Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, July 24, 2012
Religion Agent of Nazi Pope Gets Three-to-Six Years in Prison for Pedophilia Cover-Up
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 5:28 PM
"Won't Slog show some love for Monsignor William Lynn?" writes Slog commenter Eric from Boulder, explaining, "he was just sentenced to 3-6 years in the pen."
Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first Roman Catholic Church official in the United States to be convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision, was sentenced Tuesday to three to six years in prison.
“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” Judge M. Teresa Sarmina of Common Pleas Court said as she imposed the sentence, which was just short of the maximum of three and a half to seven years. Monsignor Lynn must serve at least three years before he is eligible for parole.
Eric is right: This is a big deal. It's the first time that a Catholic official who covered up child rape has been sentenced to prison in the United States. We've sent Catholic priests to jail for child rape, but we're finally prosecuting and jailing the terrible human beings who helped cover up child rape, and that's a significant step. I hope we continue with this trend and keep shaking the tree until the whole rotten thing falls down. And I hope Monsignor Lynn rots in there.
1
And cue the apologists standing right on the steps outside to cry how "unfair" and "cruel" it is to punish so severely such an old man. While it is indeed unusual for any of them to be actually charged it is not cruel to enforce the law.
And cue the "I vas chust following orderz!" defense...
And cue the "I vas chust following orderz!" defense...
2
I stopped reading this at "nazi pope".
Stupid distortions are stupid distortions, even when they're laid on evil people.
Stupid distortions are stupid distortions, even when they're laid on evil people.
5
It's rather hypocritical to keep calling this guy Monsignor when he's simply a creep. Call him Mr. if you must give him a title.
@2, this pope WAS a Nazi.
@2, this pope WAS a Nazi.
6
When it's the mob, we hold the entire enterprise accountable and take its assets. We take boats from drug dealers. Why shouldn't we take away the assets of the church entity where this monsignor did his pedophila hiding? he was on the job, the corporation person should be held responsible.
7
I am against what these priests did.
Still I went to Catholic school for 13 years and never saw or heard any of this stuff.
Still I went to Catholic school for 13 years and never saw or heard any of this stuff.
8
@5
Yes, he was in the Hitler Youth. He was conscripted into the Hitler Youth, same as every other German and Austrian male of his age. It's an important bit of context that gets lost in Paul's hackneyed string of adjectives.
Yes, he was in the Hitler Youth. He was conscripted into the Hitler Youth, same as every other German and Austrian male of his age. It's an important bit of context that gets lost in Paul's hackneyed string of adjectives.
9
#8
The Jugand member is portrayed as a voluntary super supporter of the Third Reich, when in fact it ended with these teenagers taking the place of men in the infantry. It was like using the Boy Scouts to fly B17s.
The Jugand member is portrayed as a voluntary super supporter of the Third Reich, when in fact it ended with these teenagers taking the place of men in the infantry. It was like using the Boy Scouts to fly B17s.
12
The Pope was a young Nazi. Maybe he didn't have much choice, but you don't know what was in his head; note also that the Catholic church was quite chummy with the Third Reich for much of its duration, including the nomination of Mussolini (though admittedly not entirely, and granting that there were also Catholic members of anti-Nazi resistance groups). Drawing a connection is not entirely unwarranted.
In any case, I wish I could view this event as anything but a fluke, but I have serious doubts that priests worldwide will face justice for what they've done on any systematic basis.
In any case, I wish I could view this event as anything but a fluke, but I have serious doubts that priests worldwide will face justice for what they've done on any systematic basis.
14
@7 Wow. Great logic there. As long as you're not looking, crime magically disappears! Which is precisely the thought process behind the RCC and every other enabler who looked the other way while children were being raped.
If you're trying to convince us that you're a moral person, you've done the exact opposite. Congrats.
If you're trying to convince us that you're a moral person, you've done the exact opposite. Congrats.
16
He can think of it as spending some time in a monastery - sparse accommodations, sludgy food, many hours of forced contemplation, etc.
17
Its a pretty pasta damned small step given the shear number of rapists this ass clown covered for and the number of children the collectively assaulted. There should be a 0 added on to t he ened 30-60 years sounds closer to justice.
it would be nice to think they could turn this guy & get him to squeal on higher ups like the did with the mob. But the Omerta is stronger with this filthy outfit. Benny the Rat was at least elbow deep in this cover up (maybe balls deep too) but we will never know because they keep their secrets.
it would be nice to think they could turn this guy & get him to squeal on higher ups like the did with the mob. But the Omerta is stronger with this filthy outfit. Benny the Rat was at least elbow deep in this cover up (maybe balls deep too) but we will never know because they keep their secrets.
18
@14
as it turns out, MOST Catholic Priests did NOT molest any children, so anecdotal recounts like @7 made would be more common than those who recount "whispers of abuse", and they would be such because in the vast majority of Catholic Parishes, there was no abuse going on, and most Catholics don't know what is going on in the church outside their own parish.
All that being said, I am so incredibly glad this asshole is going to prison. I have some sympathy for the priests themselves, as it was likely (nearly a surety) that they were molested as children and simply playing their part in a cycle as old as Ancient Babylon, but the fucking scumbag who covered it all up and made these children feel dirty for what their priest did to them?
Hang him by his balls and let him down when the last victim of one of his cover-ups says it's OK to let him down.
as it turns out, MOST Catholic Priests did NOT molest any children, so anecdotal recounts like @7 made would be more common than those who recount "whispers of abuse", and they would be such because in the vast majority of Catholic Parishes, there was no abuse going on, and most Catholics don't know what is going on in the church outside their own parish.
All that being said, I am so incredibly glad this asshole is going to prison. I have some sympathy for the priests themselves, as it was likely (nearly a surety) that they were molested as children and simply playing their part in a cycle as old as Ancient Babylon, but the fucking scumbag who covered it all up and made these children feel dirty for what their priest did to them?
Hang him by his balls and let him down when the last victim of one of his cover-ups says it's OK to let him down.
19
"as it turns out, MOST Catholic Priests did NOT molest any children"
How do you know? That's as much a supposition on your part as anyone saying "most Catholic priests DID molest children".
How do you know? That's as much a supposition on your part as anyone saying "most Catholic priests DID molest children".
20
@19
No it's not. Of course, just like I can't say the sun will not explode tomorrow with 100% certainty, I can't know for sure that all the molesting priests have been rooted out, but I don't think that many are arguing that all but a few potential outliers have been identified.
Add 5% to the number that have been caught, if it makes you feel better, then divide the total number of Roman Catholic Priests in the same area as the sex offenders you found, and come back and report that number to the group.
When that's done, go fuck yourself, and have a goddam clue when you infect the world with the noises that come out of your pie hole again.
No it's not. Of course, just like I can't say the sun will not explode tomorrow with 100% certainty, I can't know for sure that all the molesting priests have been rooted out, but I don't think that many are arguing that all but a few potential outliers have been identified.
Add 5% to the number that have been caught, if it makes you feel better, then divide the total number of Roman Catholic Priests in the same area as the sex offenders you found, and come back and report that number to the group.
When that's done, go fuck yourself, and have a goddam clue when you infect the world with the noises that come out of your pie hole again.
21
Oddly enough, sexual abuse is not the primary cause of this endemic. Its likely that the population of priests that abuse is roughly the same as that of the general population. Its a study that would be beneficial to all, including the RCC, but I've never seen it. Sex abuse is a tragic component of the human condition that society attempts to dampen, as with drug abuse, violence and greed. The primary cause at hand is the abuse enabling, top down cover up and priest shuffle by the RCC.
While it is inane to say most priests abuse, it is reasonable to say that most bishops, archbishops, cardinals and popes have participated in the conspiracy to cover up serial priest sexual abuse. It always has been and still is the official church policy to not report abuse cases to state authorities. This conspiracy must be punished and stopped. This court decision is the first step in that direction.
While it is inane to say most priests abuse, it is reasonable to say that most bishops, archbishops, cardinals and popes have participated in the conspiracy to cover up serial priest sexual abuse. It always has been and still is the official church policy to not report abuse cases to state authorities. This conspiracy must be punished and stopped. This court decision is the first step in that direction.
22
ANY person who sympathizes with a child molester or their enabler must be guilty as well. It's the ONLY explanation for this absurd mentality.
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