Catholic Friar Blames Sexual Abuse Victims

[Kira]

http://gawker.com/5939320/prominent-cat ... he-seducer

There is so much wrong with this I don't know where to begin :x.

[Bethella]

Have they investigated this guy? He sounds like he has a classic abuser mind-set down pat.

[nimerha]

Yeah, I would be shocked if this poor, poor man doesn't know all about being seduced by some horrible, immoral ten year old... Really, who would have thouhht that fucking a kid is criminal? Unheard of.

Poor fucking Jerry Sandusky. I can't believe this waste of oxygen actually had the nerve to say that in public, in an interview. Must be a fucking epidemic of male Lolitas, lately. Poor helpless men being forced to rape children left and right, what a tragedy for them, eh?

[doggie]

the only good thing is most likely he did not reproduce. either he did the same thing or had friends that did.

[Librul]

This guy, Grochel, is a sweetheart of the conservative movement with a huge following, due to EWTN. Trust me, there are a lot of priests, bishops and seminary leaders who believe this. Blame the victim. The little girls are sluts and the boys are catamites, out to seduce the poor, pure, confused adult. We are leapfrogging back to the structures and mindsets that led to the abuse crisis in the church in the first place. Makes me livid.

[Boltingmadonna]

Thank you for putting this up, Kira. I saw it elsewhere and . . . well, how many times can I be shocked by this?? It just never stops. Benedict Groeschel is not some nobody who hasn't studied these matters, either. He has a PhD in psychology and has run a treatment center for messed-up priests for thirty years. He wrote a book that blamed the sex abuse scandal on Catholic-hating media, with a preface by Timothy Dolan, now Cardinal of New York. He has repeatedly sided with priests, against victims, and has been instrumental in returning many abusers to ministry, where many of them abused again. Some years ago, he suffered serious injury in a traffic accident, and has become somewhat incoherent with age. None of that excuses what he has said in this interview. It's the same thing he has been saying throughout his career. Protect the priests, blame the victims.

Some of his past bad decisions are detailed in this post from http://www.bishop-accountability.org:

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2003_01_06/2003_03_02_Egerton_PriestPlays.htm

Just one example:

Mark Serrano, who also has said that Father Hanley abused him as a boy, questioned Father Groeschel's sincerity. His skepticism, he said, is based on an experience he had after his family's complaints led Bishop Rodimer to suspend Father Hanley.

In 1986, the year after the abuse complaints, Mr. Serrano agreed to talk to Father Groeschel, who was counseling Father Hanley. Mr. Serrano, who was then a college student, said he thought the counselor "wanted more information" for therapeutic purposes. Instead, Mr. Serrano said, Father Groeschel lashed out at him.

"He said, 'Why don't you stop harassing this poor priest? He's a sick man. You are wrong for what you're doing to him.' "

There's no excuse for this. None. Yet on the Catholic websites I checked, one commenter after another weeps and wails for poor, poor Groeschel who has done So Much Good for the Church. There isn't a barfing smiley big enough to cover my disgust.

[Librul]

THIS. ^^^^^ So True.

Dolan....I don't like or trust him. He's too "jolly" by half. Groeschel is so dangerous and people love him so much. Poor abusing priests...we just don't understand how difficult it is for them and how slutty little children force them into sin.

[notacleverpony]

I really, REALLY wish that I could believe this would affect EWTN's viewership roll and donation level, but having grown up with parents who actually read The National Catholic Register (and The Wanderer), I highly doubt that will happen. The type of person who values this man's opinion is the type of person who can do remarkable feats of mental gymnastics to justify Holy Mother Church. And will probably invoke Satan unironically.

[Coconut Flan]

That is beyond disturbing. I'm spluttering so much I can't type. EWTN needs to take all his shows off the ASAP, but they won't. As a friend's mom says "Catholic dumb."

[MonkeyMomma]

The National Catholic Register has since retracted:

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/fa ... friars-of/

And Groeschel has apologized, his superior blaming his terrible victim blaming on a head injury (I'm not even kidding):

http://www.metro.us/newyork/local/artic ... s-seducers

In my opinion, he should be removed from ministry. Apparently, he works as a professor of pastoral psychology and a counselor. Disgusting.

[thoughtful]

Groeschel said:

Here's this poor guy — [Penn State football coach Jerry] Sandusky — it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn't anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn't break the ice. Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime. It was a moral failure, scandalous; but they didn't think of it in terms of legal things.

If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties — except for rape or violence — it was very rarely brought as a civil crime. Nobody thought of it that way.

On what planet?

He needs to be thoroughly investigated -- right now.

[Anxious Girl]

This is what frustrates me when fundies preach and spew the big strong man helps to support the patriarch rhetoric: If the men are so strong, how come they're "tempted" by others? Can't they control their fucking urge to have sex? And the irony is, at the Vatican, they cover balls and penises that are in paintings and on statues with leafs; "To help them be celibate" but don't properly apologize for their priests raping others, and dismissing them from the priesthood. And children and women have to wear non-revealing clothing so that they don't think about sex? If they're so strong as churches believe, then they should be able to ignore people wearing what they deem as provactative clothing, and resists their urges. And they tell me and other women to cover up to help them attain pure thoughts? Puh-lease. :evil:

[Librul]

Here is a quote from his religious community posted on a website. Note the hilarious comment that appeared in the combox.....

- "About seven years ago Fr. Benedict was struck by a car and was in a coma for over a month. In recent months his health, memory and cognitive ability have been failing. He has been in and out of the hospital. Due to his declining health and inability to care for himself, Fr. Benedict had moved to a location where he could rest and be relieved of his responsibilities. Although these factors do not excuse his comments, they help us understand how such a compassionate man could have said something so wrong, so insensitive, and so out of character. Our prayers are with all those who have been hurt by his comments, especially victims of sexual abuse."

6:48 PM

Aug 30, 2012

Did he hit his head on the ground, or did the ground ASK to be hit?

[Coconut Flan]

Maybe his order will keep him secluded from the rest of the world now.

[Hane]

Groeschel said:

On what planet?

He needs to be thoroughly investigated -- right now.

Yeah. Poor Sandusky. It was the fault of all those kids that he was never stopped. Apparently it was the kids' responsibility to announce that Mr. Wonderful was a rapist and pervert--but I bet they were really enjoying it and didn't want it to stop.

I could fucking cry. When I was six years old, I was molested by a stranger and didn't tell anyone because I was so ashamed--because he didn't "hurt" me--and felt I should have known better than to have gotten myself into that situation. I was fucking six years old. I bottled it up until, at the age of twelve, I read an article about child molestation in a Parents magazine and burst into tears in front of my parents. And even then I felt guilty because I didn't know the name of the teenaged pervert and wouldn't have been able to pick him out of a lineup.

Now imagine how much worse it was for those poor kids who were repeatedly raped by a person they and their parents loved and trusted.

Fuck you, Groeschel. I'm glad I escaped from your cult.

[Kitty]

It doesn't fucking matter whether or not a child asks for it. You're the adult, ACT LIKE IT.

I don't fucking understand people who say "well, s/he came to ME and asked ME to do it!" no no no no NO, it doesn't fucking matter if they were crawling on their hands and knees begging and talking dirty and grabbing your crotch, you still have the right AND responsibility to say no. Especially to a goddamn CHILD who is legally incapable of consent! :x :x :x :x :x :x

[synchroswimr]

It doesn't fucking matter whether or not a child asks for it. You're the adult, ACT LIKE IT.

I don't fucking understand people who say "well, s/he came to ME and asked ME to do it!" no no no no NO, it doesn't fucking matter if they were crawling on their hands and knees begging and talking dirty and grabbing your crotch, you still have the right AND responsibility to say no. Especially to a goddamn CHILD who is legally incapable of consent! :x :x :x :x :x :x

QFT

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[StarrieEyedKat]

It doesn't fucking matter whether or not a child asks for it. You're the adult, ACT LIKE IT.

I don't fucking understand people who say "well, s/he came to ME and asked ME to do it!" no no no no NO, it doesn't fucking matter if they were crawling on their hands and knees begging and talking dirty and grabbing your crotch, you still have the right AND responsibility to say no. Especially to a goddamn CHILD who is legally incapable of consent! :x :x :x :x :x :x

Just like with all of the "legitimate rape" talk lately, it's really REALLY depressing me that we have to even say this stuff. Shouldn't it be like...common sense for everyone? It's NEVER OK to rape someone. It's NEVER OK with have sex with a child.

What the hell century is this again?

[deelaem]

I didn't read this thread yesterday because I figured "no big surprise, another idiot priest is trying to excuse other priests". But this morning I saw the story on a news site and realized that I know this guy. It's Father Groeschel!

Many years ago I was a founding staff member of a child abuse prevention agency. Our director and BOD president were both Catholic, and the BOD president was rich (Gallo wine money) and politically influential. So when Father Groeschel was in San Francisco for some event, she had him brought down to our agency for a "blessing" ceremony. I had to be there, of course. He came across as a very warm, funny guy. He was so impressed (or more likely, impressed with the Gallo money) by our agency that he returned several times.

He was always very pleasant, but he did have a few behind closed doors meeting with the Board and our director. I now realize that it probably involved the anti-abortion agenda that came out oh-so-subtly over the next few years. This agenda is part of why I eventually left the agency.

In spite of this, I'm not at all surprised at his remarks. Like most religious representatives, there's the public face and the real face. Shoot, he was old back then (1992) so he's really old now. Guess he can't keep the two separate anymore.

[Boltingmadonna]

deelaem, when we lived near Philadelphia (and still went to church) people from our church knew Groeschel. They revered him for his concern with the poor and thought he was a real, saintly guy. I took their opinion at face value and thought he must be an exception. Then I started listening to his talks. Holy moly, the amount of ignorance and bigotry in there was astonishing for someone who had a PhD and supposedly had been a counselor for many years. I think he's a really great example of someone who has good intentions and the potential to do good who ends up doing bad and harming people because he buys into the dogma that comes down from on high. He is too slavishly devoted to being Catholic in a very traditional sense to question the things that sorely need questioning. This is the fix that so many people who want to stay in the Church find themselves in. They have to be willing to swallow the lies, and make excuses for them. To be true to the Church, you have to be willing to destroy your own integrity. In my book, that's the worst sin of all.

Here's a little hidden nugget from his interview that really disturbed me. The lies about child victims are so obvious that this piece of crap kinda slips by under the radar:

Generally, if they get involved, it’s heterosexually, and if it’s a priest, he leaves and gets married — that’s the usual thing — and gets a dispensation.

So, he's saying here that when a priest molests a GIRL teenager, he just needs to leave the priesthood and get married. Is Groeschel thinking that the priest is going to marry his teenage victim? I don't think so! Even if the girl was old enough, that's kind of Old Testament, don't you think? Rape a girl, and she will be given to you in marriage. Okay, so I guess they're thinking he should leave and marry someone else--some unsuspecting woman who doesn't know he's an abuser? Wow, what a great idea! Especially when she's had the required number of babies and one of them gets to be his preferred age. The disrespect of women, and the ignorance of what it means when a man sexually abuses young people is astonishing. Apparently you can "fix" an abuser by giving him a woman to exploit instead. Just like you can "fix" Teh Gay by placing a man with a designated sex object of the approved gender. In both cases, the woman is just a tool.Ugh.

[deelaem]

deelaem, when we lived near Philadelphia (and still went to church) people from our church knew Groeschel. They revered him for his concern with the poor and thought he was a real, saintly guy. I took their opinion at face value and thought he must be an exception. Then I started listening to his talks. Holy moly, the amount of ignorance and bigotry in there was astonishing for someone who had a PhD and supposedly had been a counselor for many years. I think he's a really great example of someone who has good intentions and the potential to do good who ends up doing bad and harming people because he buys into the dogma that comes down from on high. He is too slavishly devoted to being Catholic in a very traditional sense to question the things that sorely need questioning. This is the fix that so many people who want to stay in the Church find themselves in. They have to be willing to swallow the lies, and make excuses for them. To be true to the Church, you have to be willing to destroy your own integrity. In my book, that's the worst sin of all.

Here's a little hidden nugget from his interview that really disturbed me. The lies about child victims are so obvious that this piece of crap kinda slips by under the radar:

So, he's saying here that when a priest molests a GIRL teenager, he just needs to leave the priesthood and get married. Is Groeschel thinking that the priest is going to marry his teenage victim? I don't think so! Even if the girl was old enough, that's kind of Old Testament, don't you think? Rape a girl, and she will be given to you in marriage. Okay, so I guess they're thinking he should leave and marry someone else--some unsuspecting woman who doesn't know he's an abuser? Wow, what a great idea! Especially when she's had the required number of babies and one of them gets to be his preferred age. The disrespect of women, and the ignorance of what it means when a man sexually abuses young people is astonishing. Apparently you can "fix" an abuser by giving him a woman to exploit instead. Just like you can "fix" Teh Gay by placing a man with a designated sex object of the approved gender. In both cases, the woman is just a tool.Ugh.

:o :o :o I missed that gem! That's some seriously shitty stuff.

I know what you mean about him having good intentions that get wrapped up in dogma. ( I liked the Holy Moly pun, BTW :D ) That's what happened with the agency I helped to found. That was my baby and the programs I started there, like the Teen-age Father classes (cuz ya know, I really hate men :roll: ) were so important to me. But that sneaky Catholic agenda messed it all up. I had to leave, and the agency was eventually taken over by United Way.

The Catholic church would do itself a big favor by abolishing the priesthood. But like the proverbial snowball in hell, it'll never happen.

[FakePigtails]

CNN just showed a segment about this (one of those read the headlines but not the articles before now things) so I hopped over to Catholic Answers to see what they were saying and found this:

forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=707478

A search for 'Groeschel' yielded no other threads about the topic.

I just . . . how is there outrage over every other damn thing and this gets silenced? Way to show your true colors CAF.

[Mela99]

QFT

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[Antipodes]

I'm unable to start a new thread. Sorry, must make an effort to post more.

I just had to share with people who might care.

Today the prime minister in Australia has announced a Royal Comission into sexual abuse of children in the catholic church, other religious organizations and state run children's services.

Finally!!!

I was beginning to think it would never happen. The evidence came forward today of Catholic Priests being moved on from parish to parish due to accusations of abuse and of course they went on to abuse children in the next parish. Of course none of these incidents were reported to the police.

So sad. I hate the catholic bureaucrats as much as the abusers. They had a chance to do right and they did wrong.

[Antipodes]

A friend of mine has been partly responsible for making this Royal Commision happen. She spoke out again and again over her local priest grooming a young teenage boy in her community.

She lost her job as a Catholic Primary School Principal. The priest she accused was eventually jailed to his abuse of the boy.

She didn't give up she got busy a as volunteer to make the church accountable.

It was so great to see my friend on the news tonight, finally her volunteer work for this cause has paid off.