Drugged, raped, sexually assaulted during confession tell how California Catholic priests committed atrocities on children.
Quote:Several clergy abuse victims confronted the Diocese of Oakland’s bishop in a U.S. bankruptcy courtroom on Friday, describing in searing detail how they were groomed, raped and “terrorized” for decades by Catholic priests across the East Bay.
The testimonials capped a two-day hearing for 15 clergy sexual assault victims to air their allegations in court while the Diocese of Oakland seeks to settle roughly 350 lawsuits filed against it in recent years. Last month, the diocese’s proposed paying at least $117 million into a trust for those victims over the next several years — an offer the victims’ attorneys roundly panned as “a scam and a sham.”
One woman described being molested by a priest during a confessional in Pinole while just 7 years old, leading her to use drugs to numb the memory of the encounter. Another person said he “stopped at that young age learning how to dream” after allegedly being raped as a child and suffering an anal fissure. The injury continues to cause medical issues for him all these decades later.
Often, the victims recounted growing up with devout Catholic parents who — despite meager incomes — used what little money they had to pay to send their children to Catholic school. They were usually told that priests amounted to direct representatives of God, with their words serving as law to parishioners.
One woman tearfully described being repeatedly disrobed and molested by a priest, causing her to grow “resentful and angry,” while she became “a shell” of her “former self.” Thoughts of having to undress in front of a doctor led to her not wanting to have children.
That trauma persisted for decades, and reemerged when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She lamented how the disease could have been caught earlier had she not been fearful of being touched by a physician.
Friday’s hearing came as the diocese winds its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which began earlier this year as the church faced a flood of lawsuits alleging widespread sexual abuse among clergy.
Thousands of other lawsuits have been filed against other dioceses across the state, leading to similar bankruptcy filings by other Catholic church leaders. Victim advocates have steadfastly condemned such bankruptcy filings, noting how they effectively pause any litigation while bankruptcy judges review each diocese’s finances and assets.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/12/13/a...ght-thing/
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"
