Previous PennCo prelate punts predator priests pending papal probe

Jon Schaff writes in the Pierre Capital Journal:

In the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court held that when the government places a burden on religion it must show that it is advancing a “compelling state interest” and the means used to achieve that interest that are the “least restrictive” to religious liberty. This provided strong protection for religious liberty.

The GOP calls rape "the pursuit of sexual freedom."

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has permanently removed two more priests from ministry for substantiated claims of sexual abuse, including one who was allowed to keep working in his Northeast Philadelphia parish for nearly a year after accusations were first lodged against him. [Jeremy Roebuck, Philadelphia Inquirer]

John Nienstedt, a Minnesota bishop with ties to Sioux Falls cleric, Paul Swain, has been compelled to testify before a state court of appeals.

The action came in response to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by an alleged victim of former priest Tom Adamson. Ramsey District Judge John Van de North had ruled that Nienstedt and McDonough must provide sworn testimony on that case as well as others. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of John Doe 1, was the first filed since Minnesota temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on older abuse cases last year. More than a dozen others have followed. [Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune]

Some in Minnesota want to convene a grand jury as more cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy emerge amid cover-ups by the Church hierarchy.

Joe Schmidt's church can count on him this year for a Christmas donation. His generosity, however, won't reach the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He plans to send only $1 to Archbishop John Nienstedt's annual Catholic Services Appeal, which helps run the archdiocese. Michael Darger, who attends St. Frances Cabrini in Minneapolis, says his family decided to stop giving directly to the archdiocese. [Tom Scheck, MPR]

Catholic hospitals apparently don't do much for the poor http://t.co/X0civkMmI8 pic.twitter.com/BvEPkCJNHM
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) December 20, 2013

Archbishop John Nienstedt, leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has voluntarily "stepped aside from all public ministry" while police investigate an allegation that he touched a boy on the buttocks in 2009. The actions came after an ongoing MPR News investigation found that church leaders — including Nienstedt — protected abusive priests during their tenures. [Tom Scheck, Laura Yuen, Mike Cronin, Minnesota Public Radio]

Nienstedt is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of St. Thomas where Sioux Falls Bishop Paul Swain serves on the Institutional Advancement Committee. They are standing together in the front row in the above photo.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Paul J. Swain as the eighth bishop of Sioux Falls on August 31, 2006 and he was consecrated as Bishop of Sioux Falls on October 26, 2006. Bishop Swain previously served as a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People.--bio, Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls.

Catholic congregations and South Dakota's legislature have engaged in obstruction of justice for decades.

One of their American brethren, Roger Mahony of California, accused of covering up decades of child rape and abuse attended the erection election of another old man as Vicar of the Church.

Mahony is a frequent witness in court according a piece in the LA Times:

Meanwhile, a Catholic organization Saturday delivered a petition with thousands of signatures asking that Mahony recuse himself from the conclave in Rome. The group, Catholics United, collected nearly 10,000 signatures making "a simple request" that the former archbishop of Los Angeles not participate in the process because of the priest abuse scandals that happened under his watch, said Chris Pumpelly, communications director for Catholics United.

The International Criminal Court is preparing a case against the fuckers.

Mary Garrigan revealed in the Journal that the Church of the Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers, Rapid City Branch, greased the anti-civil rights movement in Minnesota with a thousand simoleons:

Bishop Robert Gruss said Wednesday that the donation was made at his discretion after it was requested by Minnesota bishops. "Sometimes it takes money to stand up for worthy causes," he said.

Former legislator, pious Catholic, and one of the richest men in South Dakota, Lee Schoenbeck confessed in the online edition of South Dakota Magazine:

Through the sponsorship of organizations like Avera, Tessier’s and Muth Electric, the hunter’s registration fees and proceeds of the banquet auction, the Bishop’s Hunt generates funds. Initially the funds went to the support of the Catholic elementary school in Huron, and later the general mission of the Catholic Foundation. More recently, the funds have had a more focused purpose.

Not surprisingly, Schoenbeck sits on the board of the Catholic Foundation and represents the diocese as legal counsel.

Makes you want to puke, doesn't it?

Separation of church and state is just so bothersome in the chemical toilet, especially when litigation hurts donations.