Damned Catholics

[Ravenshire]

Two Catholic priests in Ohio have practically kidnapped a baby from its parents and are trying to legally adopt him because the parents can't afford lawyers

A piece of the Steubenville family has been missing for over a year now — a 2-year-old boy who is in the temporary legal custody of two priests at the nearby St. Peter Catholic Church in the midst of an unusual and ongoing court battle for custodial rights.

The case — which began after the Pauleys sought assistance from the church to care for their son — has had a profound impact on all sides involved.

For their part, the priests — Father Timothy Huffman, the pastor of St. Peter, and Father Bradley Greer, chancellor of the Steubenville diocese and a vicar at St. Peter — claimed in court when filing for custody in December 2022 that it was in the best interest of the child to stay with them.

Meanwhile, the case has dragged on for more than 18 months.

Allegations made by Father Huffman and Father Greer in their court filings include claims that the couple watered down the baby’s formula and fed him cantaloupe and chocolate, and that Ms. Pauley “has referred to the child as a ‘little bastard’ and ‘spawn of Satan.’”

In court records, the priests also said they had spent at least $1,400 at Walmart and Walgreens on groceries and other items for the couple, and said the child was in the rectory under their care an average of four to five nights a week between the end of July and November 2022.

A judge granted temporary custody to the priests about two weeks later, specifying the child would live in the church rectory during the duration of the case.

It’s been more than a year and a half since, and the drama continues to play out in court.

Neither the Steubenville police nor the Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services has substantiated any of the claims made in the priest's legal filings, according to court documents and JCDJFS documents.

Instead, the Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services, which administers children services in the area, cleared the couple of having safety threats in their home and even lauded the couple as having “many strengths” in a letter from the agency dated November 2023.


The couple, who say they cannot afford an attorney, have represented themselves in court and said they plan to keep fighting for custody of the boy in what they claim is a case of religious leaders overstepping when they should have been helping.

“It's disgusting what they’ve done,” Ms. Pauley said. “It’s a disgrace to the Bible. It’s a disgrace that the bishop or anyone else would accept this … nobody warned us about these guys.”

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-...2408110082

(my bold)

Lady, people have been warning you of these assholes for decades. You just weren't listening. But, I hope you get your kid back.

[Fake Messiah]

Pope Francis condemns Ukraine's ban of Russian-linked Orthodox Church

Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the Ukraine government's ban of the Russian-linked Orthodox Church.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday signed a law barring religious groups with ties to Russia.

Zelensky said: "Ukrainian orthodoxy today is taking a step toward liberation from the devils of Moscow."

Mykyta Poturaiev, a Ukrainian member of Parliament who sponsored the bill, said: The Moscow Patriarchate is not an inspiration but a participant in the war."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/...724598208/

[Fake Messiah]

Cillian Murphy has made a movie to warn us how evil the Catholic church is (in Ireland)

Oscar winner Cillian Murphy plays a coal merchant and father haunted by secret abuses in a local convent sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the trailer for Small Things Like These from Lionsgate ahead of a Nov. 8 theatrical release.

Delivering coal to the convent, Bill Furlong (Murphy) witnesses a mother forcing her young daughter inside and against her will. “Mommy, please! Stop it! No please! I’m not going in there,” she screams as a silent Furlong looks on in the short teaser.

Set in 1985 just ahead of Christmas, Furlong, as he makes further deliveries to the convent, is forced to confront his own unspoken grief and childhood trauma, which leads him into making a moral choice. “You want to watch what you say, about what’s there,” Furlong is warned in the trailer as he sees first-hand the atrocities taking place in the local convent.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies...236004821/

[Fake Messiah]

Catholic Church is pedophilic, racist, and phony.

Would we want our Black Catholic child to be a priest? Probably not.

One of the proudest moments I have had as a Black Catholic parent is when my two boys received the sacrament of baptism.

Yet, due to the global sexual abuse scandal, lukewarm approaches to racism and combating anti-Black racial injustices in the Church, hyper-partisan focus among many bishops and priests, and our own general displeasure for the hierarchy, my wife and I would have many reasons to withhold our children from being in the divinely grandiose yet painful Catholic Church altogether.

When it comes to Catholic sexual abuse and African Americans, we are even more concerned. The abominable global crisis in the Church has crippled its public image, and there is overwhelming agreement that clerical abuse is an ongoing reality.

The Black Catholic struggle in this regard is hardly at the forefront of the debate. Because the Church doesn't have a system that logs the demographic information of abuse victims, the actual number of Black Catholic victims is untold. Couple this with decades of faithful Black Catholics going abused, traumatized, and largely unseen and you can understand why the issue is even more wounding for my wife and I.

It concerns us that if our children were ever sexually victimized by Church staff or clergy, who would be there to “say their name” when the hierarchy protects its unyielding power and influence against credible allegations, shuffling dangerous priests and hushing victims? We can’t fathom our precious and innocent children becoming a statistic with little to ensure their dignity and sacredness are protected. If we’re supposed to trust the Church elders with our children’s souls but they are assaulted, it would only create further distrust.

When it comes to anti-Black injustice in the Catholic world stateside and abroad, my wife and I have little confidence that the Church can be a leader for our racial, economic, political, environmental, and religious needs. When many high-ranking members dismiss the call to recognize the importance of human dignity and ensure equitable participation in society, it distresses us to see them go against our welfare.

Further, if one of our children were to become a priest, they could end up standing shoulder to shoulder with someone that sees them as undeserving of the vocation. That’s difficult to process for us because we know how it is to receive initial reception in Christian spaces only to be encountered later with disingenuity and a false embrace.

Our child’s potential vocation as a priest would likely result in an assignment to a predominantly non-Black parish, which would likely mean confrontation with implicit bias and stereotypes. It could be a shattering blow to their ministry, just as Venerable Augustus Tolton encountered and Fr Bryan Massingale has also recounted. Even so, perseverance can be achieved. The willingness of faithful Black priests to stick to their upward calling despite hostility is a remarkable testament to the Holy Spirit working in them.

When we see figures like Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, who withdrew from the seminary because of White Catholic racism in the late 1960s, and so many more examples of Black Catholic men and women with a thwarted vocation, spiritual fortitude is not easy.

https://www.blackcatholicmessenger.org/b...onfidence/