Re: Michael Jackson bust

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 17:55:21 -0500, Mani Deli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Message ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in
alt.atheism;

>and here's one in today's paper. CNN?

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/21/national/21CHUR.html

>Archdiocese of Cincinnati Fined in Sex Abuse Scandal
>By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
> 
>n Ohio state judge found the Archdiocese of Cincinnati guilty
>yesterday of failing to report sexually abusive priests in the 1970's
>and 80's and imposed the maximum penalty possible, a fine of $10,000.
>
>The judge's decision was the result of an agreement with the county
>prosecutor in which Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk entered a
>no-contest plea on behalf the archdiocese. The archbishop appeared in
>the courtroom with several church officials and personally entered the
>plea. 
>
>"Do you understand," Judge Richard Niehaus of Common Pleas Court said
>to the archbishop, "you admitted facts that constituted guilt?"
>
>The archbishop, pale as he stood before the bench, answered, "Right."
>
>The agreement was reached hastily, just as a grand jury was convened
>to hear testimony against the archdiocese. It came at a time when many
>bishops appear eager to dissipate the cloud of the sexual abuse
>scandal that has shadowed them for nearly two years.
>
>Some dioceses have announced settlements with victims, and several
>have reported to the public the names or number of priests and other
>diocesan employees dismissed after abuse accusation.
>
>"They're trying very hard to get it off the table and get on with
>trying to be a church again," said the Rev. James Coriden, a professor
>of church law at Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C.
>
>The Cincinnati prosecutor and local plaintiffs lawyers hailed the
>agreement, saying it was the first time that a Roman Catholic
>organization has been convicted on criminal charges related to the
>mishandling of sexual abuse cases. Bishops in two other Catholic
>dioceses — in Phoenix and in Manchester, N.H. — have signed agreements
>with prosecutors in which they admitted some wrongdoing, but avoided
>prosecution.
>
>Under the agreement in Cincinnati, the archdiocese acknowledged that
>by pleading no contest, it was admitting the truth of five
>fourth-degree misdemeanor charges and agreeing to accept the judge's
>sentence.
>
>"The Archdiocese is held responsible," said Michael K. Allen, the
>Hamilton County prosecuting attorney. "To my knowledge, this is the
>first conviction of its kind in any jurisdiction within the United
>States, and it sends a clear and unequivocal message."
>
>In a statement, Archbishop Pilarczyk expressed "sorrow and shame," and
>said: "A few years ago, I never would have thought that it would be
>necessary for a bishop to be making apologies like these. But it is
>necessary and I offer my expressions of sorrow and regret with the
>deepest intensity of which I am capable. Victims, please forgive us
>and help us to see to it that what you have suffered never happens
>again."
>
>In a news conference, Archbishop Pilarczyk said he did not intend to
>resign. "Failure to report a crime is just that," he said. "It is not
>some sort of concerted effort to conceal." 
>
>The diocese was convicted of disregarding Ohio law requiring that
>abuse accusations be reported to civil authorities. The charges cover
>the years 1978 to 1982. Archbishop Pilarczyk was appointed to head the
>Cincinnati archdiocese in December 1982, but served from 1974 as an
>auxiliary bishop there. 
>
>He served as president of what is now called the United States
>Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1989 to 1992, when the first wave
>of the church's sexual abuse scandal occurred. During these years, the
>bishops made recommendations on sexual abuse cases that many dioceses
>later admitted they failed to follow.
>
>The Archdiocese of Cincinnati also agreed to establish a $3 million
>fund to compensate sexual abuse victims who cannot sue the church
>because their cases are beyond the statute of limitations. A
>three-member tribunal will administer the fund. 
>
>There is a notable advantage for the archdiocese in pleading no
>contest rather than guilty, said Konrad Kircher, a Cincinnati-area
>lawyer who represents 67 people suing the church for what they say was
>sexual abuse. Under Ohio law, a no contest plea cannot be used in
>civil proceedings, he said.
>
>The prosecutor, Mr. Allen, said in a statement that he had decided to
>investigate the church after Archbishop Pilarczyk announced in March
>2002 that fewer than five priests who had abused children remained
>active in ministry. Mr. Allen impaneled one grand jury that in March
>2003 indicted two inactive priests. He recently impaneled a second to
>examine why the archdiocese never reported abuse claims to the police.
>
>Leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which has
>pressed for prosecutions of church leaders, criticized the arrangement
>in Cincinnati. Barbara Blaine, a lawyer who is the network's
>president, was among a group who met with the prosecutor in Cincinnati
>on Thursday.
>
>"We owe a great deal of gratitude to this prosecutor," said Ms.
>Blaine. "Mike Allen has really tried hard and gone out on a limb. But
>at the same time we are not pleased at the actual outcome, because the
>archbishop was allowed to plead no contest — he didn't enter a plea of
>guilty — and no individual is being held responsible."
>
>Judge Niehaus, a Roman Catholic, chastised his church in the courtroom
>today.
>
>"I believe that a religious organization that not only should follow
>the civil law but also the moral law lost its way," he said. "And I
>believe that all religious organizations ought to show greater respect
>for human rights and not try to preserve themselves at the expense of
>the victims."
>
>
> "Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are
> conservative." -John Stuart Mill 
>
>Tired of Modern Art? check 
>http://www3.sympatico.ca/manideli/

         

   
             Stoney
"Designated Rascal and Rapscallion
               and
          SCAMPERMEISTER!"

When in doubt, SCAMPER about!
When things are fair, SCAMPER everywhere!
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/end humour alert

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