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February 8th, 2012
08:24 PM ET
Retired New York Cardinal Egan retracts apology on Catholic priest sex abuseBy Laura Batchelor, CNN New York (CNN) - A decade after the sex abuse scandal that plagued the Catholic Church across the country, retired Cardinal Edward Egan has taken back his apology for how the church handled the issue. In an interview published this week in Connecticut Magazine, Egan denies any sex abuse happened under his watch in Bridgeport, Connecticut, or in New York. "I never had one of these sex abuse cases. ... Not one," he told the magazine. Referencing the apology he issued in 2002, Egan continued, "I should never have said that. I did say 'If we did anything wrong, I'm sorry,' but I don't think we did anything wrong." The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests responded with a press release saying Egan was "unrepentant, self-absorbed and painfully dismissive of the abject suffering of tens of thousands." "Most bishops have a dreadfully skewed and self-serving view of the crisis," the release said. "But most work very hard to conceal it." Egan successor as archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, spoke briefly on the matter at a news conference in the city Wednesday. "I'm not familiar with the extent of the interview, but all I know is I'm grateful for what Cardinal Egan did here," he told reporters. Brian Wallace, director of communication of the Bridgeport diocese, where Egan was bishop from 1988 to 2000, told CNN, "If there is one thing Catholics agree on, (it) is the abhorrence of child abuse, any form, and the need to make sure that it doesn't happen again." The timing of Egan's comment coincides with the Vatican's four-day summit on the sex abuse scandal, titled "Towards Healing and Renewal." CNN's senior Vatican analyst, John L. Allen Jr., says the attitude behind Egan's denial was in fashion 10 years ago but has been abandoned. "Based upon this week's Vatican summit on sex abuse, the position that Egan expresses in the interview would not be in line with the positions of the Catholic Church," Allen said. Egan also denied the church has a responsibly to report cases of abuse, telling Connecticut Magazine, "There really wasn't much in the way of (things being kept) hidden. I don't think even now you're obligated to report (abuse cases) in Connecticut." That contrasts with a statement at this week's summit by the Vatican's chief prosecutor of sex abuse, who said the church has an obligation to report sex abuse. "Egan is stuck in a mind set that just isn't the case any more," Allen said. And Wallace told CNN, "We know the abuse was real and it happened. Catholics are united and it won't happen again." |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Alot of us catholics have always said a root cause of this problem was that priests dont have wives. If you allowed priests to marry, like ministers, and have a family, maybe a new a better example of marriage without divorce could become a reverse trend.Just saying
disagree. They target children. Normal adults do not do that to kids even if they're abstaining. These are obviously pedos choosing to become priests so they can abuse the power. They're bad to start with.
Then a lot of you Catholics would be wrong. You actually think that going without s-ex for a long period of time turns one into a pedophile? You're more delusional than one can imagine if you really think this. Or...are you saying that allowing a priest to marry would attract non-pedophile men into the priesthood? The way your church stands at this time is that it mainly attracts either gay men or child rapists.
BTW, the church does not allow men to marry because, upon their death, they want their wealth to go back to the church instead of their personal family and children. As usual, it's all about greed, power and money. You people need to grow a brain and join the age of reason.
Try to follow a thought a little further than the very surface, folks. It would indeed help if Catholic priests could marry. By recruiting only men willing to live without normal adult relationships, those to whom marriage and intimacy are not attractive, they are recruiting men who are by definition deviant. They are not without adult desires, though - they have just ruled out committed monogamy (still our cultural ideal). So how do they plan to meet their needs? Obviously . . . for a lot of them, the answer is by preying on the vulnerable, whether it's children, or vulnerable women in their parishes. The church is recruiting priests from a pool of men who are predictably turning out to be predators, and then they pretend to be surprised when these men show their true colors.
""Egan is stuck in a mind set that just isn't the case any more," Allen said."
This so easily describes virtually all religious people in general.
The same church will also deny women birth control.
Catholicism is the fastest declining religion on the planet !!
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That is not true! It is growing....over 1 billion and headed up. Big growth in the US.
Google: catholicism declining
And do some research. You'll the church is declining rapidly.
.
I don't think that the Catholic church has much growth in the US or western Europe, most recent church growth has been in Africa and Asia.
God is an idea. Such an improbable idea that many have, to make the idea inarguable, said that the idea is beyond human comprehension and so by doing remove the need but more importantly the ability to prove and so make it an untouchable notion of truth based on an idea. How is that different from being delusional? You hold fast to an idea of an improbable, incomprehensible, and untouchable nature as if it is fact!
Until you have evidence for the existence of god, the notion of god remains in the realm of ideas.
And thats a factual statement!
Forget god for a second. Without IDEAS the human mind is only a machine for operating the body. Example: "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal." "Created equal" is delusional because obviously evolution made us unequal.
Evolution has certainly made mankind unequal...you are proof of that. That's my idea.
He says "I never had one case" and I believe him. I never experienced any problems with Catholic priests or nuns and I was in catholic school in 3rd grade, was in Boy Scouts in that parish, went to CCD, went to a Catholic university. They wer always GOOD to me and no indication of anything but normal. So these cases were very rare (1:10,000 maybe) Well heck the ratio of DUI's, burglars, other felons, 7-11 robbers all are much higher. So they do not reflect any greater incidence (ion fact less) than our society in general. The FEW cases that there actually were have been adjudicated and the offenders serving time .. that IS justice. The damage awards more than vindicate against the RC church. So I consider the case closed and the debt paid.
Maybe you were just ugly and they didn't like you that way....
@RTC
Raping a child is several orders of magnitude greater than the petty crimes you listed, and to make it even worse the rapes were committed by men of god, who are supposed to be shining examples of the righteous morality your bible preaches. Shame on you for marginalizing what those children went through. I was an altar boy too, and luckily I didn’t have any run-ins with any pedo-priests, but how can you spew the trash that you do.
“The offenders are serving time” I don’t think so!
“The damage awards more than vindicate against the RC church” You can’t put a price on a child’s innocence you disgusting excuse of a person.
“So I consider the case closed and the debt paid.” The case will never be closed for the kids that were abused. How can you not get that?
I grew up near a Benedictine monastery in the '60s. I was ALONE with various priests in sacristies, houses, cars, swimming pools, and confessionals and NOT ONCE approached in any inappropriate manner.
But be delicate, RightTurnClyde. Some of these bloggers have a very fragile paradigm they need to sustain – like drowning people clinging to a straw.
A fragile paradigm? Nice try Prime Number, if not for the hundreds of cases ongoing and settled on four continenets, and not including crimes over the past 2 thousand years alone against women, children, and those of other faiths. Child ra-pe is but another reason, the worst and most provocative, to despise it's corrupt heart. Rome is a rotten thing, decayed, corrupted, useless, dated, and dying slowly. Anyone not committed to protecting children at all costs, even their souls....has none.
This news saddens me greatly. If Cardinal Egan truly believes that abuse doesn't need to be reported and that abuse did not occur in his dioceses then may God have mercy on his soul. I do wonder though at his complete turnabout, and the fact that his statements are in direct disregard for the Church's position. He's 80, and so I think we have to consider that he may be suffering from dementia. It causes people to say and do things that they would not ordinarily do and that defy explanation.
But the abuses have been reported and the offenders have been tried and sentenced. How many times do you need to hang somebody? You become the distorted one when you are never satisfied (and you were not even a victim). So it is time for you to move on and forget it too. That is why we have a New Year holiday... you know?
And you know they're not a victim, or know one, how?......or a victim of abuse from someone else? The surface of the child ra-pe scandal, and it is ra-pe not abuse, has barely been uncovered. There will be more priests charged, prosecuted, and punished; as long as there are priests their will be child ra-pe. And no, my callous ignorant friiend, there are some crimes that are unforgiveable.
The only way to keep your children safe from these pi-gs is to stop sending them to catholic school. Never leave a child alone with a priest for any reason. Stop donating money to their insti-tutions and causes. Find different medical centers. there is no good whatsoever that is done by the church that cannot be done by another organization or agency with the same financial resources. The people slowing the demise of this bronze age house of filth are the ones sending their children in the path of these animals in the name of their god....pathetic.
Better stop sending them to public school and playing sports and better take them out of the home where there father's live because FAR more teachers, coaches, and fathers abuse children than priests. Fact.
Thats because there are more of them sparky, so statistically you're correct. I'm speaking of the culture of ra-pe, lies, secrecy, and protectionism that belies any good done by the church.
No that is just fear mongering. And is wrong and unjust. There was a famous case in Los Angeles (the McMartin Preschool) .. well after the ambitious DA tried and destroyed every member of the McMartin Family there never was a crime committed .. just a lot h.y.s.t.e.r.i.c.a.l mothers and a shrink who liked to play with a.n.a.t.o..m.i.c..a.l dolls. And they destroyed an entire family trying to make something out of nothing (and that was a religious school). The most recent s.e.x. abuse cases have been in public schools .. as recent as last week and most of the cases of teachers-with-students are female teachers with teen age boys. Those cases are by far the most numerous. And yet .. it is not a reason to close public schools or to condemn ALL teachers. That's not necessary. Just deal with it when it happens. (and the Catholics bishops failed to do that - but now they are paying for it)
Really...hhmmnn...let's see something ritecycle...do you believe the church killed people during the inquisitions, the crusades, and witch hunts? Or were those also just isolated incidents blown out of proportion?
I always love the catholic fathers humpin me in my young and tender fudge factory.
Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things .
"Prayer changes things"
~~~The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs."""
Clearly you didn't read the article..... Catholic priests are much more harmful to children than atheism.
James, atheists abuse kids too.
Belief in Santa Clause probably isn't unhealthy but we eventually have to own up and tell our kids the truth, then deal with their mistrust of us for awhile. How is believe in a god different?
Pray in one hand and clap in the other and see which one fills up the fastest.
Yet again, we pray you will stop pasting this same comment on every page of every blog but it never stops, proving that prayer does not work. As always, thanks for that confirmation.
Atheists abuse everything
Nowadays, any time the words "priest" or "bishop" are heard, we've been trained to jump to the conclusion "pedophile." People can't help this since the abuse did happen and the good works of thousands of priests doesn't make good copy.
But the same applies to blog atheists. I've known a couple of sane atheists. But since this blog, when the word "atheist" is heard, I think " emotional midget".
deflect, deflect, deflect. Pathetic.
If this was a group that worshipped a sun god, and fed homeless families, educated their children and lined their pockets with donations, but had incidents of child molestation – no one would be defending the good that they did. If the leader claimed to be infallible, we'd call them a cult and make dispose of them quickly and efficiently.
Yet, you ask that we consider the priests that do good? Do they not have free choice and choose to belong to an organization that has looked the other way (AND OFTEN)? Do they belong to an organization that claims its leader is never wrong (and yet makes decisions that are obviously wrong)?
I was raised Catholic, but the Catholic ideal I was taught lives NOWHERE in the Catholic Church.
John Dalberg-Acton was correct, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
at least the word Atheist isnt associated with Pedophile.
atheism is not healthy for children and other living things
demented, delusional and destructive the 3 d's of atheism
"Prayer changes things"
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs."""~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't think even now you're obligated to report (abuse cases) in Connecticut."
So this cardinal is confessing that he believes that there is nothing wrong with pedophiles and that the church acted properly when protecting those pedophiles. Disgusting.
Read the artical again. I think he's saying that he doesn't think there was any abuse cases in his archdiocese. Not that he is protecting or excusing any pedophiles.
Thats like a congressman stating that no one lied during his time in congress.....impossible. Dogs will do what dogs will do.
If there is a god, he's reserved a special place in a low circle of hell for the retired archbishop.
Disgusting.
And Jesus said "Verily I sayeth, zombie squirrels shalt eateth their nuts."
I shall do no such thing. Jesus can suck it. Never liked that hippy liberal much anyway
This atheist liberal objects to your attempt to foist jesus on liberals! Jesus (if he exists and i don't believe he does) is a conservative – just ask Mitt, Newt or Rick.
Just trust me – this rodent deity knows a crunchy granola hippy liberal when he sees one. Jesus with his socialistic 'give everything to the poor' mentality fits the mold to a 'T'. Rick & co. would be much happier with his dad – cranky, narcissistic, angry, fear mongering, and rather abusive. Is it any wonder his kid rebelled and turned out the way he did? You could just tell from the time that dear old dad impregnated that virgin that the kid was either going to be a total party animal or a spaced-out hippy.
As nutty as it may seem, I have to admit you may have a point.
And we shall feast upon your nutty nuts!
Sorry HotAirAce, Jesus was the douchiest liberal that ever existed (although his existence is debatable). Sharing the wealth with poor people who don't deserve it, anti-business measures, extreme hypocricy. These are traits shared with douchy liberals and the fabled Jesus.
In all seriousness, if Egan really doesn't believe that the Catholic Church didn't do anything wrong, he's as deluded as Bill Donahue.
Sorry. Just noticed the double negative in my previous post. Unintentional
"You could just tell from the time that dear old dad impregnated that virgin that the kid was either going to be a total party animal or a spaced-out hippy."
It seem that this is what draws people in.....they see a guy who knocks up a virgin and leaves the rest of the world to deal with the incessant ramblings of the illegitimate child......and they can relate
Cardinal Egan said,“I never should have said that,” and added, “I don’t think we did anything wrong.”
So is Egan saying that he lied back then?? Or is he lying right now?? Maybe he just can't keep his lies straight.
And Dolan is also high up on his pedestal too, and when they both fall it is most likely going to hurt really bad.
How on earth do these bishops sleep? They just do not have any kind of conscious about caring for victims or for the safety of kids.
All the victims know what it is like to "hurt really bad".
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, USA, 636-433-2511
"Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests" and all clergy.
Egan is saying what they all believe. It is the rest who are lying by pretending they care as the stonewalling continues.
These guys are like Enron executives: do anything to protect the cash cow.
You say "So is Egan saying that he lied back then?? Or is he lying right now?? Maybe he just can't keep his lies straight." ,,, If you read to understand what he was saying, he said that since he was not aware of any abuse occurring during his tenure in the archdiocese, he should not have apologized. ( Personally, I find it hard to believe it didn't happen) But the issue isn't whether is was you or me that knew this, he was speaking for himself.
But really, with your position with SNAP, you view any statement through that lenses, which I think is clouded with prejudice and money making opportunism. SNAP started as a a good idea with good intentions, but it's just another money making business just like the lawyers out there coaching people to making outrageous and in many cases, false claims just to make a buck. This is not to say crimes were not committed, and those should be prosecuted. But so should the fraudulent claims also along with those that enabled and encouraged the fraud.
well, at least he's being honest – about not being sorry!
So what's worse, a RCC charlatan denying s3xual abuse occurred and stating that his cult has nothing to apologize for or the US government expecting all employers (except actual churches) to treat all employees the same when it comes to health care?
This must be a Democratic ploy to defelect attention from the RCC health care issue.
and what would a butt in canadian have to offer US concerning our own government? Why don't you low life slugs identify yourselves as having no citizenship in our great land? You run your mouth like you are one of us... news flash you ain't. There's your sign
@CA
Still trolling I see. Is this really the only way you can feel relevant to anything?
Hey! I'd offer this "great land" to Canada if they'd run it for us. You're a buffoon "captain" america.
Captain Asshole, when the USA minds its own business around the world, which won't happen unless Ron Paul gets elected president, I might stop commenting, but until then, be a good little boy and fuck off!
@HotAirAce
The better thing for CA to do is to lead a circle jerk. Just ask him how much of an expert he is at that. 🙂
After you all have kissed so much canadian ass, what mouthwash do you use to get the taste out of your mouths? There's your sign
@CA
Get used to it. Your lot will be kissing more of our asses. It is the right thing to do, plead before your Canadian masters.
Awww look the cappie just loves to repeat the same inane crap over and over. I guess when your as pathetic a person as that going on and saying things that you'd never have the ba.lls to say in real life is all you have.
I'm betting CA doesn't have enough friends to make even the smallest circle. But he does have the "jerk" part perfected. I also suspect that if he did find a partner, his partner's penis would not actually ejaculate – it would throw up in disgust at the ugly little fellow, with credit to Canadian comedian Darcy Michael for this retort.
@HotAirAce
You're definitely right on that! He'll probably plead the fifth against your remark.
I love it when the pig wipes off the lipstick.
Prayer takes people away from actually working on real solutions to their problems.
Prayer wears out your clothes prematurely.
Prayer contributes to global warming through excess CO2 emissions.
Prayer fucks up your knees and your neck and your back.
Prayer can cause heart attacks, especially among the elderly.
Prayer reveals how stupid you are to the world.
Prayer exposes your backside to pervert priests.
Prayer prevents you from getting badly needed exercise.
Prayer makes you post really stupid shit.
Prayer makes you hoard cats.
Prayer makes you smell like shitty kitty litter and leads you on to harder drugs.
Prayer wastes time.
Amen!
you are wrong.
Prayer changes things
Just one line? Are you that lazy that you can't stick up for your religious zeal?
How pathetic.
Basic comment,once you get that you can move on , much more is available but we all have to start somewhere. There are people on this blog that may never catch on to the life changing potential of prayer. Don't think they should be left behind, do you?
@just sayin
Ya sure. Pray that you won't yourself go to hell. 🙂
That would be a wasted prayer, eternity is already settled for me. It is you and your kind we must be concerned about.
@just sayin
Wow talk about arrogance at it's peak.
@just sayin
Oh? How did you come to that believe?
Your daddy told you that you were a shoe in for eternity? How long is that eternity? What will you do when you can't die anymore? lol
It looks like a long, long, long time before we move from the preschool of prayer
@just sayin
Oh you have classifications for the levels of prayer? How quaint.
What is your current level? Is it relevant? I bet it isn't since it doesn't do squat for ya.
just sayin is a retard.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs."""
THIS GUYS A TROLL, I SEE HIM ON ALL THESE BLOGS...GIVE HIM ALL THE RELEVANCE HE DESERVES.