POPE PISSED OFF AT BELGIAN COPS FOR DOING THEIR DUTY

For a long time we have come to know that, over many years in this country, young boys have been sexually abused by hundreds of Catholic priests. The only reason these abuses came to light is because some of the victims finally found the courage to go public with the abuse they suffered. The Church had no intention of revealing this problem to the public or of having the offending priests brought to justice. Instead, the Church hierarchy covered up these crimes by transferring the child molesters to other parishes.

Recently, the Europeans began to learn that their children had also been sexually abused by hundreds of Catholic priests. Just as in the U.S., the church covered up these crimes by trying to hide the problem from the public. That didn’t fly with the Belgian police who did what law enforcement agencies are supposed to do – investigate crimes. And as part of that investigation, the Belgian cops conducted raids on church properties to search for and seize evidence pertaining to the child molestation cases.
　
Now the Pope is highly pissed off, claiming that the cops violated the ‘autonomy’ of the Church and the privacy of both victims and the child molesting priests. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to his Holiness, but with respect to the police raids, the Pope’s complaints are a pile of shit. Since the Church chose to cover up crimes committed by its clerics, the police were within their rights to investigate any complaints by victims of sexual abuse. They would have been guilty of dereliction of duty had they not done so.
　
POPE DEPLORES BELGIAN SEX RAIDS, STRESSES AUTONOMY
by Nicole Winfield
　
Associated Press
June 27, 2010
　
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI lashed out Sunday at what he called the "deplorable" raids carried out by Belgian police who detained bishops, confiscated computers, opened a crypt and took church documents as part of an investigation into priestly sex abuse.
　
Benedict made a rare personal entry into the escalating diplomatic dispute with Belgium, issuing a message of solidarity to the head of the Belgian bishops' conference and other bishops who were detained in the June 24 raid.
　
He said justice must take its course, but also asserted the right of the Catholic Church to investigate clerical abuse alongside civil law enforcement authorities.
　
It was first time the pope himself had commented on the raids, and his message to Monsignor Andre Joseph Leonard capped a daily ratcheting up of the Vatican's criticism. On Saturday, the No. 2 Vatican official said the raids were unprecedented even under communism.
　
Belgium's justice minister defended the searches on Sunday, saying the bishops were treated normally and that the search warrant was fully legitimate.
　
In the raids, police searched the home and former office of former Archbishop Godfried Danneels, taking documents and his personal computer, just as the country's nine bishops were starting their monthly meeting. The men were held for nine hours and — along with diocese staff — had to surrender their cell phones.
　
In addition, police opened at least one tomb of a prelate — a violation that has particularly galled the Vatican.
　
Police and prosecutors have not said if Danneels is suspected of abuse himself or simply had records pertaining to allegations against another person.
　
Separately, police seized the records of an independent panel investigating sexual abuse by priests, some 500 cases in all. The head of the panel called the raid a huge violation of the privacy of people — mostly men now in their 60s and 70s — who have lived with the shame of abuse.
　
Benedict said he wanted to write to Belgium's bishops "at this sad moment" to express his solidarity "for the surprising and deplorable way in which the searches were conducted." He noted that the monthly meeting of the bishops was set to discuss clerical abuse.