To the followers of the Catholic Church with love…
I’ve talked about the US, Australia, Germany, Ireland and Africa, but today my friends we take a trip to The Netherlands. Once again the Holy Roman Kiddy Chasers have been caught with their dingle dangling.
Deep Breath…
The stories go back at least as far as 1964 and all the way up to 1994 or later. We can’t be sure, because too much is being ignored yet again. At the Don Rua monastery in the town of ‘s-Heerenberg in the east of the Netherlands the priests have what you might call a captive audience. 80 to 100 boys sleeping in dormitories. It must have been like being left alone in a candy store to them.
There have been nearly 300 reports since 1995 (of girls and boys) and even the people charged with investigating the crime have given up because the church is playing their usual ‘if we wait long enough it will go away’ game. Yvo van Kuijck, former chairman of the independent Assessment and Advisory Committee said, “I didn’t get the impression that dealing with sexual abuse was a priority for them.”
From Radio Netherlands Worldwide website:
In the period that Janne Geraets was abused at the Don Rua boarding school, the current Bishop of Rotterdam, Ad van Luyn, was working there as a teacher. In the 1970s, Bishop Van Luyn was provincial head of the Salesians. Since 2008 he has chaired the Netherlands Synod of Bishops.
Ad van Luyn declines to discuss “past issues”. Through a spokesman, he explains that “matters relating to the congregation are the responsibility of the current father superior, even if they relate to previous governors.”
Father Herman Spronck, currently the most senior Salesian in the Netherlands, denies all knowledge of abuse in ’s-Heerenberg, and refers all inquiries to his predecessors. He is not opposed to an investigation and is keen to emphasise that sexual abuse goes against the vow taken by the Fathers of Don Bosco. “At Don Bosco, the inviolable sanctity of youth is key to our system of education.”
The buck is passed up and the buck is passed down. None of this surprises me. You’d be forgiven for thinking they learn this in priest school because you hear it everytime one of these scandals breaks wide open. Oh, you’re not going to believe this. Guess what the church did about it. They transferred the priests to another parish to start over again. What is that supposed to be? A punishment?
“Hey, you got caught you naughty priest. Just for that we’re transferring you so you’ll have to go through a short period of celibacy until you can find another target. Now don’t let it happen again.”
This is supposed to impress who? It’s not impressing me. It’s not impressing the parents of these children and I’m damn sure the kids are sick of it.
This has got to stop. I know it and you know it, but for some reason the Vatican doesn’t seem to be able to assimilate this piece of information.
What is going on? How can they get away with constant abuse of children for decades on end and no government anywhere in the world has the balls to say ‘enough’. It will only take one to start things. There are always those waiting for someone else to step forward before they speak up and try to look like they were about to go first, but were beaten to it.
Now I’ll tell you what is going on. At least from the Catholic Community’s side of things. They see the story in the paper or hear it on the radio or tv and say to ourselves, “There they go again, making us look bad”. Well yeah! Because you only say “There they go again”. Don’t just say that. If you think it’s wrong, then think harder about how wrong you think it is and keep thinking till you get angry. Think how you’d feel if it had been you. Think how you’d feel if it had been your child. Think how you’d feel if it was your granddchild. Get angry. Very angry. Then think about what you can do to help those kids.
I’ll tell you what it is you can do. Help the kids that are next in line. Don’t let them become victims. Speak up and stop the priests from touching another child. They must never be allowed to be alone with another child. Ever.
Think about this. If any company had employees worldwide, that were abusing as many children as the Catholic Church has been and had gotten caught the way they have, what would have happened? All employees caught would be sacked/suspended, arrested, charged, convicted, jailed and with a little luck, left to rot. Does any of this happen to the church? No. Why? Because you won’t stand up and say something.