Catholic Priests continue to Rape Children

[TC Talks]

As recent as 2022, Catholic Priests have been discovered fondling children in Michigan. Why aren't they in prison like the rest of the criminals

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released the third of seven reports Wednesday related to a yearslong investigation into clergy sexual abuse within Michigan’s Catholic dioceses.

The report on the Diocese of Kalamazoo indicated there were 19 priests accused of sexual misconduct between the diocese’s founding in 1971 and 2024; 12 of those priests were ordained or incardinated within the Diocese of Kalamazoo.

So far, two priests who had been working in the diocese have been charged in the investigation: Fr. Brian Stanley is an Otsego priest who was sentenced in 2020 to jail and probation on an attempted unlawful imprisonment charge based on allegations in 2013 that he tied a 17-year-old boy to a chair with plastic wrap, taped his mouth and eyes shut, and kept him in a church janitorial closet for about 30 minutes.

Msgr. Jacob Vellian, a visiting priest to the diocese from India,was charged in 2019 with two counts of sexual abuse of a teen girl in the early 1980s. He reportedly died while awaiting extradition on the charges, but the attorney general’s office has not received independent confirmation from the U.S. Department of Justice.

“In the end, we hope that this report provides a voice for those who have suffered in silence for so long and that it shines a light on those alleged offenders whose actions allowed them to evade true accountability,” Nessel told reporters Wednesday.

Kalamazoo Bishop Edward Lohse said the report unveiled a“disturbing truth” and “historical reality” for the diocese that encompasses Allegan, Barry, Branch, Berrien, Cass, Calhoun, St. Joseph, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

“It is tragic, appalling and inexcusable,” Lohse said at a news conference Wednesday. “No one knows this better than you who are the victimsurvivors of that abuse. You were entrusted to our care, and we failed to protect you. There is no other way to put it. For that failure, I am deeply sorry.”

The report is the third of seven reports released related to an investigation that began under Republican former Attorney General Bill Schuette in 2018. The investigation was continued by Schuette’s successor, Nessel, who issued criminal charges in 11 cases, nine of which have resulted in convictions. At least 38 victims were involved in those cases.

In Wednesday’s report, the investigation found 11 of the 19 accused were prohibited from working with children because of violations of a child protection policy or direct sexual abuse or assault of minors. Twelve of the 19 priests are believed dead; the seven still living are not in active ministry, the report said.

The majority of the conduct alleged in the report occurred before 2022, the report said.

Reports for the dioceses of Marquette and Gaylord have already been released. Nessel said the last four reports would be released before the end of her term in 2026 inthe following order: the dioceses of Lansing, Grand Rapids, Saginaw and Detroit.

[TC Talks]

Here's the report of 28 Catholic leaders raping in the Gaylord Diocese.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Monday that her office investigated sexual abuse allegations against 26 priests and two deacons from the Discose of Gaylord in northern Michigan.

The 130-page report details allegations of sexual misconduct by clergy between 1951 and 2021.

Despite the numerous accusations, no charges have been filed as part of the report, largely because of the statute of limitations, which requires charges to be filed within a certain period of time after a crime occurs.

Nessel said the report is intended to shed light on a dark corner of the Catholic church and to provide assurances to the victims that the allegations were fully investigated.

“Our promise to the victims was that every case of sexual abuse and assault would be thoroughly reviewed and that the results of the investigation would be transparent,” Nessel said in a statement. “I especially want to thank the survivors who have shared their stories, sometimes for the first time after decades of silence. Their willingness to come forward has helped bring attention to an issue that has affected so many in our state and our country, especially children.”

Of the 28 clergy listed in the report, 16 are believed to be dead. Three of them are still active in the diocese, one as a pastor and the two others in retired ministry.

[Deleted User 16378]

The Catholic Church is and has been a breeding ground for mainly Gay pedophiles praying on Children. It’s not just the Catholic Church it’s in all denominations.

[TC Talks]

The Catholic Church is and has been a breeding ground for mainly Gay pedophiles praying on Children. It’s not just the Catholic Church it’s in all denominations.

I believe it's people who warp faith more than it is individuals personal sexuality.

What's most troubling with the Catholic Church is their political ability to control how this whole situation has unfolded. They didn't acknowledge the wrong doing and start cooperating, their records had to be seized. Some diocese have been completely combative.

How can an organization that claims to be the moral compass of a nation behave this way?

[Deleted User 16378]

The Catholic Church is and has been a breeding ground for mainly Gay pedophiles praying on Children. It’s not just the Catholic Church it’s in all denominations.

I believe it's people who warp faith more than it is individuals personal sexuality.

What's most troubling with the Catholic Church is their political ability to control how this whole situation has unfolded. They didn't acknowledge the wrong doing and start cooperating, their records had to be seized. Some diocese have been completely combative.

How can an organization that claims to be the moral compass of a nation behave this way?

Because, the Pope and other church leaders have zero moral compass. The Pope’s decisions are way out of line lately and the Catholic Church is losing parishioners in record numbers. My entire family has left the Catholic Church for two reasons the continuing cry for money and the recent decisions by this piece of crap Pope.

[TC Talks]

I have not had much interaction with Catholics except for a few funerals and weddings. But many Catholics in the Midwest have this sense of entitlement and seem to be impervious to most teachings in the Bible.

I wonder if the cliches about Catholic Girls comes from run ins with priests when they were younger.

[km1125]

I have not had much interaction with Catholics except for a few funerals and weddings. But many Catholics in the Midwest have this sense of entitlement and seem to be impervious to most teachings in the Bible.

I wonder if the cliches about Catholic Girls comes from run ins with priests when they were younger.

Not surprising considering your quite bigoted views on the topic.

[Rate This]

I have not had much interaction with Catholics except for a few funerals and weddings. But many Catholics in the Midwest have this sense of entitlement and seem to be impervious to most teachings in the Bible.

I wonder if the cliches about Catholic Girls comes from run ins with priests when they were younger.

Not surprising considering your quite bigoted views on the topic.

That’s exactly what I was going to say.

[Matt]

Yeah, this thread is a bad look. Catholics are not bible thumpers and tend not to push their religion on others. We have a more traditional view of religion and are smart enough to know that Gospels written decades after Jesus died are not literal.

[TC Talks]

Yeah, this thread is a bad look. Catholics are not bible thumpers and tend not to push their religion on others. We have a more traditional view of religion and are smart enough to know that Gospels written decades after Jesus died are not literal.

Conversative Catholics are responsible for much of the homophobia in the country. Just Google homophobic sermons and you get plenty of results.

The Catholic Church is so large it's certainly not a reflection of every Catholic, but the US organization has not really addressed hate speech from it's priests. The Pope has made the church's position clear. Why do these Priests persist with the homophobic rhetoric?

There are many hot buttons filled with bigotry that politicians amplify to engage voters. Given the size to the Catholic Church in the US, members are often caught up in this manipulation.

The Saginaw Diocese said Held got involved because some St. Joseph parish members were upset over Thrasher’s “civil union” with another man, “which is contrary to the Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality and marriage.”

The Diocese had supported Held, even as hundreds of people held Sunday protests against the priest’s remarks and leadership style. They made signs that said, “There’s nothing righteous about bigotry disguised as religion,” and “Love thy neighbor NO exceptions.”

AP

But Chapman said she was enraged when Roman took aim at the LGBTQ community, suggesting that a person cannot be gay and also be Catholic.

“I saw hatred,” Chapman said. “Discrimination in any form is wrong. The Catholic thinking is love and promotes dignity for every human being.”

Roman’s sermon departed from the Catholic faith, she said.

“You don’t go to church to be judged,” Chapman said. “How can you do a sermon like that?”

St. Francis posts its church services on its Facebook page; the Jan. 26 Mass was posted, but has since been taken down.

Another church member, Sherri Glezman, said she was appalled at the sermon.

“It is upsetting and offensive that Fr. Roman used his platform to voice his political opinion about the Biden administration and it is deeply disturbing that he went even further to purposefully single out the LGBTQ+ community,” Glezman said in a written statement to the Record-Eagle.

“I am the proud mother of a gay son and I am appalled that Fr. Roman is now insinuating that my own son, his husband, and therefore my family are now unwelcome in the church. His message is insulting to the LGBTQ+ community and to those who love and support them, as God would ask us to. Aren’t we all suppose to ‘love thy neighbor?’ Imagine a lonely resident sitting in church that day needing to find God, to find a place they belong and feel safe and this being the sermon they heard.

Record Eagle

[TC Talks]

I have not had much interaction with Catholics except for a few funerals and weddings. But many Catholics in the Midwest have this sense of entitlement and seem to be impervious to most teachings in the Bible.

I wonder if the cliches about Catholic Girls comes from run ins with priests when they were younger.

Not surprising considering your quite bigoted views on the topic.

So no comments about children being raped? Interesting

[Rate This]

Yeah, this thread is a bad look. Catholics are not bible thumpers and tend not to push their religion on others. We have a more traditional view of religion and are smart enough to know that Gospels written decades after Jesus died are not literal.

Are you Catholic? How bout that... so am I. TC's problem here is he is literally shooting in the dark since he can't possibly know which posters are going to ring his neck over this... and it'll be some sort of bi-partisan coalition.

[Rate This]

I have not had much interaction with Catholics except for a few funerals and weddings. But many Catholics in the Midwest have this sense of entitlement and seem to be impervious to most teachings in the Bible.

I wonder if the cliches about Catholic Girls comes from run ins with priests when they were younger.

Not surprising considering your quite bigoted views on the topic.

So no comments about children being raped? Interesting

Are we really so far gone we have to run out and shout that child rape is bad as if that wasn't a known thing and it needed advertising?

[Deleted User 15924]

Yeah, this thread is a bad look. Catholics are not bible thumpers and tend not to push their religion on others. We have a more traditional view of religion and are smart enough to know that Gospels written decades after Jesus died are not literal.

Conversative Catholics are responsible for much of the homophobia in the country. Just Google homophobic sermons and you get plenty of results.

The Catholic Church is so large it's certainly not a reflection of every Catholic, but the US organization has not really addressed hate speech from it's priests. The Pope has made the church's position clear. Why do these Priests persist with the homophobic rhetoric?

There are many hot buttons filled with bigotry that politicians amplify to engage voters. Given the size to the Catholic Church in the US, members are often caught up in this manipulation.

The Saginaw Diocese said Held got involved because some St. Joseph parish members were upset over Thrasher’s “civil union” with another man, “which is contrary to the Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality and marriage.”

The Diocese had supported Held, even as hundreds of people held Sunday protests against the priest’s remarks and leadership style. They made signs that said, “There’s nothing righteous about bigotry disguised as religion,” and “Love thy neighbor NO exceptions.”

AP

But Chapman said she was enraged when Roman took aim at the LGBTQ community, suggesting that a person cannot be gay and also be Catholic.

“I saw hatred,” Chapman said. “Discrimination in any form is wrong. The Catholic thinking is love and promotes dignity for every human being.”

Roman’s sermon departed from the Catholic faith, she said.

“You don’t go to church to be judged,” Chapman said. “How can you do a sermon like that?”

St. Francis posts its church services on its Facebook page; the Jan. 26 Mass was posted, but has since been taken down.

Another church member, Sherri Glezman, said she was appalled at the sermon.

“It is upsetting and offensive that Fr. Roman used his platform to voice his political opinion about the Biden administration and it is deeply disturbing that he went even further to purposefully single out the LGBTQ+ community,” Glezman said in a written statement to the Record-Eagle.

“I am the proud mother of a gay son and I am appalled that Fr. Roman is now insinuating that my own son, his husband, and therefore my family are now unwelcome in the church. His message is insulting to the LGBTQ+ community and to those who love and support them, as God would ask us to. Aren’t we all suppose to ‘love thy neighbor?’ Imagine a lonely resident sitting in church that day needing to find God, to find a place they belong and feel safe and this being the sermon they heard.

Record Eagle

I'm doing something I normally don't do. Quote many paragraphs. But I'd like to because your post hits many points. Here's my viewpoint. If folks don't like their church leadership, leave. .

I'll give you a silly example to make a point. The Bible says in at least a half dozen places to submit to those in authority over you. Let's say church leadership comes out and says all members shall dye their hair purple. Now nowhere in the Bible does it say to dye your hair a certain color. But is it a sin to not dye your hair and still remain a member? I know that's silly but I wanted to make a point.

When I read of people so upset they are picketing their own church, or continuing to sit under teachings they don't agree with, my first thought is:
"There's the door".

[Matt]

Yeah, this thread is a bad look. Catholics are not bible thumpers and tend not to push their religion on others. We have a more traditional view of religion and are smart enough to know that Gospels written decades after Jesus died are not literal.

Are you Catholic? How bout that... so am I. TC's problem here is he is literally shooting in the dark since he can't possibly know which posters are going to ring his neck over this... and it'll be some sort of bi-partisan coalition.

Yes. I haven't been to church in a number of years, but while I lived with my parents it was pretty much mass every weekend. It shouldn't come as a surprise that TCT is painting with a broad brush and has no idea wtf he's talking about.