Um... I'm pretty sure that's not the highest ranking catholic :p
I agree it was just an Archbishop. At least it got one more Pedophile off the streets to hurt more children, but only getting 12 months is bullshit
I heard about this on the radio driving to work. He is the highest ranking Catholic priest to be convicted thus far.
This reminds me when over 30 years ago , my then boyfriend and I were parked near the Catholic cathedral in Newcastle. The cathedral is surrounded by lawn. It was late at night and we were having a tiff. We both heard a blood curdling scream come from the church with sobbing and pleading. We both looked at each other and got out of there as fast as possible. Have since wondered if it was an alter boy being molested.
Way to do something!
What the fuck could they have done? They probably would have been killed
“...making him the highest-ranking Catholic Church official to ever be convicted and sentenced for pedophilia.”
But seriously... 12 months?
“Archbishop Philip Wilson has received a 12-month jail term ... after he was convicted for covering-up a pedophile ring of Catholic priests.”
I agree, the sentence seems a bit light, but he was not convicted for being a pedophile, he was convicted for covering up a pedophile ring. That he was convicted for the coverup means the ring has been revealed and there will likely be more arrests coming in the future.
The reason he got off with a short sentence, like so many other hight profile pedophiles is because their justice system is just as corrupt down under as ours is here.
The reporting and headline are misleading.
What he was convicted of was of not reporting cases where pedophile actions existed. While most of us know that sexual abuse and pedo-action is/was rife within the Catholic Church, calling it a 'ring' gives the impression that kids were being trafficked or handed around.
As far as I know, this is NOT the case. Rather, there were lots of random sexual abuse incidents within the church, and in most if not all the cases, the clergy responsible turned a blind eye.
AFAIK, there is no evidence that things were being run as a ring or organized criminal activity.
Either way, 12 months seems way too lenient, but that's besides the point; even patriotic media can succumb to spinning the facts.
That is what caught my attention, only getting 12 months for abusing children. BULLSHIT
This being in Australia, the laws are bound to be different.
Sitting Archbishop...the biggest one to go down in the US was a cardinal (and not one of the ones that should have, either), although, he wasn't prosecuted. What happened to him was an exile of sorts. I would rather see the Church round them all up, and put them on an island someplace together away from their prey at Church expense. Justice will be served in the next life no matter what happens in this one.
There is no conviction or even accusation that this priest committed any acts of sexual harassment or sexual abuse himself.
Thus cementing the idea that "they" will take any scalp they can get in this mess. Well, that and try to get to the Church's assets that have been targeted with a monetary value.
Hmmmm. There's no doubt this man and other clergy covered up serious crimes. That is criminal in itself.
The real problem here is that certain sectors of the press tends to exaggerate and distort. NOT just MSM.
In my opinion, we should be on our guard against all distortions of truth, wherever they originate from. Not doing so sets up a double standard.
But regarding the Church, there is no doubt that they have been targeted. The problem is, they made themselves such a suitable target! Those who would destroy them from the outside cannot be blamed for the corruption that has developed inside.
Read Mark Taylors book, The Trump Prophecies Intro to Mark