a sole accuser surfaced to claim that for a period of years back in the 1960s, starting when he was 10 or 11 years old, Flohr repeatedly touched his genitals and forced him to perform oral sex on him. (Are you sensing an ongoing theme here, everyone?)
But there's more. The accuser's tale ends with a spectacular "final act":
"Flohr's final act of sexual abuse against the victim occurred in November 1969, when Flohr allegedly took the victim into the confessional of the Immaculate Conception church and began kissing him and tied him up with rope into a 'praying position.' The victim began to scream, so Flohr tried to silence him by forcing his penis into his mouth. 'When the [victim] refused the priest allegedly became angry and sodomized the [victim] with a crucifix approximately 7″x 5″x 1″ in size.' Flohr then stated that the victim was a 'bad boy' and let him go. Following this incident, the victim deliberately set the church carpet on fire."
We are supposed to believe this? That no one else was around when this happened in a confessional in a church? Where was everybody else? The boy screamed out loud, and the priest's idea to quiet him down was to – what? – try and shove his penis in the boy's mouth and then sodomize him with a crucifix? As if that would shut the boy up? Really? And where did the rope and crucifix magically appear from?
One cannot help but wonder what Fr. Flohr had to say when confronted with these alarming accusations against him. Well, he said nothing. He was already dead. And he had no other accusers in over four decades of ministry.
Remember Philadelphia!
In light of Shapiro's crooked attack against the Catholic Church, it is important to be cognizant that we have witnessed an untrustworthy "grand jury report" before.
One of the last times a similar report made huge headlines was back in 2011 with the Philadelphia grand jury report. It was truly an international spectacle. Mugshots were plastered across the media landscape, and the media's drumbeat against the Church banged loudly yet again.
And although it took years for the truth to rise to the surface, we eventually learned that the Philly report was a complete work of fiction. On the testimony of a criminal drug addict and serial liar by the name of Danny Gallagherinnocent men went to prison, and one priest, Rev. Charles Engelhardt, even died there. It is clearly one of the great injustices in modern American history. If you didn’t already know this, you should.
If it were not for the luck of a dogged journalist by the name of Ralph Cipriano – who began covering the Philly cases as pro-prosecution until he realized he was witnessing a con – this outrage never would have seen the light of day.
Some people have characterized the recent Pennsylvania report as "just the tip of the iceberg." It is, but it is just the tip of the iceberg of the massive fraud being perpetrated against the Catholic Church. (Indeed, there are many others in the Pennsylvania report who have been wrongly assailed.)
Wake up, everyone. Especially you all in the Catholic media. Quit fretting over your own optics (the saints surely didn't!), and speak up in defense of wrongly maligned Catholic clerics and against this crooked Pennsylvania report.
Justice demands it.

7 comments:

  1. This is my take on the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report: The report was designed to cause a moral panic. Details were deliberately left out because the target are the priests and bishops of the Catholic Church. Their goal is to destroy the Catholic Church as much as possible. By causing a moral panic, they can easily sway people to lift the statutes of limitations so that alleged victims can bring lawsuits against the Church.

    The lifting of the statutes of limitation is an unjust law because 1) it opens the door to scammers, and 2) it victimizes the innocent parishioners who will have to suffer in paying these lawsuits through the loss of their parishes, schools, and other church services. Some people in Guam think that the Church is investigating the allegations to determine which are the real victims. This is false. According to Archbishop Byrnes:

    "Yes, more is needed with respect to investigations, precesses and procedures, but we have limited access to that effort."

    https://umatuna.org/news/featured/drive-out-evil-by-the-power-of-the-good/

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    1. Thanks for sharing this. The PA report is 900 pages long. Nobody is gonna read that. They just take AG Shapiro's word on it. Pennsylvania is looking at lifting the statutes of limitations. And New York and New Jersey are also looking into Catholic archdiocese and calling for all victims to come out.

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  2. Diana, surely there are frivolous accusations in the Pennsylvania report. The report is coming from the archives of the church and reflect the action or inaction church leaders have taken. These are not yet accusations at court. Court papers cannot be filed until the statute of limitations is lifted. Unfortunately, many states think of imitating the Guam model in removing time limits on filing charges, thus allowing litigation against the church.

    Think of the gun laws. Possession of firearms may lead to public shooting and mass murder. Criminal or mentally ill elements acquire weapon to commit their crimes. Still, constitutional amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. It is hard to decide who can or cannot actually purchase a gun. One simply cannot say the bad apples from the good ones.

    Likewise, removing the statute of limitations will bright about many bogus claims. Still, the government of each state has the duty to protect its citizens from possible harm. If the state can establish liability of the church in endangering the well-being of underage citizens, then the government is bound to act! This leads to liability claims settled with hundreds of millions of dollars. Unfortunately, the liability of the church is well documented in the church archives that would be a criminal act to destroy. Nobody wants to see the church outlawed in the U.S. because of illegal document shredding.

    In relation to the ongoing litigation, Archbishop Byrnes also admits in the Umatuna that the bad apples are impossible to tell from the good ones! So there will be settlements, even if some accusers take the high road of a court trial. Lifting the statute of limitations is done by legislatures that the church cannot do anything about! Governments have the duty to protect children. It is like the right to bear firearms that is guaranteed by the government. Now, those who abuse this right by committing crimes with their gun are like those who abuse their right to file complaint against the church by bogus accusations. They are the bad apples who got their chances because those rights are protected for the sake of the good apples! Good apples are those who use their gun for self-defense only, just like those complainants who file court papers to report the truth. One cannot fight against the government while the government is bound to fulfill its duty towards it citizens.

    Pray that all government functions can be fulfilled without further harming the Holy Catholic Mother Church.

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    1. Dear Faithfully yours,

      The responsibility of protecting children belongs to everyone especially parents and guardians. It does not belong to the government. The government's duty is to pass and enforce laws to protect the rights of all her citizens.

      It takes an investigation to determine what is the truth. However, Archbishop Byrnes admitted in the Umatuna that there is limited access in that regard.

      The Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report shows that some of these allegations are bizarre. The same can be said of some of the allegations that have come out here in Guam. For example, one alleged victim accused Father Antonio Cruz and another altar boy of sexual abuse. This is his story:

      "A.A. was around 11 or 12 years old at the time and was serving as an altar boy at the Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Tamuning, the lawsuit states.

      The now 48-year-old A.A., represented by Attorney David Lujan, said the sexual abuse began when A.A. asked for Untalan's help to pay a traffic citation from the Guam Police Department one day after Mass.

      At the time, A.A. was giving another altar boy a ride home on his moped and received a citation from GPD, but was afraid to tell his parents and was unable to pay the citation.

      "On numerous occasions, Cruz, Untalan and another altar boy, would take A.A. and other altar boys into a room behind the church where they would fondle A.A. At their direction, A.A. was forced to kiss them, touch their penises and perform oral copulation on them," the lawsuit says."

      https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2018/05/09/lawsuit-boy-abused-father-antonio-c-cruz-2-others-tamuning/593475002/

      Do you know what is so bizarre about his story? It is police procedures that when a minor is involved in a violation of the law (including traffic violations), their parents should be contacted. I would like to meet the police officer who just simply gave a traffic ticket to an 11 or 12 year old child without notifying his parents.

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    2. That doesn't exist. No cop is gonna give a traffic ticket to an 11 or 12 year old child.

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  3. Dear Diana, this is exactly one of the frivolous or ridiculous charges! No cop would do such thing! Similar to the case of the girl on the beach who says a priest exposed himself to her. Oh really, and what did the parents do meantime? Would they really leave a 10-year old without supervision to walk at the beach? Or the priest with the bottle of holy water and the cross... All these things are so bizarre, they certainly raise the eyebrow.

    However, the troubles won't stop because of the obvious fabrications. The legal machinery rolls over these issues calling them "minor discrepancies".The lawyers will be satisfied by establishing some liability of the church in a few cases and they'll generalize to extend the scope of lawsuits. Once liability is established, the church can be forced to pay. Court procedures can be very damaging. That is why Archbishop Byrnes is looking for out-of-court settlement for the better of the church.

    The first domino fell on Guam. By now, the troubles grew beyond us. If, assuming the absurd, JW would repent and try to undo all their unjust lawsuits, even they would not be able to stop it! Networks of highly qualified, powerful and influential attorneys have already a vested interest in not allowing the Catholic Church off the hook. We cannot hope for Christian solidarity either, as most mainland Christians are Protestants who won't raise a finger to help the Catholics brothers in their troubles. They will reap their reward by becoming the next targets of the same anti-church lawyers.

    The next domino to fall could be Pennsylvania, but we hear news from Illinois, Minnesota, New York and New Jersey, as well, where state attorney generals will initiate the procedure of lifting of the statute of limitations on sexual abuses against children. Legislatures will comply under political pressure. The duty of the government to protect its underage citizens will be enforced. Once the row of dominoes begins to fall, nobody will be able to intervene. The Guam model will take over the legal machinery of lawsuits in the mainland.

    Dear Diana, I try to be realistic and observe the gathering clouds. There will be pain, suffering and calamities falling out for all Catholics. We can only hope that the main thrust of the storm will be thwarted from the Catholic communities and we can distance ourselves from the ensuing mess. Just like the House of Prayer in Asan will be a place of peace for the communities, we should be ready to institutionally protect the communities from legal claims. Nobody will be able to touch the Asan house, not even the Archbishop, to pay off unjust settlements! It is like our hope now that the coming tropical storm Mangkhut will be thwarted before it hits our island and our homes.

    Pray that the gathering storm and ensuing calamities will spare our hopes and faith.

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  4. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1968171069887503&id=307846429592040

    Pope Francis during a meeting at the international neocatechumenal center in Italy, with Kiko arguello, ascension and Father Mario, with 120 rectors and 800 seminarians, called live, inviting everyone to always look to Christ and to go forward, with faith!

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