Catholic Church, GOP Double Down on Misogyny, Protection of Predator Priests

Cardinal Timothy Dolan transferred church funds
into a separate trust in order to protect them
from clergy abuse lawsuits

Update: "Let's see if I got this straight about the Hobby Lobby decision. The owners are Christians who have certain religious beliefs. If I, as a Jew, were to apply for a job at Hobby Lobby, would they have the right to deny me a job because my religious beliefs are different from theirs? Would Hobby Lobby deny me the right to not work on Saturday or take off for the Jewish holidays? No, they would not be able to do that because it is discrimination. So why can they deny me access to birth control that I believe in? Whose religious rights are being denied?" (Lisa Cass, The Capital Times)
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In the wake of the Hobby Lobby decision attacking contraception coverage, the Catholic Church hierarchy and Republican Party are moving to block pro-women legislation in the U.S. Senate and maintaining Church policy of protecting predator priests. (Rachel Zoll, AP)

Weeks back, Pope Francis met with six victims of abuse, comparing the abuse of children at the hands of Catholic priests to the performing of a satanic black mass.

"Before God and his people, I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you," Francis said during his homily, according to a text released by the Vatican. "And I humbly ask forgiveness I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves." (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests]

Talk is cheap.

A leading advocate for survivors of Catholic priests, Patrick J. Wall of Jeff Anderson and Associates of St. Paul, Minnesota, expressed a show-me attitude towards the Pope's stated commitment to holding bishops accountable for covering up crimes against 1,000s of children.

"If the Holy Father does not fire the Bishops and Abbots who have been complicit in covering up child sexual abuse by the Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, Deacons and Religious, then he simply is a Jesuit using roman tactics of smoke and mirrors," said Wall in an email.

Wall is a former priest and monk from Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Meanwhile, yesterday it was reported a, "canon lawyer alleging a widespread cover-up of clergy sex misconduct in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has made her most detailed claims yet, accusing archbishops and their top staff of lying to the public and of ignoring the U.S. bishops' pledge to have no tolerance of priests who abuse"

Jennifer Haselberger, who spent five years as Archbishop John Nienstedt's archivist and top adviser on Roman Catholic church law, also charged that the church used a chaotic system of record-keeping that helped conceal the backgrounds of guilty priests who remained on assignment." (Zoll, AP)

Archbishop Timothy Dolan (2002-2009) is not shaking with fear about being held accountable for his cover-ups and attacks on survivors in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, aided by a corrupt federal judge, Rudolph Randa, and a sitting U.S. Senator, Ron Johnson who lobbied for Republicans in 2010 blocking a proposed Wisconsin bill that would have abolished time limits on civil lawsuits over child sex abuse by Catholic priests.

Senate Republicans are likely to filibuster the bill overturning Hobby Lobby, a decision by the five rightwing Catholics on the U.S. Supreme Court.