Here’s an update on a story I mentioned yesterday about the priest in Maine who was suspended during an investigation into whether he put a child a risk by allowing a youth minister to be alone with him even though he allegedly knew of certain accusations against the youth minister. Read the details in an entry from yesterday.
What struck me here was the comments from the local Maine Voice of the Faithful spokesman.
“It also raises questions of what this priest learned in the Protecting God’s Children program,” he said, referring to the training program attended by all Catholic priests in Maine in 2002. The program was designed to teach everyone who works in a diocese how to prevent abuse and how to make the church safe for children and others who are vulnerable.
This exposes the naivete and cynicism of much has been done as a response to the Scandal. Did anyone seriously think that setting up some training sessions on “making the Church safe for children” (an offensive phrase to begin with) was going to solve the problem? The imposition of training programs on millions of employees and volunteers across the country was a Band-Aid. Rather than deal with the real probleman has no conscience. Not just a malformed conscience s. That was not done in the cluster to which Holy Trinity belongs. Bishop Lennone%2Fsns-ap-church-abuse-maine%2C0%2C5853910.story%3Fcoll%3Dsns-ap-nation-headlines">has been indicted on charges of abusing a teen over four years in the 90s. The man’s former pastor who hired him for the job was once accused of sexual abuse in 1985, but cleared in 2002. Now the diocese has suspended the priest, re-opened the investigation into the 1985 allegation, and looking into his relationship with the former youth minister.
It seems strange that the priest would be suspended for hiring the guy unless there’s more to the story than we’re being told. Part of the investigation will look into whether the priest allowed the youth minister to live with him in the rectory.
Now, I know from personal experience that’s not necessarily a sign of something nefarious, but you add in the other facts and it begins to look that way. Also notice that nowhere in the story do you hear anything about the sex of the two alleged victims. I wonder why. Wouldn’t want everyone to leap to any conclusions, I suppose.
Update: Now we know that the former youth minister is accused of molesting a teenage boy. Surprise, surprise.
