BishopAccountability.org

A murderer is "a priest in good standing"

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
July 9, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/a_murderer_is_a_priest_in_good_standing

Often headlines are a little misleading. The headline you just read is not. It's true.

On the very day that Pope Francis met with abuse victims, the Toledo Blade reported that a convicted murderer - who choked and stabbed a nun to death - would be buried with full priestly honors

By the time you read this that burial may have already happened. Still, it's worth noting, especially for the sake of those whose lives have been touched by violent crimes, especially murder and child sexual abuse.

Fr. Gerald Robinson died last week in prison. A jury found him guilty of brutally killing Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl.

(It would have happened sooner, but a top Toledo Catholic official interrupted police questioning of Fr. Robinson, resulting in years of delay and doubt.) 

The Toledo diocese has no bishop right now. Fr. Charles Ritter heads the diocese now. He's announced that Fr. Robinson is still "a priest in good standing" and will be buried accordingly.

We begged Toledo Catholic officials to reconsider. So did the National Survivors Action Coalition. So did the Voice of the Faithful.

No dice. No response.

The Catholic hierarchy takes little action against predators who commit child sex crimes. It takes virtually no action against enablers who conceal these crimes. But one would think that Catholic officials would rally and act against a priest who was accused of molesting a child and found guilty of killing a nun.

Think again. Think again, and weep.

 




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