Fed-up Family Sues Bishops

Relatives of Dan O'Connell, a Hudson, Wisconsin, mortician murdered by a priest his family's funeral home in 2002.

The family is seeking to force U.S. bishops to identify 5,000 priests & religious accused of molesting children.

Here is the story: Fed-up family sues bishops

Here are some quotes:

Last October, St. Croix County Judge Eric Lundell ruled there was probable cause that Erickson killed O'Connell, 39, and Ellison, 22, and sexually molested at least one teenage boy regularly in the parish rectory.

Investigators believe Erickson fatally shot Dan O'Connell, 39, on Feb. 5, 2002, after the Hudson funeral home director confronted him about the suspected abuse. James Ellison, 22, a University of Minnesota mortuary science intern from Barron, Wis., was killed when he went to investigate the noise from the gunfire.

What do you think?

Comments

[Milly the Millstone]

What has been so frustating about all the settlements with big cash payouts from the church to the abuse victims is that most of the time because there was no trial thus no conviction the abusers names are kept secret. If the abusers names are kept private then how are people/parents to know when children are put at risk when the monster is wearing clerics or if the abuser is not a member of the clergy and moves into a neighborhood with children he or she is a disaster waiting to happen and nobody knows it.

Publicly exposing names of potential child abusers is something worth fighting for.

[Milly the Millstone]

I would like to see lawsuits filed and criminal charges brought against certain bishops for their silence and for moving abusing priests around or worse promoting them.

BISHOPS NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS OR INACTION.

The bishop of Los Angeles would be a good one to start with. If Mahony went to jail we would see other bishops shaking in their boots.

[Atlanta Catholic's Wife]

Milly you are 100% right. Take that millstone and put it in the hands of the D.A. of Los Angeles. These Bishops and Cardinal Mahony have protected and perpetuated evil. The greater mystery is the silence of so many Catholics. Where is the outrage? Many people choose to look the other way until the evil knocks at their door, then the floodgates of anger pour out. It should not be that way. Catholics should withold donations to the wolves in sheep's clothing. There are many authentic Catholic orginizations to give to. I am glad to see this family push for the truth. Maybe everyone should pay attention and follow suit!

[Dude]

This one hits particularly close to home. Hudson, WI is only 30 miles from where I live in Minneapolis. We have been "treated" to this one for the past couple of years. As it unfolded, so many orthodox were claiming this priest's innocence, because he was "orthodox." This priest was "orthodox" and also a very repressed homo. He also had mental problems. Here is the sad part. Much of this was known when he was in seminary, but covered up. I suspect the shortage of priests, combined with homosexual sympathy in the seminary, in tandem with the discipline of compulsory celibacy creates the perfect storm for this to happen. It definately creates the perfect storm for molestation. Filter out the straights.

[Dude]

P.S. Cardinal Mahoney had nothing to do with this one.

[Some Day]

I haven't been on this blog for a while.
I've been at Mr.Jimmy Akin's

[Bitter]

People need to realize two things:

1. The church still actively covers for priests accused of wrong-doing and

2. Sexual impropriety by preists is not contained to pedophilia.

Here is an example that shows both in one case. Father Michael Andreano, personal secretary of Archbishop John Myers of Newark was recently implicated in an affair with a married woman. Vicar general Monsignor Emery conducted an investigation which confirmed the affair. However, he concluded because the affair was "mutual" he would take no action against Father Andreano.

So the Archdiocese of Newark, who feature a prominent link to the discussion "Marriage and the Public Good" on their homepage (www.rcan.org) have decided it is okay for their priests to have affairs with married women as long as they are consensual affairs.