FALMOUTH, Maine — Two men stood outside the official Falmouth home of Catholic Bishop Richard Malone Thursday morning to protest what they described as Malone’s refusal to publish an updated database of priests and church employees “credibly accused” of sex crimes against children.
The duo, Paul Kendrick and Harvey Paul, represented the Ignatius Group, a loosely knit nationwide network of supporters of victims of the alleged sexual abuses. Kendrick, who spoke to members of the media at the Twin Ponds Drive site Thursday, said he and other group members have demonstrated outside Catholic Church properties repeatedly over the years seeking the creation of a church-run database similar to the state of Maine’s sex offender registry.
Kendrick used the example of Father John Audibert, a Catholic priest who 10 years ago admitted sexually abusing a teenage boy, to illustrate his point. He said the whereabouts of Audibert since his removal from active ministry in 2002 has not been kept public, and that he remains a threat to young people wherever he is.
“Nobody knows where he is, in fact nobody knows what he looks like,” Kendrick said. “He could be living in this neighborhood.”
In a response late Thursday morning, a spokeswoman from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland downplayed the small protest as a publicity stunt. Sue Bernard, communications director for the Diocese, disputed Kendrick’s characterization of Audibert’s whereabouts as being unknown, saying in a statement issued to the Bangor Daily News that the appropriate authorities are aware of his location.
“The two-person protest was nothing more than a ruse to get media attention and unnecessarily attempt to disrupt and alarm a neighborhood,” Bernard said. “Mr. Kendrick is aware that John Audibert does not live in this neighborhood or even in the town of Falmouth. Kendrick, civil officials and neighbors of Audibert are all aware of his background and where he resides.”
But Kendrick argued that the public remains in the dark. He and Paul — who has said he was abused by a Catholic seminarian while a student at St. Mary’s School in Biddeford as a youth — called for a full online database of “credibly accused” priests and church officials, with pictures, work histories, updated home addresses and numbers of accusations against them.
Kendrick said such databases have been launched by Catholic leaders in Boston and Philadelphia, and he said Malone should use those as templates “to improve upon.”
In addition to keeping the public informed, he said, the database could serve as validation for other victims of childhood abuse at the hands of priests who have yet to come forward.
“It just may protect a child, and it just may help someone who was abused as a child release some of that toxicity, some of that shame that’s built up inside,” Kendrick said.
While there was no sign of Bishop Malone himself at the Twin Ponds Drive location, the demonstration attracted the disdain of at least one resident of the high-end neighborhood. A woman driving away from her nearby home slowed down near the protesters and chastised reporters for covering them.
“We don’t need this here,” said the woman, who refused multiple requests to comment further or give her name.
Kendrick called the woman’s reaction “tragic” and “uninformed.”
“The silence of Catholics and that neighbor’s response are not only sad, but shameful,” he told reporters after she drove away. “If she had ever sat and listened to a child talk about being assaulted or raped, she’d never respond like that.”
Ironic given that Malone will however tell you that gay people wanting marriage rights is actually about them wanting to molest your children in schools or whatever.
Great point.The CC has lied and misled people while pocketing trillions for 20 centuries.
I’ve been attending the Catholic Church for quite a while and was doing so when the same-sex marriage referendum was on the ballot in 2010. I do believe I heard all of the Bishop’s communiqués leading up to the election….but I never heard a communiqué where the Bishop conveyed that gay people wanted to marry for the sole purpose of molesting children.
Would you please cite your references, or newspaper sources, or community publications where this allegation by Bishop Malone was noted and reported. I just simply don’t recall an allegation of that nature and I was paying close attention during the debate and the election.
You’re going to pretend you heard nothing about “indoctrinating children”? Destroying marriage? Comparisons and slippery slope arguments of man-child marriages? Teaching homosexuality in schools? You must not have been paying as close attention as your purport to have done.
“You’re going to pretend you heard nothing about “indoctrinating children”? Destroying marriage? Comparisons and slippery slope arguments of man-child marriages? Teaching homosexuality in schools? You must not have been paying as close attention as your purport to have done.”
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I heard all that but I didn’t hear “all that” from Bishop Malone. Even in all that, you aren’t citing when and where Bishop Malone stated that gay people “wanting marriage” was for the purpose of wanting to molest children in schools. What you said was… [quote]”Malone will however tell you that gay people wanting marriage rights is actually about them wanting to molest your children in schools or whatever.” [end quote]
That statement of yours is what I was inquiring about……so I’ll ask again. Would you please cite your references, or newspaper sources, or community publications where this allegation by Bishop Malone was noted and reported?
I know what I said and I know what he said. I wasn’t quoting verbatim, obviously. The Church and Malone were clear in their statements and implications that collectively amounted to what I said it did. You’re a dishonest person if you won’t admit that.
Why don’t you tell me what you think indoctrinating and infiltrating elementary school aged children means? Why don’t you tell me what it means to convert children? Why don’t you tell me how if gays are such good people that we need protecting and defending against them?
Oh..now I get it. From all of the 2010 ads, commercials and rhetoric, political or otherwise, that was whirling around our heads (from both sides) on legalizing same-sex marriage, you assembled it all together (from the opposition side) and collectively decided and determined the real meaning behind it all was Bishop Malone indicating that the reason gay people “want marriage” was for the purpose of wanting to molest children in schools.” That’s a very serious charge, BTW. (You leapt to an interpretation, a precarious one, that wasn’t and can’t be substantiated by facts of the debate itself.)
Because I don’t need or want to agitate you any further, I will just touch on your demand that I answer, and I quote “Why don’t you tell me what you think indoctrinating and infiltrating elementary school aged children means? Here is my reply to that question. I took it to mean that alternate lifestyles (Gay men marriage and Lesbian marriage) would be introduced to children at the elementary grade school level under the rubric of age appropriate social equality classes?
Another question quote of yours. “Why don’t you tell me what it means to convert children?” I know the pro-gay marriage community accuses their opponents of claiming that grade school teachers would be attempting to “convert” immature and vulnerable children to becoming homosexual…but I didn’t see or have I yet to see a commercial or ad or any verbiage alluding to that assertion.
“Why don’t you tell me how if gays are such good people that we need protecting and defending against them?” This last question of yours is too convoluted to answer. Not all gays are good people. Not all heterosexuals are good people. And I don’t know who “them” is in your question.
Simply ridiculous. You claim not to know who “them” means so you can’t answer the question, then why are you defending those that initially made the assertion? It was assert that “them” (gays as a whole) are out to indoctrinate and to destroy marriage. So, you can answer it if you’re not a hypocrite and have principled standards.
I didn’t leap to an interpretation. Your interpretation is as valid as mine is. The various groups claimed to be working together. They all make various claims that work together in unison and create the narrative: gays are after your children. Your feigned ignorance is laughable. Your denial of any subtext is dishonest. You’re simply not a credible person.
Your analysis is seriously flawed, especially about me. Don’t hang out your shingle yet !
Look at all the effort I put into actually answering your questions and you still come back at me acting like a horse’s patootie. (-: HAGD
You offer no substantive responses. You just dress up your non-arguments with fancy verbiage, but what remains is essentially, “I’m right and you’re wrong” with absolutely no support for your claims. It’s lazy and obviously inaccurate.
Best.Idea.Ever.Unfortunately the immense wealth of the CC and their penchant for secrecy,plus the help of the media,ensure this won’t happen.These rats they are trying to expose need to be jailed.
OJ Simpson, Micheal Jackson, the list goes on and on… Justice may be blind, but she can sure her the money in your pocket.
Too true.I wish it weren’t so but it is.
While I am no fan of the Catholic church’s hierarchy, or it’s reaction to the numerous allegations of sexual abuse, I have to say that I’m not in favor of publishing the private information of any person who has only been accused of something, no matter how credible the accusation. We have a legal system that presumes innocence, and creating a searchable database of people accused of a crime seems to go against that presumption.
That being said, I can understand the desire to do this, given that the victims were and are children, the perps are supposedly trusted authority figures, and the Church has a well-known and thoroughly ancient policy of closing ranks in the face of scandal. Which begs the question; if they did publish names, who could believe them?
And when no proof is given in the same court of public opinion, how can we say for sure when a false accusation is true or not and be able to correct it?
Whether true or false, once the accusation is made, no hearing, no public discussion, no truths, no proof, and the priest, whether guilty or innocent is pronounced guilty by public opinion and guys like this chase them for the rest of their lives with no rest.
Can’t say as I would want that kind of justice served upon me and I certainly don’t wish it served upon others.
What happened to forgiveness? Not an option with this guy I guess…
“Credibly accused” is still presumed innocent in my country.
Amen!
Your country…..you mean the U.S.A? That “presumed innocent” mumbo jumbo didn’t work out so well for George Zimmerman, did it?
The media, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have tried and sentenced George Zimmerman in the court of public opinion. Zimmerman doesn’t have enough money to sue the media but he has a solid case for slander and libel against the vile and loathsome Sharpton and Jackson.
Sharpton has already been proven wrong and condemned for false public accusations in the Tawana Brawley and the Duke lacrosse cases. The man has no shame. Even after he tries and condemns others in public and is proven dead wrong, he still keeps doing it…..like a drug addict..out of control and needing their next “fix.” And he’s a “consultant” to the President and is applauded by the Attorney General of the U.S.
But anyway, back to the topic. I’m not saying that pedophile priests shouldn’t have been exposed and rooted out of the church and the victims be awarded financial sums. But I find it disgraceful that these two vigilantes (Kenrick and Paul) have deliberately disclosed the home, what the house looks like and the town where the private residence is of Bishop Malone. (Despicable)
The purchasers of private homes have their home purchases and prices published on record. The Bishop’s diocese purchased the property. He lives in a community, not on church property.
Perhaps you might be willing to delete your racist remarks before attacking two good men.
What is despicable is the bishop’s refusal to publicly name priest perps who are guilty of sexually abusing kids.
OK…you’re talking about a private citizen making a trip to the town hall, finding the correct department and asking the workers behind the counter to give you the address and location of Bishop Malone’s home? That certainly takes determination and extra effort if, for some peculiar reason, [someone] needs to know the location and address of the Bishop’s residence. However, with assistance of the BDN and these two vigilance committee members, we now know what the house looks like and the “community” its in. I assume they intend to leave that sign out on the road in front of the Bishop’s house.
There are no racist remarks in my previous comment to delete. I suspect you don’t know what a racist is.
You are a declarative and blatant racist KiKi, no doubt about it.
LOL, you are definitely racist KiKi. Sorry if you didn’t understand the definition prior to this post.
What was racist in KikiEm’s post? Also, since when is an accusation considered guilt?
“Credible accusations” are those which the institutional Roman Catholic Church in the Portland Diocese knows and acknowledges to be true. If the statute of limitations in the State has run out, these cases can not be tried in the criminal legal system. The priest perps, however, while having been removed from all ministry because the sexual abuse allegations are credible, read true, are able to live where they please and are not required to register as perps, despite the fact that the church has found them to have sexually abused children. What people don’t understand or will not accept, is that all sexual abuse perps, including priests, continue to be a very real danger to children. A sexual perpetrator who is able to live under the radar, is one who will abuse again.
“Credible accusations” is the terminology used for those priests whom the diocese acknowledges as sexual abusers.
You didn’t answer the question of what was “racist” in KikiEm’s post.
I repeat the question: what was racist about the comment?
LOL, if they were Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, or Congregational perpetrators than they would be fair game, right?? LOL Nothing says faith like 3 inches of bullet proof glass while holding a sold gold Staff used to control “Sheep”….
I suppose the real issue here is what makes an accusation credible. I do believe that the Catholic church has a long history of protecting pedophiles, but an accusation is still just that. If church members have actual evidence of sexual abuse, I think for them to not come forward would be illegal.
There seems to be a misunderstanding about the term “credible accusations”. That is the language the church uses to say, yes, a certain priest or church worker really did sexually abuse a kid.
Regarding Catholic Clergy reporting:
Me. Rev. Ann. Tit.22, 4011-A (1)(A)(27)LexisNexis through 2009 2nd. Reg. Sess. Clergy must report sexual abuse. The one exception to this is if a victim tells a priest in the Confessional. In that case, the priest does not have to report.
Wait!! They are not asking for a list of names of priest how are “guilty”!!! They want a list of priest who are “credibly accused”‘ meaning NOT being found guilty of any thing. I say list them all day long, once they are found guilty!!! Just being accused and being listed is dangerous and will treat them as being guilty before a trial. Would you like to have your name on a list of such crimes before you have your day in court? I think not.
In Church language, “credible accusations” means the priests has been found to have abused a kid. They are guilty of sexual abusing a child, however, because the reporting time of the statutes of imitations of that crime has run out, the Attorney General is not able to open a criminal case. The priest perp is still guilty of having abused a child.
What Paul Kendrick, Harvey Paul, Mike Sweat, Marie Tupper, myself and others want is the Diocese to put a registry on its website naming the abusers so that people will know who they are and protect children from being in contact with them. This is appropriate community action to protect all children.
There was nothing “racist” about what KikiEm said about Jackson and Sharpton. It’s a fact that Sharpton has been wrong about the supposed guilt of a whole lot of people recently.
Racist remarks?
Did I miss something? Was he convicted or just indicted and arrested?
None of the above in a court of law. Just public opinion.
Why shouldnt any priest or bishop or minister be held to the same account of the law as anyone else? I dont believe in giving special rights to them anymore than i do giving special rights to politicians that break the law…bout time we started having everyone, EVERYONE, on an even keel
Zimmerman raised $200K plus online-more than the entire amount of his bail.
“Credible accusations” are those which the institutional Roman Catholic Church in the Portland Diocese knows and acknowledges to be true. If the statute of limitations in the State has run out, these cases can not be tried in the criminal legal system. The priest perps, however, while having been removed from all ministry because the sexual abuse allegations are credible, read true, are able to live where the pleases. What people don’t understand or will not accept, is that all sexual abuse perps, including priests, continue to be a very real danger to children. A sexual perpetrator who is able to live under the radar, is one who will abuse again.
“Credible accusations” is the terminology used for those priests whom the diocese acknowledges as sexual abusers.
He doesnt appear to be living a life of poverty….nice house for a man of god.
Touch me Father for I have sinned.
What we need is to see some criminal prosecution of Bishops who have harbored pedophiles. The Vatican is crawling with them.
Agreed!—They keep moving these pedophiles around from place to place, newer children to molest, and it is all covered up!! —As for the commenter, MaineLeads, some things are unforgivable-There is nothing sicker in this world then the men or women that hide behind religion to hurt the children!–
It would be most helpful if Sue Bernard used her pulpit to tell the truth, not half-truths. The last time Fr. Audibert was found to live in Falmouth, neither the police nor the neighbors (with many children living next door) were aware of his presence. Call and ask the police chief. When he moved to Scarborough, the police there were not informed by Bishop Malone. Call and ask the police chief.
We don’t know where he lives or where any of those determined by the church courts to be guilty live, for that matter. That’s the point! The bishops have long covered up the abuses, including Malone while in the Archdiocese of Boston, so as to protect the image of Holy Mother Church and also allow statutes of limitations to lapse. That’s why there are no longer statutes of limitations for criminal or civil sexual assault of children in Maine. Advocates worked to have legislation enacted which changed this loophole.
Priests raped children, committed crimes and the bishops covered them up.
Sue and Malone could make things safer for children by disclosing where abusive priests live, what they look like, where they served (and raped) how many cases are against them, updating the list when new cases are discovered.
Identification and notification are key!
The real ruse here is Sue Bernard purporting that kids are safe, law enforcement and neighbors are aware of predator priests and that somehow original notifications about priest removed from misistry is current in the minds of parents and grandparents or that when they move neighbors receive some divine notification that local children are at risk.
Check out Fr. Dayrton Salisbury in the BDN and see how he still goes unnoticed despite original notification.
Take the time to read the trial going on right now in Philadelphia about the abuses, cover-ups and the awareness bishops had there yet they did nothing to remove rapists and protect kids. Maine is a microcosm of Philadelphia
Was he convicted in Court? No, then he doesn’t have to register.
I like you Michael. Keep the commentary flowing. No, really, I mean it.
I am not a Catholic and I can’t think a lower life form than a Pedophile, this is just a new form of
” McCarthyism”. If there are “credible accusations” bring charges and let the legal system take care of the problem.
Apparently, many are missing the point. The legal system is unable to take of much of this because the church hid the problem and the statute of limitations for criminal activity has run out on some of the cases. When priests are not held accountable in the civil legal system, the diocese has been giving priests “punishments” that many of us might find ineffective or peculiarly soft given the crimes they are known to have committed. It is not just Catholic children who are put in harm’s way by this type of dealing with the problem, but all children who may live near the pedophile priest. Hence, the concerns about them not notifying neighborhoods about pedophile priests living in the area.
I understand quite well, well as good as someone can, who hasn’t been molested. Why do you just want to single out “priests”? Many more children are molested by other people; neighbors, friends of family, strangers, or Uncle happy fingers. Do you not care about those children? (Rhetorical question, of course you do) The same statute of limitation has run out. It would be discriminatory to single out one small minority and hold them to a different standard. Why just stop at this crime? Lets have a list of anyone accused of a crime. Who is the final arbiter of what is “credible” and what is not? Our system is far from perfect, but it’s what we have. Innocent until proven guilty.
Change the laws to remove the statute of limitation on these crimes. Look for a RICO act charge. That’s the best I can come up with unfortunately.
Don’t be confused, I think “people”, for lack of a better word, that prey on children should get the harshest punishment possible. Far more harsh, than the current legal system allows.
Innocent until proven guilty. So prove him guilty and put his name on the government sex offender registry AND in some church registry. Until he is guilty rather than accused, there’s not much that can be done to inform the public of his location
Well, the problem is, the priests have admitted to molesting children, but because of the former statute of limitations, no charges can be brought. Does that mean the abuse never happened and the men can be free to go about their lives until they molest somebody again?
No, it doesn’t mean that the abuse never happened. The abuse happened but outside the statutes of limitations so no criminal prosecution took place. And yes, the sexual predator is free to go on and live his life until he abuses again. Hopefully he will be caught and duly prosecuted.
What Paul Kendrick, Harvey Paul and others are advocating is the fact that the Catholic Diocese refuses to release the names of those priests and church workers who are sexual offenders and have, as the phrase goes, been “credibly accused”. As the article states, Kendrick and others want the bishop to create a church based list of these credibly accused offenders so people will know the names and towns these priest perps live in. The bishop refuses to do this. Other bishops from other states have done this but not Malone.
This is the issue the article raises. By the comments, many people do not understand the judicial system, the statues of limitations, the fact that “credibly accused” means, yes, these priests have been labeled by the diocese as sexual abusers, but they have not been criminally prosecuted because the statutes of limitations have run out.
In other words, the public’s children are not being protected! You got it right, Acountain, when you wrote: “… and the men can be free to go about their lives until they molest somebody again?”
Yes, the priests are free to go about their lives until they sexually abuse other children – and get caught. However, children often do not talk about being sexually abused, which is why this is such an insidious problem. Some go for years without telling anyone. In the mean time they live with not only having their young bodies violated, but they have often been told by priests that if they tell anyone, they will burn in hell, that no one will believe them if they tell, and that the priest will kill them and their parents and their pet.
Yes, these are the things that children have been told. This is real. Now, don’t you agree that the bishop should publish a registry of priests who are credibly accused of sex crimes against kids? He can easily do this on the Diocesan Website.
So do you see the importance of having a church based registry for this priests who have been credibly accused of sex crimes against children?
“Credible accusations” are those which the institutional Roman Catholic Church in the Portland Diocese knows and acknowledges to be true. If the statute of limitations in the State has run out, these cases can not be tried in the criminal legal system. The priest perps, however, while having been removed from all ministry because the sexual abuse allegations are credible, read true, are able to live where they please. What people don’t understand or will not accept, is that all sexual abuse perps, including priests, continue to be a very real danger to children. A sexual perpetrator who is able to live under the radar, is one who will abuse again.
In the case Registering as a Sexual Predator, priests whose crimes against children have occurred outside the statute of limitations, can not be prosecuted criminally by the State Attorney General. However, this does not mean that there priests have not sexually abused children. They have, they can not criminally be tried because of the statutes. Paul Kendrick and Harvey Paul are doing the community a service. They are informing people of a very real problem. Sue Bernard knows this, however, Sue in working for the diocese, has to put a negative spin on Kendrick’s actions. It’s her job to try to discredit him. She works for the Bishop and the Bishop works for this own agenda, and that is to NOT make available to the public a list of Catholic priests who have actually abused kids. This is what Kendrick and many supporters of the sexually abused want.
People in all neighborhoods should want to know if a priest perp is living in their midst. Parents and grandparents should want to know this so they can protect their little ones. Pretending, as Sue Bernard suggests, that this is a “publicity stunt” is a shameful remark to make. Stop and think a moment. If your child or grandchild were sexually based by a priest, minister, rabbi or anyone else, and a spokesperson said that sharing important information was a “publicity stunt”, how would that sit with you? With your child or grandchild? Your niece or nephew?
Child sexual abuse is a horror. Too many people don’t really want to know what abusers do to children. The sexual abuse is horrific but so too are the threats, lies and shame that the abusers bash their victims with.
The woman who appeared to be “outraged” that her upper class neighborhood was high lighting this important issue is part of the problem. Too many people who just don’t want to hear about “those issues” in “their neighborhoods”, fail to understand that sexual abuse of children crosses all socio-economic lines. A society that does not protect its children is a society where cowardice and indifference reign.
Let’s just continue on and make another list for all those drug dealers, because I’d really like to know where they are living too…not to mention the thieve’s, definitely want to know where they are living. In keeping with your copy & pasted rant, let’s not worry about anyone else’s rights, let’s just act on hearsay, rumors, and gossip. If your going to start or want to start a web site devoted to people who have not been formally convicted in the Courts, for whatever crime you say they have committed, prepare yourselves for huge lawsuits.
stay strong Paul Kendrick!! your great work is not going unnoticed!!
That’s quite a home for someone who has pledged to live in poverty.
A. Being familiar with this particular case, twice, the “victim” was one under-the-age-of-18 person but not a child (less than 12 let’s say for argument’s sake). And the victim, as it turns out, was abusing long before he met the priest. (Hello, Houston, pay attention here, we have a problem and it’s not the priest!)
B. There was NEVER a court hearing therefore NEVER a conviction, which means…
C. Not being convicted of a sex crime in the State of Maine, this particular person Kendrick wishes to focus on does NOT, by law, have to register any where.
D. Yes, people DO know what this man looks like. Duh! Just Google it and you will know.
E. How many times do true victims have to be dragged through all this stuff?? Has anyone thought about that? Would you want to deal with this day in and day out the rest of you life because some “person” wanted the limelight for himself?? Let them heal and go forward with their PERSONAL LIVES.
F. And where is the information that Kendrick has/had a protection order against him? Did it run out?? What’s HIS gain in all this?? Popularity? Attention? Notoriety?
G.What’s this guy’s personal agenda? Why is he bringing all this back up again??? Haven’t the rest of us suffered ENOUGH ALREADY???!
H. Soulution/Solution: JUST LET PRIESTS MARRY. Let’s talk about THAT instead of re-hashing old skeletons. Let’s MOVE ONWARD and not be constantly abusing the past. I’m so done with this chapter but this “So-n-so” feels the need to keep poking old dogs. Let them Lay!! Move ON.
Honestly, guys like this one that feel the need to chase and grab the media scare me more than a sinner priest does. By the way, we are ALL sinners. Go check out that LOG in your eye before you point out the stick in mine, k, Kendrick??
Want to deal with pedophiles? More girls are sexually assaulted and nobody does much about that… Travesty! And this guy’s got Nothing to say about that, now does he?? Unbelievable. There are bigger issues to deal with.
Pedophiles who prefer little girls usually go for 8-10 year olds. Pedophiles who prefer boys are usually attracted to prepubescent boys. A priest who practices pedophilia is a sinner for sure, but their sin is in a category all its own.
It was Jesus himself who declared, “Whoever harms one of these little ones, it would be better for him if a millstone were tied around his neck and he were thrown into the deepest part of the sea.” Notice Jesus didn’t say that that is what will happen to creeps who do irreparable harm to a child (before they can protect or defend themselves) Jesus said, “they would be better off with the millstone around their necks and drown in the deepest part of the sea” than the sentence that really awaits them.
KikiEm “Pedophiles who prefer little girls usually go for 8-10 year olds. Pedophiles who prefer boys are usually attracted to prepubescent boys. A priest who practices pedophilia is a sinner for sure, but their sin is in a category all its own.”
Pedophiles victims are not confined to any specific age group. They have preferences. Some predators prefer infants, some toddlers, some young children, some middle aged kids, some young or older teens. A priest who practices pedophilia is a criminal. Sexual abuse is a crime. Some people prefer to see these crimes as “sins” rather than crimes. However, they are crimes. When a crook steals he commits a crime, whether he apprehended or not. When a priest sexually abuses a child he commits a crime. The “sin” is a religious term and has no standing in the legal system.
“Pedophiles victims are not confined to any specific age group. They have preferences. Some predators prefer infants, some toddlers, some young children, some middle aged kids, some young or older teens. ”
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The 8-10 year old group and the prepubescent designation? I should have included…”as a rule”…this is what the majority of pedophiles are attracted to. I realize that many different age groups are molested and abused.
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“A priest who practices pedophilia is a criminal. Sexual abuse is a crime. Some people prefer to see these crimes as “sins” rather than crimes. However, they are crimes. When a crook steals he commits a crime, whether he apprehended or not. When a priest sexually abuses a child he commits a crime.”
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I agree.
Wrong. They’re opportunistic. They prey on what’s there and what’s vulnerable. I don’t know where you’re getting your clearly false information from.
My comment of 12 hours ago was a reply to specifics in a comment from Paulin Salvucci. I pasted a quote of hers first and then replied to it. I then pasted a second quote of hers and replied to that.
I assume you mean by “they”…you mean pedophiles. Pedophiles, whether they are prowling in the general public or sit in lofty religious buildings wearing clerical collars, (Catholic and Protestant) they” are opportunistic and they do prey on what’s there and what’s vulnerable.
It appears I have caused you to become a bit unglued. At the risk of causing you to become more angry and upset……what are you referring to as “false information” and for the third time I ask……cite your references, newspaper sources, or community publications where Bishop Malone stated that gay people “wanting marriage” was for the purpose of wanting to molest children in schools?
I already explained myself. It’d ridiculous that you demand verbatim quotes for things. Sentiment remains.
Your demands for citations and quotes are a bit laughable given the fact that your misinformation is citation-free.
All you have to do is publish, if you want to call it my misinformation, and I will cite the sources. As far as verbatim quotes……I’ve only used “your quotes”…verbatim.
I’ve explained myself and was very clear about it. You are demanding that I quote Malone verbatim when I reiterate his months of statements and that is ridiculous. The campaign created a narrative. They didn’t sum everything together into a bumper sticker style slogan and simply repeat that phrase for months.
And, publishing their addresses will surely encourage some Neanderthal to do exactly this … we’ve moved beyond the “eye for an eye” days, one can hope!
Your post contains many falsehoods. Don’t spew misinformation.
There she goes again. Poor Sue Bernard. In her rush to defend her boss, the
bishop, she never fails to leave out the most important facts.
First of all, it was members of the Ignatius Group who, two years ago,
discovered that Father Audibert was living in an apartment complex in Falmouth.
Bishop Malone had not notified police or school officials of Audibert’s
whereabouts. When frightened neighbors complained, Audibert disappeared and
rented a place in Scarborough. Again, Malone said nothing. Once again, he didn’t
notify Scarborough town officials And get this, according to Audibert’s new
landlord, Audibert lied on his rental application. When asked for his
occupation, he didn’t say he was a Catholic priest (which he is) and he didn’t
tell the landlord that he was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance by the
church for child sexual abuse.
So much for trusting this guy.
Sue Bernard also failed to mention that at least two
additional child sexual abuse allegations have been filed against Audibert in
the last three years. We know. We met with the victims’ distressed
families. So, yes, Sue Bernard, officials in these two
communities were warned about Audibert – not by you and Bishop Malone – but by
child protection advocates. And, no, Sue Bernard, we do not
know where Father Audibert is living at this moment. Please tell us
where he is so we can warn the community. Is he still living in Scarborough? If
so, how are moms and dads able to protect their kids from him if no one knows
what he looks like? It’s really important, I think, that
people are clear in their understanding about what child protection advocates
are asking the bishop to do. We want Bishop Malone to publish a
database of all priests and church workers who have either admitted, been
convicted and/or are credibly accused of child sexual abuse. It is important to
note that the bishop, himself, has already made these names public during the
past ten years. It is church protocol for a priest to be removed from ministry
because of an allegation of child sexual abuse only after a lengthy, in-depth
internal church investigation and a vote of a church review board, Bishop Malone
then makes the name of the priest or church worker known to the public. All we’re asking the bishop to do is to consolidate the already
published list of names into a single database, add photos, service records,
ministerial status, where and when the abuse(s) occurred, number of victims
(with timely updates), gender of victims. This process has been
implemented in approximately 22 Catholic dioceses (some better than others). In
particular, we’re asking Bishop Malone to examine and improve upon the databases
posted on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Archdiocese of Boston web
sites. Protecting children from cunning and manipulative child
molesters is the worry of every parent. Posting a database on the diocese web
site is one more way that Bishop Malone can help protect children from dangerous
child molesters and bring aid and comfort to those who are already abused.
Perhaps, for the first time in their life, they will know they weren’t the only
one.
Marie Tupper
Member of Ignatius Group
Why do you pick on Sue Bernard, she was the best newscaster the County ever had.
It seems like if the church would do away with it’s ridiculous stance on priests and nuns being allowed to marry (which is something they came up with, it is NOT in the bible) it really would put an end to a lot of this, it is unnatural for “most people” to remain celibate their whole lives and I think it drives some of them to this. I’m sure some of them would do it anyway, but I have to wonder if it wouldn’t reduce the frequency tremendously…
The majority of sexual abusers are married men, so a married clergy will not end this tragedy, but educating people about sexual abuse will go a long way to help protect children.
If people would be willing to google “child sexual abuse”, they are many child abuse protection sites with excellent information.
Many who criticize institutions are people who work in the trenches. They are the messengers of important news. Pay attention or not, it’s a choice. Trying to discredit their voices is a choice to ignore the issue. Children are society’s most vulnerable citizens. Those who invest in not protecting children have their own agenda and its name is denial, and its parent is pride.
Celibacy does not lead to pedophilia and or an uncontrollable desire for prepubescent boys. The psychosexual mental disorder was there when they entered the seminary. There is no better place to have access to children and adolescents than a man who hides behind a clerical collar.
Of the numbers of community pedophiles in the country, (excluding priests) 50% of them are married. 95% of known Pedophiles are heterosexual. Societal pedophiles gravitate toward teaching, coaching, scouting, clergy & activity centers, arcades, amusement parks and ball fields.
I repeat, celibacy has nothing to do with this psychosexual mental disorder .
OK perhaps someone can help clarify something for me…..what does ‘credibly accused’ supposed to mean legally? That term does not clearly indicate actual legal guilt. If any priest has been accused of something involving a child WHERE ARE THE POLICE (and not the ‘catholic police’ the actual police)??? Why are these priests not reported to the police so that the police investigate because a CRIME may have occurred?? You know like if what would happen you or I or anyone else were accused of such a crime. Why is it left up to the church to do the ‘investigating’ (that would have been like allowing Goldman Sachs to do their own internal auditing and we all know how that worked out.) So how does this process work? Thx.
“Credible accusations” are those which the institutional Roman Catholic Church in the Portland Diocese knows and acknowledges to be true. If the statute of limitations in the State has run out, these cases can not be tried in the criminal legal system. The priest perps, however, while having been removed from all ministry because the sexual abuse allegations are credible, read true, are able to live where the pleases. What people don’t understand or will not accept, is that all sexual abuse perps, including priests, continue to be a very real danger to children. A sexual perpetrator who is able to live under the radar, is one who will abuse again. “Credible accusations” is the terminology used for those priests whom the diocese acknowledges as sexual abusers.
Thanks I just looked up statute of limitations for sexual assault in Maine and it says: ‘Maine-six years, but there is no statute of limitations if the victim is under age 16’ I would presume that many of these children who were molested by priests were under 16 years of age and therefore the statute of limitations has not expired and thus charges could still be pressed against these pedophiles…..so why has this not happened???
It can take many years, if ever, for a survivor of clergy sexual abuse to talk to someone about what happened to them. Some survivors just want to forget it. Some have a great fear of not being believed when they accuse Fr. So-and-So. After all, as a child this person was told no one would ever believe him/her – or they were told far worse. These vulnerable kids believed priests when the priest told them that no one would believe them, or worse, they were frightened to silence believing the priest who told them their parents would die if the kid told. Think about how horrible that threat is to a child. Because of the damage done to them, and the fear, and shame victims feel often keep quiet.
When a sexual abuse survivor decides to come forth, they are asked to go to their diocese and speak to a representative about the abuse and name the priest who abused them. They have to relive the experience in the telling and they are not talking to a sympathetic listener. Remember, the Catholic Church as an institution is no friend of the abuse victim, no matter what the bishop says. The church still wants this “mess” of their own making to go away. But it’s too late for that.
So think how brave an adult has to be to do come forward. Children often can’t even tell their parents and sadly, some children have told their parents and some parents refused to believe them. Stats tells us it’s often 20-40 years before a sexual abuse survivor can talk about their abuse.
Reading more about the trauma of child sexual abuse can help people understand why this devastating crisis continues to be written about over and over again. It’s a Catholic Church global issue and it isn’t going to go away. The Catholic Church has much to be accountable about and the accountability of the hierarchy is still in its infancy.
Bishop Malone deserves only praise for his leadership of the Maine Catholic Church. His critics are godless Communists with anti-American personal agendas. In a few years, God willing, the Good Bishop will be made a Cardinal, and deservedly so. He is a wonderful man, no? How could anyone see things otherwise?
LOL, I have never heard anything so doubly delusional in my life. Are you for real? I’m sure the good Bishop has the situation in hand as we speak if you get my drift. LOL Take care of that bunyon, bunyon.
Malone was sent up here from Boston because three Maine Bishops, Edward J. O’Leary, Amadee Proulx, and Joseph Gerry did everything they could to sweep the problem under the rug. Malone may be a good and honorable man but lacks “street cred” because of the actions and inactions of his predecessors.
Bishop Gerry grew up no less than 100 feet from my house in Millinocket. He is a slave to his Cardinal, otherwise a decent man. He, in this instance, is without any blame. He might have pushed accusations under the rug, but he is blameless as far as I’m concerned as far as this a–wipe is concerned. Ignorance is bliss from his perspective I’m assuming.
It’s a disgusting organization, they have no concern for the welfare of the children they scar. If they are not guilty of pedophilia, they are guilty of covering for these people. This gives them the opportunity to continue their sickness somewhere else where the public is unaware.
Accused no, convicted certainly. There is a HUGE difference.
“The two-person protest was nothing more than a ruse to get media attention and unnecessarily attempt to disrupt and alarm a neighborhood,” Bernard said.
Why would any “christian” organization not be willing to share their information? Do they not want to empower the general public with the knowledge to protect themselves?
Even worse though – why would the church minimize the importance of a valid concern with a statement like that above? I’d certainly want to know if my grandkids lived in a neighborhood where an offending priest lived. I’d be equally concerned about a church employee who had knowledge but didn’t report it – they are equally as sick as a sex offender.
Children are precious – but apparently the Catholic Church has a different perspective on how to show that sentiment.
here we go again with the Catholic Church. Keep your kids away from all priests
Not only the Roman Catholic Church but also Maine police and prosecutors participated in the many cover ups of abuse by Catholic priests here in Maine. The Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office and Augusta Police Department knew well of two priests at St. Mary’s Parish and School in Augusta who molested several young boys. The DA”s Office feared backlash from Catholic voters and the Chief of Police was a Catholic with his own children in the school.
Yes, priests “promised” the police they would take care of the “problem” because they wanted no scandal, not because they cared about kids. They wanted the problem to go away, so they lied to police and parents alike. The problem never went away, the diocese just stuck the sexually abusing priests in another parish. How convenient for these perps. What a senseless, vile and horrible tragedy for the children they abused and keep abusing while they were transferred from parish to parish.
When a religious institution uses its power and money to silence the truth, that institution has lost its moral and spiritual compass. When religious people refuse to see that fact, they have lost theirs as well.
Lawsuits over the issue established that Fr. Raymond Melville molested at least two boys. The Vatican tried and defrocked Fr. John Leon Shorty for molesting boys in Caribou although they never dealt with the molestation of boys by him at St. Mary’s in Augusta. Interesting that the Kennebec County DA’s Office and Augusta Police Department “lost” the reports of numerous abuses in Augusta by these two priests.
then if the police failed to investigate and arrest someone whom they know or have evidence of committing a crime….why not go after them too? After all, that is their job, what they are paid to do; they are not paid to accept “promises”…sounds close to a “bribe”. If they truly cared about the kids then they would have investigated, gathered evidence, and eventually prosecuted.
AMEN
Yes, let’s be sure to publish their current addresses so the lynch mob mentality will know where to go.
Just pray that they won’t do it again, and everything will be ok…
Go here to learn the truth about the media’s jihad of exaggeration, bias
and misinformation about the Catholic church and sex abuse.
http://www.themediareport.com/
Stop the bias! Stop the lies! Tell the truth!
The poll question says “accused” — no mention of proof or a conviction. That makes such a registry dangerous.
However, the Catholic Church has a proven bad history of moving accused priests to another parish and covering up.
Did you know when a person accuses a minister of the Catholic Church of molesting them that the church sues the accuser for defamation of character?
This church has a long history of molesting innocent children and protecting molester. I have read of many cases of these SOB’s being moved from perish to perish so their supply of fresh innocent children never runs out. This is happening all over the world, not just in The United States of America. This church literally sickens me to my core.
The Catholic Church is nothing more than a big business enterprise: an EVIL enterprise. Their only devotion is to accumulating wealth and power. They hide behind the guise of religion. How shameful. How vulgar.