PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Bilgrimage
Jerry Slevin has sent another strong statement about the situation in Philadelphia, where, as he notes, the ongoing seamy revelations in the trial of Msgr. Lynn have become more HBO than MSNBC–though as Jerry notes, the American mainstream media appear to a great extent to remain reluctant to deal with the abuse story, even as they give the U.S. Catholic bishops extensive face-time to spread talk about their “religious liberty” crusade.
The following is Jerry’s statement:
The daily revelations, as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, coming from the Philly criminal trial of Msgr. Lynn, former top aide to Cardinal Dolan’s mentor, Cardinal Rigali, are becoming increasingly sordid and shocking, much more like HBO’s “Rome” series and Showtime’s “Borgias” series than any MSNBC or CNN news analysis.
These revelations included details of (1) a near naked children’s “Passion Play” organized by a “sick” priest, and (2) testimony under oath of two unrelated witnesses relating to some alleged sexual misconduct with young boys involving Philly native, Bishop Michael Bransfield. He is the current treasurer of Dolan’s US bishops’ group, the USCCB, as well as head of the elite US Catholic donors’ group, the Papal Foundation.
Information and details about the Papal Foundation, with pictures of its elite members, are included in the Foundation’s annual report available at the organization’s website. Videos of Bransfield’s and the group’s 2010 and 2011 annual personal meetings with the pope at the Vatican are accessible On YouTube here and here. Some of the group’s members are also involved with other wealthy US Catholic donor groups, such as LEGATUS, FADICA, the Leadership Roundtable and the Knights of Malta.
Many of the members of these groups apparently benefit from the continuance of the Bush tax cuts favoring disproportionately the top 1% of American taxpayers. The pope’s strong efforts to replace Obama with Romney are apparently well appreciated by many of these groups’ members, since the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy will likely expire if Obama wins re-election. The pope surely is aware of this.
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