Sunday, July 01, 2012

Child porn in a Roman Catholic church

By now, finding child porn in a Catholic church should surprise no one. It should cause anger and a call for a deep and serious investigation. I do not see either sentiment expressed in this article. 

WFSB-TV says Norwich Bishop Michael Cote will release a letter to parishioners during masses this weekend announcing that he has received and accepted the resignation of their pastor, Fr. Dennis Carey.

Read more: Police launch child porn investigation at Connecticut church

Pastor Carey served The Catholic faith over a 25-year career.

Carey was ordained a priest in 1998 after a 25-year career as a certified public accountant in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, according to biographical information on the diocese website.

Read more: Pastor resigns; computers seized from Waterford church rectory

The investigation has just started. Pastor Carey has not been charged with a crime. It may take some time until we see any charges come of this investigation, but here is my problem with the case. Where is the outrage? Simply finding child porn on a church computer should cause a uproar among the parishioners and members of the community. Besides a few superficial news stories, there is no outrage. Today is Sunday. I’m willing to bet the pews at St. Paul in Chains Church are full of people listening to a new pastor.

If you are a victim or have information, SNAP can help:

Let's hope that every person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and misdeeds by Father Dennis Carey will find the courage and strength to speak up, call police, expose wrongdoing, protect kids and start healing.

Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, USA, 636-433-2511. snapjudy@gmail.com, (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,) is the worlds oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims.

SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 12,000 members. Despite the word priest in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers and increasingly, victims who were assaulted in a wide range of institutional settings like summer camps, athletic programs, Boy Scouts, etc.