Another report alleging nude LC with medical condition, and young boys boarding in (North American) Legion apostolic school (click here).
9 comments
I don’t know…. to see a man in the rub with his privates COVERED is not sexual abuse…..weird, yes, but sexual abuse, no. There are plenty of real incidents without posting putting out such a weak incident like this. Stick to the damning facts.
Anonymously – this is considered sexual abuse. No adult has children or young men and women not related to him (and even then – it would be questionable) in a room with him/her while bathing . . . period. This sick man was getting his jollies while these boys were being brought to him. Those who brought the young men are just as guilty as this sick man.
Weird and abusive – if you don’t want to call it sexual abuse, then don’t .. but do not dismiss it.
Consider your own child being brought to a man who was in the bath and only had a cloth over his genitals. I can tell you as a parent of three sons – I am very disturbed by this type of behavior.
It’s very sad that mothers are looking for verification on certain priests where their their son’s could have been exposed to harm; but it is wonderful you are coming forward to do this.
Once you all collaborate your stories, run with it as hard as you can.
It is your duty and right as mothers.
Lynne Newington
Victoria.
Australia
I hate to admit it, but I am guilty of this! Why? Because I took my children to a university student performance of the Barber of Seville, and the curtain opened with the Duke lying in bed with the Duchess, with nary a stitch on! He promptly rose and walked off-stage showing his naked buttocks while the Duchess (wearing a negligee) began her song about his indifference. My children were most disgusted as this ruined the opera for them. It is SO hard to avoid child abuse these days.
Wow. Just wow.
For somebody not to recognize the difference between a scene of nudity in a play/performance and a priest being “cheered” up by a group of young boys while sitting in a tub with nothing but a washcloth over his genitals is nothing short of astounding.
I might allow my older children to see a movie that had a scene of nudity (depending on the context, of course), but I’d be notifying the authorities if I found out my next door neighbor, or my parish priest, brought same children into their bathroom while they were nearly naked in the tub, to “cheer” them up.
Yikes.
In reading the followup comments on the linked blog entry, and seeing more than one claim of abuse at the apostolic school, what in these days would make anyone fear exposing abuse in a court of law: I mean we know for better or ill, there are personal injury lawyers that would mop the floor with the LC’s with these kinds of cases, and that would not take into account criminal prosecution of any act still within the statute of limitations.
Anonymous, I think the issue is that Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, until very recently, were considered ‘untouchable’ within the Church. Victims were often sued, threatened with lawsuits and ostracized for speaking out. Maciel was, to a certain extent, protected by Pope John Paul II and several powerful curial Cardinals in Rome. Even Cardinal Ratzinger had to proceed quietly and carefully behind the backs of Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Sodano. The Legion also managed to exempt itself from the Church’s investigation of U.S. seminaries and religious orders that took place during the aftermath of the sex abuse crisis. So one cannot blame the average Catholic for being cautious in speaking out.
Of course the difficulty with making oneself untouchable is that one becomes use to getting away with one’s machinations. One becomes impervious to criticism as one insulates oneself from the popular mood, relying upon underlings who are “yes men”. Some because they buy into the system, and others because they are too scared to speak out against it. Thus one is the last person to discover that one is not only touchable, but fatally wounded.
I don’t know…. to see a man in the rub with his privates COVERED is not sexual abuse…..weird, yes, but sexual abuse, no. There are plenty of real incidents without posting putting out such a weak incident like this. Stick to the damning facts.
Anonymously – this is considered sexual abuse. No adult has children or young men and women not related to him (and even then – it would be questionable) in a room with him/her while bathing . . . period. This sick man was getting his jollies while these boys were being brought to him. Those who brought the young men are just as guilty as this sick man.
Weird and abusive – if you don’t want to call it sexual abuse, then don’t .. but do not dismiss it.
Consider your own child being brought to a man who was in the bath and only had a cloth over his genitals. I can tell you as a parent of three sons – I am very disturbed by this type of behavior.
It’s very sad that mothers are looking for verification on certain priests where their their son’s could have been exposed to harm; but it is wonderful you are coming forward to do this.
Once you all collaborate your stories, run with it as hard as you can.
It is your duty and right as mothers.
Lynne Newington
Victoria.
Australia
I hate to admit it, but I am guilty of this! Why? Because I took my children to a university student performance of the Barber of Seville, and the curtain opened with the Duke lying in bed with the Duchess, with nary a stitch on! He promptly rose and walked off-stage showing his naked buttocks while the Duchess (wearing a negligee) began her song about his indifference. My children were most disgusted as this ruined the opera for them. It is SO hard to avoid child abuse these days.
Wow. Just wow.
For somebody not to recognize the difference between a scene of nudity in a play/performance and a priest being “cheered” up by a group of young boys while sitting in a tub with nothing but a washcloth over his genitals is nothing short of astounding.
I might allow my older children to see a movie that had a scene of nudity (depending on the context, of course), but I’d be notifying the authorities if I found out my next door neighbor, or my parish priest, brought same children into their bathroom while they were nearly naked in the tub, to “cheer” them up.
Yikes.
Not Richard – I feel very sad for you.
From today’s Byzantine liturgy: “Do not let my heart turn toward words of evil, to cover sins with smooth names.”
In reading the followup comments on the linked blog entry, and seeing more than one claim of abuse at the apostolic school, what in these days would make anyone fear exposing abuse in a court of law: I mean we know for better or ill, there are personal injury lawyers that would mop the floor with the LC’s with these kinds of cases, and that would not take into account criminal prosecution of any act still within the statute of limitations.
Anonymous, I think the issue is that Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, until very recently, were considered ‘untouchable’ within the Church. Victims were often sued, threatened with lawsuits and ostracized for speaking out. Maciel was, to a certain extent, protected by Pope John Paul II and several powerful curial Cardinals in Rome. Even Cardinal Ratzinger had to proceed quietly and carefully behind the backs of Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Sodano. The Legion also managed to exempt itself from the Church’s investigation of U.S. seminaries and religious orders that took place during the aftermath of the sex abuse crisis. So one cannot blame the average Catholic for being cautious in speaking out.
Of course the difficulty with making oneself untouchable is that one becomes use to getting away with one’s machinations. One becomes impervious to criticism as one insulates oneself from the popular mood, relying upon underlings who are “yes men”. Some because they buy into the system, and others because they are too scared to speak out against it. Thus one is the last person to discover that one is not only touchable, but fatally wounded.