Bishops Still Behaving Badly on Sex Abuse as Pope Francis Sets the Example

UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Betty Clermont

The clerical sex abuse scandal has revealed the core of corruption in the institutional Catholic Church. There have already been hundreds of thousands of victims around the world.

Since the systemic sexual abuse of children made national headlines in 2002, survivors (young people who had experienced child sexual abuse had a suicide rate that was 10.7 to 13.0 times the national rates) and their advocates have demanded essential reforms necessary to protect children in the future.

One is that the pope require that all criminal acts be immediately reported to the police. This is still optional according to Pope Francis. Another is that the pontiff hold bishops accountable. Pope Francis has never disciplined anyone for protecting child sex abusers, obstructing justice for the survivors or impeding measures to keep children safe because that’s what he does. So the scandals go on and on and on …..

On Sept. 21, 2016, Fr. Octavio Munoz appeared in a Chicago court on child pornography charges after police arrested him at a Maryland treatment center.

Last summer, Chicago Archbishop Blasé Cupich transferred Munoz from his assignment as a recruiter of young men for the priesthood to pastor at St. Pancratius Parish. When Fr. Kevin Hays, Munoz’ replacement, together with an archdiocese employee, went to inspect Munoz’ former living quarters on July 7, 2015, they found “a black Sony laptop … there was displayed a moving image on the screen that appeared to be running from a web cam. The image was of a young boy (engaged in a sexual act).”

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