Here is a story via Gerald about how one cause trumps protecting children.
The Roman Catholic dioceses of Los Angeles and Orange have backed away from pledges to prevent pedophiles from working with children by subjecting volunteers to fingerprint background checks, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
Church leaders said they didn’t want to lose illegal immigrant volunteers, who lack the legitimate government-issued photo IDs that are required for the checks.
Volunteer candidates without photo IDs in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles can give a sworn affidavit stating that they have not been convicted of any crime, officials said. In Orange, they can provide a sworn affidavit and two character reference letters.
Because I guess criminals and sex offenders don’t lie.
They’ll be supervised whenever they’re working with children, officials said.
Will the supervisors be fingerprinted or is this a case of who will guard the guards.
13 comments
That diocese must have a great love for paying out lawsuit settlements.
Frankly, I am in favor of any excuse to spare us from the scandalous spectacle of the Church treating her children as criminal suspects. Sometimes I would like to declare myself an illegal alien …
This goes far beyond the phenomena of homosexual priests, child molestation or immigration. At its root, it goes to a fundamental ethos within the Church that is unwise. That ethos can best be described as “compassion ueber alles,” especially for the “poor” and “vulnerable,” without regard to the impact on others (particularly the innocent). Such an ethos accurately describes the Church’s views on immigration, its revisionism on capital punishment and its general moral confusion.
At a deeper level, it also reflects the isolation of the bishops and their bureaucrats, an isolation that stimulates the arrogance of believing that the normal rules of life and common sense do not apply to them or to their practices.
This is far more serious than anybody realizes. This episode says that our bishops not only are corrupt, but stupid. Somehow, I think God is trying to tell us something.
This is precisely why my children won’t be attending ANY events at ANY Catholic churches in OC without my eyes being on them at ALL times.
And this is also precisely why we don’t give ANY $$ to our diocese – we give to our parish directly (paying electric bill, etc.) We refuse to fund Tod Brown’s sushi chef and multi-million dollar mansion.
Tod Brown’s actions lead me to believe that he is part of the ‘smoke of Satan’ that has entered the Church.
I pray that he is forced to retire!
Will the supervisors be fingerprinted or is this a case of who will guard the guards.
You know, it seemed a bit daft me havin’ to guard him when he’s a guard.
Margaret, what parish are you in?
Wow! This is beyond the pale – but I think Mr. H’ippolito sums it up quite well!
Sorry about that, I meant to type: “D’Hippolito”
Thanks much, Fr. Totton. Don’t worry about the misspelling [I’ve been called worse ;)].
BTW, do you (or anybody else in Catholic blogdom) know any canon lawyers out there who would be interested in filing a class-action suit against Brown, Mahony or both for episcopal malfeasance? Are the Catholics in the Los Angeles and Orange dioceses willing to unite to file such a suit and take their case to Rome?
Venting on a comments thread is one thing. Taking decisive action is another.
Joseph D’Hippolito – Where can we sign up?
I am serious.
I heard this the other day. I’m stupefied. Why aren’t parishioners putting their foot down?
I would comment further, but it would be tangential and cause a furor. *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzip*
Please, God, don’t let the idiocy spread!
Within the Orange County parishes the “everybody must be fingerprinted and pay for the service” was hit and miss. Some volunteers wee required while others were exempt, all involved in the same parish activities. I hear that the Archdiocese is paying for those they want fingerprinted, even parents of their own kids.
Calll me cynical, but maybe their lordships were looking for a way to exempt their “friends” from fingerprinting/background checks and this makes it so much easier. All in the name of “liberal compassion” rather than “we’ve got something to hide.”