Priest warned sexually abused child he would ‘burn in hell’ if he told, MO suit says
A lawsuit brought by 25 former attendees of Catholic churches, schools and activities organized by the Archdiocese of St. Louis accuses leadership of knowing about the rampant sexual abuse of minors and not taking steps to prevent it.
The plaintiffs, who range in age from 21 to 83, outlined the repeated sexual abuse they faced as children by Catholic priests, nuns and brothers all associated with the archdiocese, according to the lawsuit filed July 24 in St. Louis Circuit Court.
Some of these children viewed priests as “father figures,” the lawsuit said. Plaintiff D.M used the Catholic Church as an “escape” from his abusive father.
In 1999, a girl age 8 to 9 was told to change into a new school uniform in front of Father James Grady. Plaintiff A.H. was “apprehensive” about it, so Grady told her that “changing in front of (him) is like changing in front of your dad,” according to court documents.
“(She) did as she was told,” according to the lawsuit. Then, the priest sexually abused her, the lawsuit said. The abuse continued four times per week from 1999 to 2002, when the plaintiff was between the ages of 8 and 12, according to the lawsuit.
The abuse of A.H. was not exclusive to Grady, the lawsuit said. She was confronted by a nun known as “Sister Annette” and was sexually abused every weekday by her during that same time period, the lawsuit said.
A.H. decided to tell other priests and the principal of her Catholic school in St. Louis City. She was told she was lying, according to the complaint.
A.H. moved to another Catholic school in 2002, but the abuse continued from another priest, according to the lawsuit.
She met the priest when she was 11 or 12, the lawsuit said, and was repeatedly sexually abused by him in the rectory “under the guise of organizing paperwork.”
The sexual abuse was daily, according to court documents, and the priest told the child he wanted to get her pregnant “like Mary Mother of Jesus.”
She attempted to resist the abuse but was told the priest would “lock (A.H.) up where no one could find (her),” the lawsuit said.
--Abuse in hospitals--
Religious figures throughout the archdiocese were sometimes placed in hospitals.
J.W. met “Brother Anthoneous” while she was hospitalized at 5 and 6 years old in the early 1960s, the lawsuit said. J.W.’s mother also worked at the hospital.
Each day, at around 4:30 a.m., Brother Anthoneous would sneak into the child’s hospital room and sexually abuse her, according to the lawsuit.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/mi...61264.html
A lawsuit brought by 25 former attendees of Catholic churches, schools and activities organized by the Archdiocese of St. Louis accuses leadership of knowing about the rampant sexual abuse of minors and not taking steps to prevent it.
The plaintiffs, who range in age from 21 to 83, outlined the repeated sexual abuse they faced as children by Catholic priests, nuns and brothers all associated with the archdiocese, according to the lawsuit filed July 24 in St. Louis Circuit Court.
Some of these children viewed priests as “father figures,” the lawsuit said. Plaintiff D.M used the Catholic Church as an “escape” from his abusive father.
In 1999, a girl age 8 to 9 was told to change into a new school uniform in front of Father James Grady. Plaintiff A.H. was “apprehensive” about it, so Grady told her that “changing in front of (him) is like changing in front of your dad,” according to court documents.
“(She) did as she was told,” according to the lawsuit. Then, the priest sexually abused her, the lawsuit said. The abuse continued four times per week from 1999 to 2002, when the plaintiff was between the ages of 8 and 12, according to the lawsuit.
The abuse of A.H. was not exclusive to Grady, the lawsuit said. She was confronted by a nun known as “Sister Annette” and was sexually abused every weekday by her during that same time period, the lawsuit said.
A.H. decided to tell other priests and the principal of her Catholic school in St. Louis City. She was told she was lying, according to the complaint.
A.H. moved to another Catholic school in 2002, but the abuse continued from another priest, according to the lawsuit.
She met the priest when she was 11 or 12, the lawsuit said, and was repeatedly sexually abused by him in the rectory “under the guise of organizing paperwork.”
The sexual abuse was daily, according to court documents, and the priest told the child he wanted to get her pregnant “like Mary Mother of Jesus.”
She attempted to resist the abuse but was told the priest would “lock (A.H.) up where no one could find (her),” the lawsuit said.
--Abuse in hospitals--
Religious figures throughout the archdiocese were sometimes placed in hospitals.
J.W. met “Brother Anthoneous” while she was hospitalized at 5 and 6 years old in the early 1960s, the lawsuit said. J.W.’s mother also worked at the hospital.
Each day, at around 4:30 a.m., Brother Anthoneous would sneak into the child’s hospital room and sexually abuse her, according to the lawsuit.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/mi...61264.html
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
