"to participate fully in the sacramental life of the church.” ....“One of the biggest sins in the Catholic Church is to criticize a bishop,”...wow...Since when is it sacramental to rape and scar children for life? I guess if your a Bishop and you have alot of skeletons in your closet and you have seeked forgivness from god its all ok. I hope this guy protests right in the face of this " bishop" till the second comming. A child molestor is a child molestor....plain and simple. The Catholic religion has lost all of its credibility...As with most huge companys , the catholic religion is nothing more than a big buisness selling god.

People act like all Catholic priests are abusers. Which is wrong..............nor does the Catholic church condone that type of action. RussHermon ( the above comment) sounds more like a 2nd generation KKK member which has pushed ignorance against the Catholics in Maine for years............since the 1920's actually. I am not saying that this type of abuse hasn't occurred.........at this point I wonder how many so called victims are not just jumping on the band wagon because they know that the Catholic church is vulnerable right now. And why do these so called victims wait 20 or 30 years to come forward? Oh ya it's all about the money......isn't it??? Or is it that they have just learned what's right and what's wrong? Child rape has always been wrong..............so why now after all these years are people just happen to be claiming rape? I was an alter boy as well as my son and neither of us have been raped. And I don't believe that half the claims are true either........hard to prove otherwise though. Paul Kendrick is a very sick man! His point has been very well taken over the years...................now he needs to shut up and let things take a course. It's not like Priest are raping children in the streets.............so he needs to back off! He needs to seek professional help.......he is way out of control and should be on some type of pill to help him with his problems.

Patrickof brewer.....back long ago people could go to the police, priests, ministers, lawyers, counselors anyone in a powerful positon to complain of/speak of something that they needed help with. These people were ones that we all could trust. Nowadays that trust has been broken by the actions of a few bad apples. And maybe just maybe the persons that were abused were afraid that they would be further victimized by coming forward with such terrible accusations of a priest. It's a very complicated issue from all sides, one that deserves compassion from the rest of us.

Patrick....The actions of the Catholic church speak loudly for...THEMSELVES.....

I am not saying that what happened through the years to kids at the hands of "men of God" isn't horrible and the Catholic Church needs to make a multitude of changes. But, isn't it pretty easy to say something happened 25 years ago and not have any proof. Don't you think some of these accusations may have been false? Some of these people seeing the people who deserved compensation just trying to get in on the money train?

As science and education becomes more universal and people become more atuned with the true realities that govern their lives, these fraudulent religous cults will become a distant relic of the past. The sooner the better.

25 years ago?.....Child molestation is alive and well in in the Catholic church today. When Rome decides to allow priests to marry, and changes the mindset of their flock tenders things might change.

I cannot imagine why anyone would choose to belong to such an intolerant and patriarchial denomination. I'd think that the church would be able to tolerate criticism in the wake of what they have allowed to happen to so many children, under the watchful eye of God.

Any large institution will have it's share of bad apples. What bothers me the most is that in many previous cases, the church chose to hide the crimes. They would move the offender to a different church and give mandatory counseling. But they never reported the offenses to the police or tried to care for the victims. That decision to cover up the crimes ruined all credibility in my mind. The church has worked hard to make things better, but they have a long way to go. Perhaps this man is carrying things a bit far, but to threaten him for doing what he believes is right (and the bible would say is right) is just plain ridiculous.

Bishops are merely politicians wearing tunics.

who cares if they can't participate? what a joke.

Bangorian:

The newspaper headlines here in New York City are full of stories everyday of Jewish Rabbis being exposed and arrested for child sexual molestation..

Does that fact strike closer to your opinioned heart?

Mainelyme

jesus christ here we go again. why hasn't the bdn taken this guy offline yet?

because it dosen't matter how many times u remove someones name they can just make a new account....just like aol yahoo msn....there's always ways around crap

dreamland it's pretty obvious you're the same guy.

i don't think so anne, I just signed up yesterday. this guy has got to go. and they're not deleting the message.

Really? Signed up yesterday but only started posting today?

So far we have the same guy flaming here as thekingofmaine, scollins327, amhi4me, richard28, and dreamland51. Any new username that appears on the blogs here today is probably the same guy.

Jesus said that we should love our neighbors as ourselves....And we can do that if we love ourselves first. But the folks who post these horribly meanspirited comments surely don't love THEMSELVES or they wouldn't write insults and racial slurs. Pace e bene...

lol, I moved from bucksport to Texas back in 2003. my sister sent this to me, I highly doubt that I am either of those. whose to say you aren't anne?

anne-of-mdi; I agree with your assessment, this sicko is using several names thinking none of us have figuered it out......the rants are disturbing. I am sure, if pushed, BDN can address this issue....

anne-of-mdi; I agree with your assessment, this sicko is using several names thinking none of us have figuered it out......the rants are disturbing. I am sure, if pushed, BDN can address this issue....

dreamland51, really? Let me get this straight: you signed up yesterday but started posting here this morning, you moved to Texas in '03, and your sister sent my 10:37 a.m. comment to you just now. How's that again?

Watch out the BDN Nazi's are out.

anne who cares. let him get his kicks the way he wants. he just wants the attention and you continue to give it to him. you just have to ignore him.

I agree~~ A child molestor is a child mestor! The Catholic priests of this world have had enough time HIDING behind their Bishops........ To bad if they don't like what they are hearing.....What about all the childern that have had to LIVE and are still living with the same, abuse .... because most people for some reason think priest are gods~~~ they ARE NOT! Welcome to the real world all you molestors! And please don't tell me you believe the abuse has stopped!

mainah_mom, I care because this is a public blog and his comments reflect very negatively on everyone who lives and works in Downeast Maine. And I think that if we all know which usernames to ignore he eventually will go away, like you say.

right. so we have outed him. now just ignore him. people will read this. like you said they are public. and most people are not going to agree with him. in fact, the only ones that will agree with him are the ones that he is. so, let it go. don't get all worked up about it. he is not worth the time or the effort.

LOL so true Stevey so true. But I prefer to liken Anne to the queen of the harpies... Anne is a bitch.

people can't take a friggen joke. I'm being targeted by the catholic church because I believe in FSM (flying spaghetti monster).

Sounds to me like Anne is a concerned mother; and I don't live in DOWNEASTAH MAINAH ... I live in the humble village of Springfield.

Look what you did Anne, you made him/her mad.

Bishop threatens to punish activist. WHAT AGAIN?

So persecution of people for having totally different beliefs than what is the norm! Sounds a little 1692 to me; Catholics.

Anne of mid maine is correct just ignore the idiot and lets drop this shit before some idiot goes after him and hurts him.

Wow I see your all going to keep BDN in business..... LMAO

Is it me, or does the Catholic Church pick-and-choose which US Constitutional Amendments it wants to follow?

Freedom of Religion--Check! To the point of you cant punish us, we have our own court system.

Freedom of Speech--Maybe. If we say something negative toward other religous groups or government officials, we like Freedom of Speech. If someone says something bad about us, well, we have our own court system.

The hardest Christian action is forgiveness...don't see that coming from either side on this issue...

This article leaves so many questions unanswered that I hope that the BDN will consider researching and writing another article. When there is a lack of information, as we can all see from today's comments, people tend to fill that void with conjecture and personal bias. Many people have been hurt by some within the Catholic Church, but before we extrapolate the sins of Cardinal Law and the handful of horrible priests that he protected at the expense of innocent children, and allow that justifiable anger to infect every opinion we have of each of the Catholic Church's leaders , perhaps as readers we should not be squabbling about the opinions we have coming into this story, and instead ask for legitimate questions to be answered by this news source.

As a reader, I want to know more about:

- the frequency of Kendrick's contact with the bishop?

- the substance of the e-mails and letters that Kendrick sent?

- whether he made contact with the Bishop in public or private locations (sidewalks, speaking engagements, church, home, through friends and family, etc.)?

- Kendrick's history or lack thereof of other criminal complaints?

- whether any other canon lawyers (like perhaps one who ISN'T representing Kendrick) can find precedent for an interdict in such a situation?

- in the Catholic Church, IS it actually a sin to criticize a Bishop or is that something that Kendrick's lawyer said and was re-printed without being investigated?

Lest I be accused of being biased, before my opinion is formed, I also want to know the answers to the following questions:

- what is Kendrick's specific complaint is with Bishop Malone's actions/decisions?

- is there a policy of the Catholic Church today, and specifically the Diocese of Portland, that Kendrick takes issue with?

- is the Diocese and Bishop Malone failing to meet their obligations to victims of actual past abuse and what are the different positions as to what those obligations are? what is Kendrick's position on the responsibility of today's Catholic Church to address past cases of abuse?

- has the Bishop protected priests in the past or is he protecting priests now who are alleged child abusers?

- are there insufficient safeguards in place to protect children in the Catholic Church today? what are they, if any?

It is hard to make a call regarding who is in the right or wrong and whether the potential sanction is appropriate or unfair when the underlying facts upon which reasonable people might draw conclusions are not provided. When the BDN covers a story that will certainly inflame people on both sides of an issue - those who will never forgive the Church and those who see it as entirely without culpability - the newspaper ought to do a better job of asking questions and securing answers from more and significantly better sources.

While I realize that there are time limitations on when a reporter receives information and who it can contact in a short timeframe, it would be my hope as a BDN reader that the newspaper have a plan to provide more in-depth information to its readers.

Sorry to interrupt this thread. Todd Benoit here from the BDN's New Media Department -- I'm taking a survey and am hoping you'll join in. We've received plenty of notes from readers who are unhappy with the personal, occasionally insulting responses submitted by others during exchanges of comments. You know the ones I mean -- some of them are crude, often they are off topic, a few are anatomically problematic. We do sometimes delete posts that are blatantly offensive, especially when someone has used the "Report inappropriate comments" link. But, for the most part, I figure readers can work out disagreements among themselves without interference from the newspaper.

So here's the survey. Would you like to see us delete more of these comments? Fewer? Would you like us to step in as moderators when the conversations get heated? Should we require that people posting comments use their real names? (A common way to verify names is to charge, say, $5 for lifetime access to comments, forcing the use of a credit card with which we could check names.)

I am going to post this in several places around the site over the next couple of days. Please respond there or, if you prefer, email me directly at tbenoit@bangordailynews.net. Thanks!

Dreamland is an idiot that has nothing to do I guess, get life

Tod...Have the courage to name names....My vote is to leave this section as it is. Its not broken..please don't fix it.

not broken, its a great place!

I WAS BROUGHT UP AS A CATHOLIC;BY TWO WONDERFUL,LOVING AND FAITHFUL PARENTS. THEY REALLY WERE GOOD LIVING AND CHARITABLE PEOPLE. AND FOR MANY,MANY YEARS;THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAD HIGHLY INSTILLING VALUES OF A CHTISTIAN AND MORAL WAY OF LIFE . OVER SEVERAL NOT SO RECENT YEARS;PRIESTS HAVE BEEN EXPOSED FOR COMMITTING CRIMES OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF YOUNG(BOYS) AND YES! THE CHURCH HAS MANAGED TO COVER UP ALL OF THESE CRIMINAL ACTS--UNTIL RECENT YEARS;DURING WHICH THE CHURCH HAS HAD TO PAY OUT MILLIONS--PERHAPS OVER A BILLION DOLLARS TO FORMERLY ABUSED VICTIMS. MAYBE A LOT OF CLAIMS WERE FRAUDULENT--MANY,MANY OF THEM WERE LEGITIMATE. .I AGREE WHOLEHEARTILY!! WITH "RUSSHERMON" ON HIS LOGIC ABOUT ROME ALLOWING PRIESTS TO MARRY;LIKE MINISTERS OF OTHER FAITHS ARE ALLOWED TO DO. I HAVE HEARD IT SAID BY MEMBERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES;PRIESTS ARE ONLY MEN,CALLED TO PREACH GOD'S WORD. AND AS HUMAN MALES--THEY HAVE MALE TEMPTATIONS--THAT HAVE TO BE DEALT WITH. BUT MY DISENCHANTMENT AND QUESTION OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH;NOW COMES FROM ALL OF THE COVER-UPS AND FAILURE OF PROPER CIVIL PUNISHMENT OF THE GUILTY PRIESTS. YES! I KNOW FOR A FACT--THAT THE CHURCH AT FAULT--JUST SHUTTLES GUILTY PRIESTS TO OTHER PARISH LOCATIONS. NOT CREDITABLE--IN MY OPINION!!. AND I DON'T THINK "BISHOPS" OR ANY OTHE R CATHOLIC HIERARCHYSHOULD BE EXEMPT FROM CRITICISION OR CIVIL JUDGEMENT. I REMAIN WITH QUESTIONS OF IT ALL!!

Tod..Maybe the " moose ranch" thing was a lil over the top...or the Peta Bimbos..or even DHS paying mileage to herion addicts,.but on the whole I have found many people read the BDN for the comment section. It comes from real Maine people that are generally pretty pissed off about life in general. As a frequent poster I live in hopes that Baldacci and the whole tribe in Augusta read these blogs daily. We as the little people have a voice and this section is a great and sometimes funny conduit to the top.....kiss

This Kendrick guy is a complete jackass! And a total lunatic!

My wife is active in our Parish Family Life Commission, and her email address was on the Parish website a few years ago. I think it was for families to sign up for a pizza & Disney Movie night. Anyway - she was FLOODED with long, rambling, psychotic emails from Kendrick, asking her WHY she was involved with the Church, WHY she condoned child abuse, and all kinds of sick accusations, challenges, etc.

And this Kendrick nut thinks this kind of aggressive lunacy will help his cause?

If he was wounded - he needs therapy. And if he wasn't wounded, he REALLY needs therapy!

Hey Kendrick, you loser!!! How can we miss you if you won't go away???

This guy can protest all he wants, but he cannot harass people. If he takes his faith as seriously as he claims, then this warning from the church should make him think twice. No one is trying to silence him, but if he followed the Governor around all the time and spammed his emailbox, and his real mailbox, about taxes or whatever, I daresay he would be probably already be in jail. And btw, even if he were to be excommunicated, that just bars him from the church. Whether he goes to heaven is between him and God. As for some of you out there, I think you should adopt the policy of WWJP, (What Would Jesus Post?) before you hit that little button at the bottom ; )

Although I agree that child sexual abuse is wrong, I also believe that blame should be directed to those who are guilty of the crime, and for Kendrick to send those e-mails to innocent people is just plain rediculous and sad. For some, religion goes to the core of their being affecting every aspect of their daily lives and to have it threatened by sexual abuse, rotten e-mails and nasty comments is just wrong. God is the ultimate protector, the One who loves us purely at all times and to think that that could ever be threatened is scary for most people. Priests are only human and are just as capable of sin as the rest of the human race, and to hide behind the church when such crimes have been committed is sick.

Tuesday, I agree with your post. It seems like BDN has left out some of the facts.

Seaman....it has nothing to do with priests getting married. This not sex, it is rape. Most of the victims were not children they were young adults in their teens. Alcohol was sometimes involved. It is adults who use their power to imtimidate and control and abuse. Allowing these men to get married would not solve the problem. Otherwise you wouldn't have married men or people in homesexual relationships molesting young kids. That would not solve the problem.

I don't know how many times I've had to mention that if you look at the overall numbers of children being molested you will find the numbers much higher in the general public then you will in the priesthood.

The priests should have been stopped many years ago. I wish they had stopped them sooner and not shuffled them from one parish to the next.

This man should not be allowed to harass people. He needs help.

Elizibeth....What kind of logic is that? In my book a teen IS A CHILD....of course the number is higher in the general public ITS BIGGER THAN THE PRIESTHOOD....Who cares if alcohol was involved?....And i have a news flash for ya kiddo....Convicted priests RAPED boys for SEX....

Mr. Benoit - thanks so much for looking at this issue! Cleaning up these posts will make for a better, more intelligent paper. My vote is more moderation and careful selection of what makes the cut. Too many people are throwing darts in here just designed to get a reaction or drum up controversy. Also, there's too much racism and profanity being posted. That has the effect of dumbing down this paper and hijacking intelligent discussions. If the paper doesn't have the resources to moderate these more closely, I would be a fan of requiring us to use our real names. The obvious drawback is the number of comments would seriously decline and some of the more controversial thoughts would never get posted. The absence of those ideas would be too bad (if they were written sincerely and not just to create drama or offend). Those are my thoughts. Thanks for looing at this!

Mr. Benoit, for example:

all of the posting that occured between 10:05 and 10:37 should have been cut. Then again from 10:56 to 11:08. Then again from 11:14 including 11:20

Dreamland51 use of the word bitch & friggen at 11:20 and use of word "shitgiggled" at 11:13

Bidoux at 11:37 used the word shit

and on and on. None of these comments add anything to the discussion and they all drag down the quality of this paper. If this is the best people can come up with, they shouldn't get published.

Bangorian, are you the same commenter as Bangorean?

A few facts for the uninfomed. The bishops own study found just over 4% of priests were involved in sexual abuse with minors. The natioal average is just over 1% as a whole. No profession has a higher percentage of abusers than priests. Read the John Jay study commissioned by the bishops themselves. The thing that makes priestly abuse so insidious is that no other group of child abusers has management actively looking out for and protecting them. Clerical abuse by Catholic priests is global. There are documented cases of clergy sexual abuse in over twenty-six different countries. Visit bishopaccountability.org or google "I Accuse." Priests have been sexually abusing children for over fifteen hundred years. Search for the Council of Elvira on the Internet and read the laws they passed specifically canons 18 and 71 to name just two that were targeted to sexual abuse. That Ecumenical Council was held in year 306. Search the Internet for the "Book of Gomarah" written by Saint Peter Damian in the eleventh century. He addresses child abuse and the failure of the hierarchy to do anything about it. That should give anyone enough history by the churches own hand to know that this is a centuries old problem.

As for survivors not coming forward with abuse stories until later on in life, it is a commonly known fact that the brain sets up self defense mechanisms that allow children who suffer abuse to bury the atrocities perpetrated on their bodies in order for them to survive the trauma. The memories reveal themself when the mind is ready to handle it. Sometimes the mind is not ready to handle it and those people commit suicide or they commit suicide because they are abused a second time by an insensitive church and hierarchy.

Lastly, a Dallas Morning News survey found that two thirds of the bishops had moved abusing priests. The bishops are the ones responsible for the ongoing clerical abuse. Whether Malone has ever transferred an abusing priest or not, his silence on the subject condemns him. He is ready to deny the sacraments to a man who would remind him of his responsibility as a good shepherd, but he has not spoken out against his fellow bishops whose documented crimes have brought scandal down upon the church and good Catholics everywhere. When Malone publicly decries the behavior of Cardinals Law, George, or Mahony and a host of other bishops for aiding and abetting criminals, then maybe he can talk about denying communion to others. Until that time, hypocrite seems like an applicable moniker.

When are people going to wake up and see the absurdity of the religious garbage perpetrated upon them first in the Roman Catholic Church and its daughters the Protestant system of religion. Not many ever read the bible minus the denominational dogma the issues from each of them that is contrary to God's word. Any religion that has pagan roots is so apparent in the Catholic church. Do your research and learn that the religious practices are inspired by Babylonian tradition and practice and passed on in a watered down version to the Protestant churches. God is only building one church, not churches with different doctrines, with faiths of your choice.

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Eph 4:5 (KJV) {not the faith of your choice} Surprising now one consults God's word for instruction. Most would rather trust the preach or priest and not even bother to find out if they are a man of God or a man of their denomination. God should be first and foremost as we all will have to face him one day. It won't be according to our deeds for judgment but what we do with is Word. His word if taken literally with believe will give us new life from God.

27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Romans 3:27-28 (KJV)

Wake up and live!

Thanks Vinnie! What has happened over all the years is terrible. However, Kendrick still cannot harass, threaten, or intimidate anyone. I have not read anything that he has written, but if I were a target of someone's attention like that of Kendrick to Malone, I would worry for my safety. God will prevail in the end.

On 12/30/08 at 07:40 PM, anne_of_mdi wrote:

"Bangorian, are you the same commenter as Bangorean?"

Anne:

I believe one lives in Bangor and you've already stated what Asian Country the other is posting from!

Mainelyme

I was never convinced about all this sexual abuse by priests. I think its a scam to get money.

I live in Northern Maine and I am a Catholic and have had the opportunity to know Bishop Richard Malone....I have attended Seminars with the Bishop....I have heard the Bishop speak the word of God...I am in my 28th year of the Knights Of Columbus...Attended the 4th Degree Exemplification of Bishop Malone....As a Knight I have served in mass's where Bishop Malone was the Celebrant.,,,I have witnessed and participated in mass's where the Bishop has administered the Sacraments of Baptism, Conformation, and Holy Eucharist....Funeral mass of Priest and Deacon....Mass to decommission a church....Historical Green Mass...On and on.... I believe Bishop Richard Malone is guided by the Holy Spirit, especially in matters related to the Catholic Church.....Should Bishop Malone exercise the right to punish an activist and or excommunicate an activist, I know the Bishop will pray over it and his decision will be guided by the Holy Spirit...

I will close with a quote from my book of wisdom: "In life, we receive a wonderful opportunity, and that is to love. Love comes in many forms. You love people in different ways and for different reasons, depending upon how they have touched your life. Love is a very powerful word and can describe a multitude of feelings, but its main context carries the same meaning.

How wonderful this world would be if people would exercise forgiveness and love thy neighbor.

"How wonderful this world would be if people would exercise forgiveness and love thy neighbor"...and execute child molesters and Bishops that try to cover it up...AMEN

I live in Bangor and I have only one screen name.

Thanks Bangorian.

Ann your posts are like pop up ads i wish i could turn off..Type something useful for a change....Why do you care who bangor is? You have never ever type an op for any article written here. You just,,,,,,type...blah blah blah

RussHermon, are you pledging to clean up your act?

Russ is going to put a wind mill on his front lawn. That should clean things up.

Anne i realize you probably don't have the literary skills god gave an ice cube but we can try to get through this as simply as i can make it. On any given day in this section of the BDN you can find posts i have written ABOUT THE ARTCLE....Lets take this one for example. While you was running your cakehole about flamers and being the nosey busy body that you are, there were many people that had INTELLIGENT things to say about this article. I know you Can't Understand Normal Thinking!!! You have never ever posted an intelligent responce to any article written here. Mr. Benoit had you in mind when he interjected his post on this ad yesterday. There is a site that might be more suited for someone of your little intellect its at WWW.IMADIKEWITHNOLIFE.COM...try it

I'll take that as a "no." Russ it hurts me that you would say such things, because I've always admired your wit and intellect, particularly because you seem to hold women in such high regard. I will look forward to future bon mots from you.

Why would priests be sent from one parish to another parish and not prosecuted? Crimes against children just dont seem to hold a very serious penalty for child molesting. I think if someone molests a child they should go to jail for a very very long time. These ppl are even outcasts in the prison system. Guards and inmates alike do not hold any type of value on these ppl. I dont care how educated they are or what they do or who their family is, they should not be in the human population.

With all due respect Bangorian, it isn't the denomination who committed this awful injustice against these (then) children. As an openly gay Roman Catholic I have struggled in my Faith over the years. But it was my Faith in God that allowed me to be who I am and continues to influence the type of person I am. It is important to note that religion, any religion, is like a buffet - in that we take from it that which we like and leave the rest for someone else. The people who committed these crimes should NOT be protected much like I wouldn't be if I was the purpetrator. Unfortunately "(hu)man" rules the Catholic organization and has made its share of mistekes. The Catholic religion, however, doesn't deserve to be desecrated. Thanks for reading.

ooops "mistakes" (rather oxymoronic eh?)