AZ - Case against abusive priest in Phoenix proceeds slowly

Thank you

April 9, 2013

Dear Ms. Goodnow,

I hope (and I try to remember to pray), that approaching the civil authorities on all of these matters continues to become and in fact, be, the norm from this time, forward!

No matter when the “zero tolerance”’ policy was instituted, if it has not been consistently and diligently applied and followed (obviously, it hasn’t yet), I think we all should continue to call for zero tolerance, nonetheless.

I also think that members of SNAP and other human rights groups, should move forward on all fronts, every means available to STOP pedophilia in the Catholic Church. I do not believe that Christ would or did encourage a church being built that would become and eventually be the world’s largest purveyor of pedophiles.

Kind regards,
Lani Halter
Please Remember: Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:41 and Luke 17:2

Holding up the records in an abuse case is typical behavior by the authority of the church. Although a 0-tolerance rule has been in force since 2002, the authority of the church made no provisions for governing themselves and show no interest in transparency 13 years later. The victims themselves and their support groups, the internet, the media (finally) are learning to approach civil authorities and those groups are responding. For so long as the people in the pews continue to pay to pray, the CRCC will not change.

Monday, April 08, 2013
re: AZ – Case against abusive priest in Phoenix moves slowly

Dear Members of SNAP,

I wish there were a way to “un-know” something. Sadly, there isn’t. I suppose that fact that there isn’t, is what makes me keep coming back to the SNAP website.

If I cannot un-know things that I now know about pedophiles and specifically about the particular problem of hordes of pedophiles having joined and continuing joining the catholic church almost as moths madly flying into a burning, bare light bulb during the dark; I will continue to want and search for correction of this horrible circumstance and to seek enlightenment by and of all Catholics including non-pedophile parishioners, clergy and laity, that these crimes have got to be STOPPED.

In my 20 years of being a catholic, I appreciated many, many things about the church. However, it now seems nothing that I have appreciated about being catholic is enough to compensate or perhaps I should say, is enough to keep me in the church without first fighting and struggling to see this abomination of rampant pedophilia permanently staunched.

I have not yet been able to quench or squelch my desire to see all of the offenders removed from the church in one fell swoop! I no longer care whether or not the Catholic Church while going into the future would quite possibly not remain a “viable” church were that to happen.

However, if all these pedophiles were in fact, not forgiven and are in fact removed from the Catholic priesthood, clergy, hierarchy, prelate, and laity (whatever names and labels, assignations they work under, wherever they are found) and if all parishioners were if fact encouraged by any sitting pope, to come forward to secular authorities to report sexual abuse by priests, etc. the goal of ridding the catholic church of these predators could nearly be achieved in full.

I think that IF the non-pedophile hierarchy of the church refuses to remove these criminals who are in fact committing their heinous crimes against children and all of humanity; the church as we know it, should fall.

And, IF the non-pedophile church hierarchy is simultaneously aware that these criminals are telling their innocent victims that supposedly they (the pedophile clergy and laity) are acting in the name of God and the church, and explicitly with “church approved”, representation of Christ while committing these crimes, and the victims are made to understand that these pedophile priests and laity are in fact, acting with the unannounced collusion and acknowledgement of the catholic church hierarchy and its leader, then I believe that the Catholic church does deserve to collapse into rubble of stones.

It should collapse for lack of parishioners. It should collapse for lack of parishioners who are every age from birth to old age. And the church should collapse for lack of parishioners’ money and lack of parishioners’ talents and lack of parishioners’ wisdom and/or need thereof, and especially from lack of parishioners’ who remain loyal to this particular Catholic church on this earth.

I believe that because of this ongoing “viral” scandal and scourge of pedophile Catholic priests and prelate and laity in today’s Catholic church that it has become something that neither, Christ, nor Peter and the disciples, nor the Holy Spirit and finally, nor even, God on high, have led the catholic church to be, that in fact only men of dispicable character have led the church to become clearly what it is, today.

In fact today, the Catholic Church seems more like a “holding company” for its collected money, art collections, structures and libraries and real estate around the world, than a church of God and the Trinity. And, MORE IMPORTANTLY if allowed to remain functioning at the status quo, it is AS BEING and keeping a “pool” of innocent children for being nothing less than potential victims for all the pedophiles the church currently embraces, employs and enables. I believe that if the Catholic Church hierarchy and pope, continue in actuality to refuse to remove these criminals, that the end of the church, is imminent. Because, we will not give up, nor will we willingly “give” our children and grandchildren, our precious “treasure” and the future of this earth, to their pedophiles. It’s that simple.

“I don’t think they have the ability to improve the situation,” Wall * said of church officials. He said he believes if church leaders were thorough in dealing with sex-related cases, the church would lose so many priests that it would be hard to continue.

(*Patrick Wall is a former priest who now is an investigator in clergy-abuse cases and is originally quoted in the accompanying article by Michael Clancy of The Republic and azcentraldotcom)

I think I disagree with Mr. Wall, only because dealing thoroughly with the sex-related cases, is something that the Catholic Church has not yet ever tried! If they did directly deal with sex-related cases with a zero-tolerance attitude being spread throughout the worldwide church, it might actually prove to attract more men to the priesthood who are not pedophiles. It might actually, attract those who did not feel they could deal with the pedophiles and rapists, themselves, that alone they could not deal with them on their own while at the same time trying to fulfill the religious teachings and sacraments of the church, for any given parish.

PLEASE REMEMBER: Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:41 and Luke 17:2. And please choose to live by this advice from the Christ as quoted in the Gospels.

Sincerely,
Lani Halter