Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
sad story, but props on the Beatles line....I read the news today. Oh boy.
All the problems the Catholic church has had over the past several decades and you still have guys like this hanging around. How many more are there? What else continues to be swept under the rug?
What brings this to the height of hypocrisy is this. My son tested to go to Providence although he chose Lockport instead. During the orientation McGrath went on and on about Providence teaching "right from wrong." Here was the face of that school giving us this "holier than thou" speech while doing this stuff?
I love and trust my spouse completely. She has such a great sense about people when she first meets them. When we left the school with our son that day she and I talked about him possibly going there. She said there was something about McGrath she didn't trust. She said he seemed kind of creepy. I, more or less, blew it off. You can imagine what she said when I showed her the article today in the Sun-Times. Really she didn't say anything...she didn't have to.
Before some of you guys jump down my throat let me say this. I am an "innocent until proven guilty" guy 100%. But this guy's resignation sure is suspicious as hell. Nothing will surprise me now.
It's not a sad story as one poster said...it is a sick and disgusting story.
Before some of you guys jump down my throat let me say this. I am an "innocent until proven guilty" guy 100%. But this guy's resignation sure is suspicious as hell. Nothing will surprise me now.
But the priests of the Catholic church should be held to a higher standard. Period.The only thing I would add here is that it's a much larger issue than just the Catholic church unfortunately....
Yours is a well thought out post. But, answer me this. Why would he resign if there is"nothing here to see?" If he truly is innocent of anything why leave? This is why I am speculating, because I do believe in innocent until proven guilty. People don't resign all of a sudden for no reason...and especially in the middle of the school year. Something is up.LTHSALUM76:
Let's not allow our imaginations run riot just yet.
I'd hasten to point out the story only describes "inappropriate" content was discovered on his phone, but does not elaborate any further. We are at the early stages of a civil probe, but some, such as you, have already indirectly offered apocalyptic visions of horrifying images uploaded onto his mobile phone.
For all we know, a complaint could have been lodged over images of teen girls in bikinis and not grotesque pictures of 14-year-old boys showering in the school locker room.
So before you or any other poster serve up any above-it-all moralizing, I would suggest we wait and see what the inquiry produces before sending this man to the gallows.
I'd also like to remind members here there are over 40,000 Catholic priests serving in North America and approximately 200 have been accused of sex crimes, some of which (Joseph Bernardin, for example) were later to be exposed as completely groundless. However, the low number of accused priests have never halted the traveling circus of anti-Catholic agitators from revealing this important statistic, nor has it ever provided a word of absolution for the hundreds of thousands of priests globally who perform acts of kindness or charity every day.
For those who ignore these words and choose to pile on with pitiless ad hominem attacks, do so at your pleasure or risk.
LTHSALUM76:
Let's not allow our imaginations run riot just yet.
I'd hasten to point out the story only describes "inappropriate" content was discovered on his phone, but does not elaborate any further. We are at the early stages of a civil probe, but some, such as you, have already indirectly offered apocalyptic visions of horrifying images uploaded onto his mobile phone.
For all we know, a complaint could have been lodged over images of teen girls in bikinis and not grotesque pictures of 14-year-old boys showering in the school locker room.
So before you or any other poster serve up any above-it-all moralizing, I would suggest we wait and see what the inquiry produces before sending this man to the gallows.
I'd also like to remind members here there are over 40,000 Catholic priests serving in North America and approximately 200 have been accused of sex crimes, some of which (Joseph Bernardin, for example) were later to be exposed as completely groundless. However, the low number of accused priests have never halted the traveling circus of anti-Catholic agitators from revealing this important statistic, nor has it ever provided a word of absolution for the hundreds of thousands of priests globally who perform acts of kindness or charity every day.
For those who ignore these words and choose to pile on with pitiless ad hominem attacks, do so at your pleasure or risk.
Why would he resign if there is"nothing here to see?" If he truly is innocent of anything why leave? This is why I am speculating, because I do believe in innocent until proven guilty. People don't resign all of a sudden for no reason...and especially in the middle of the school year. Something is up.
I don't care what anyone says, I believe there is something there. I also believe we may never know all of the truth. This may very well get swept under the rug like so many other incidents. Everyone is mum which is typical. Just don't say anything, let time pass, and it will go away.
I am sorry but pointing out there are 40,000 Catholic priests and saying that there are "only" 200 having been accused doesn't justify this action. To me, it's 200 too many.
I am just as Catholic as anyone on this board which is why this is especially troubling to me...and aggravating if anyone couldn't tell. All the trouble we have in getting people into church and this continues to happen.
If you can give me a good and logical answer as to why McGrath resigned, I will listen.
Priests should be held to a higher standard because they preach to us about morality. We aren't talking about people in the entertainment industry or politicians. These are people who are spreading the word of God.
I feel like you are cherry picking numbers.
"Currently serving". I'm interested in your source, but of course "currently serving" is a hugely biased statistic as many who have been discovered to have committed sexual abuse would have been removed, and many cases that have occurred have taken years or decades to surface so you don't know the number of the current priests, in many cases due to the Church hiding the scandal.
the fact is that there were approximately 10,667 reported victims (younger than 18 years) of clergy sexual abuse between 1950 and 2002, and the 4,392 priests who were accused amount to approximately 4% of the 109,694 priests in active ministry during that time.
I agree with you in general with the "innocent until proven guilty", but logic dictates that when one steps down from a position they've spent their entire life working towards that goal rather than stepping down you have reason to suspect guilt.
Moreover, I'm not sure I agree with you minimizing the effect based on gender.... so photos of underage girls is ok but not boys? Please clarify.
All the problems the Catholic church has had over the past several decades and you still have guys like this hanging around. How many more are there? What else continues to be swept under the rug?
What brings this to the height of hypocrisy is this. My son tested to go to Providence although he chose Lockport instead. During the orientation McGrath went on and on about Providence teaching "right from wrong." Here was the face of that school giving us this "holier than thou" speech while doing this stuff?
I love and trust my spouse completely. She has such a great sense about people when she first meets them. When we left the school with our son that day she and I talked about him possibly going there. She said there was something about McGrath she didn't trust. She said he seemed kind of creepy. I, more or less, blew it off. You can imagine what she said when I showed her the article today in the Sun-Times. Really she didn't say anything...she didn't have to.
Before some of you guys jump down my throat let me say this. I am an "innocent until proven guilty" guy 100%. But this guy's resignation sure is suspicious as hell. Nothing will surprise me now.
It's not a sad story as one poster said...it is a sick and disgusting story.
Again, another well thought out post. There are few things that concern me.LTHSALUM:
I suspect he stepped away for a number of reasons, but not necessarily because of guilt. He was in all probability told to step down by his superiors in the Diocese; thinks more of the school than himself and would prefer to avoid any more negative publicity; or he is indeed at fault.
Doubtful. According to the article, civil authorities are looking into the matter and if the justice system is involved, if he is at fault, it will be dealt with in a court of law.
My point about mentioning the number of priests who serve with dignity in comparison to those who have faced accusations was in no way an attempt to whitewash credible accusations. It was to point out to alarmists the Church is not some haven for criminals to use a collar as a refuge for their misdeeds. In the past, the Church irresponsibly shuffled both accused or guilty priests from parish or school to another parish or school in a different section of the country. Inexcusable as this was, and likely only promoting further criminal behavior, the Church has paid out hundreds of millions in damages to litigants. I think the Church, thankfully, has recognized it has cost them dearly financially and has damaged the image of the Church and priesthood. As I said above: This matter has fallen under a civil investigation and has been revealed to the media. I doubt the Diocese has much to say at this point.
It troubles me immensely; however, with civil authorities conducting an inquiry and aware of similar matters in which the misdeeds were ignored causing outrage, I think this delicate matter will be thoroughly inspected and if criminal charges are warranted, he will be punished.
I tried my best and did as much without attempting to exonerate the accused before the conclusion of a probe. At this point, I suspect a sober judgement will be rendered by investigators endowed with the calmness of vision and impartiality of judgement required when weighing evidence in this serious matter.
I wholeheartedly agree. Like you, I expect more from the ordained because they are entrusted with spreading virtue and it is shocking when there is a breach of trust. When a violation occurs, it is imperative a dispassionate investigation be performed to come to a equitable conclusion.
My point was merely to urge caution and not reflexively assign blame or assume it is related contact with a teen boy. We have only one piece of evidence at this point: "Inappropriate" material allegedly found on a mobile phone.
When the Niles North episode emerged at the near-conclusion of the season, all sorts of wild speculation arose on this forum. I recommended caution and reminded members of the final chapter in the Duke lacrosse case. I don't need to elaborate any further.
OK the rant is over and I really don't care to discuss this anymore and become more aggravated. That is, unless something new comes up.
First, I don't see McGrath denying anything inappropriate on his device. If that is me and nothing is there, I am saying so. But, he is staying silent, which is the usual protocol.
Letting an investigation, inquiry, trial, etc. decide and tell us what the truth is, will not necessarily give us the truth. Many times it doesn't.
Another thing that has concerned me over the years is the lack of public outrage by the Diocese and Church, in general, over so many incidents revealed. They pretty much stay silent.
I am also very curious as to the usage of the word "inappropriate." If the truth comes out we'll know what the definition of "inappropriate" is to the Catholic church. If this turns out to be something disgusting, we'll know just how serious they are when it comes to getting this fixed or changing their ways.
I told my friend at Starbucks, the Diocese should just get all of this crap out in the open, express outrage and then make examples of the ones who are guilty of such behavior. It may not stop all sick people from acting this way, but it will definitely give the public the opinion that this won't be tolerated. Quietly dismissing someone or asking them to resign tells many people they really don't want to face this reality unless they have to.
Thank God for the newspapers and media who will cover this and probe for the truth. If not for them, we wouldn't know anything and we didn't for hundreds of years.
Sure sound like my wife wrote the last two sentences.....
SSCFD:
Mine too. Perhaps we are married to sisters.
All the problems the Catholic church has had over the past several decades and you still have guys like this hanging around. How many more are there? What else continues to be swept under the rug?
What brings this to the height of hypocrisy is this. My son tested to go to Providence although he chose Lockport instead. During the orientation McGrath went on and on about Providence teaching "right from wrong." Here was the face of that school giving us this "holier than thou" speech while doing this stuff?
I love and trust my spouse completely. She has such a great sense about people when she first meets them. When we left the school with our son that day she and I talked about him possibly going there. She said there was something about McGrath she didn't trust. She said he seemed kind of creepy. I, more or less, blew it off. You can imagine what she said when I showed her the article today in the Sun-Times. Really she didn't say anything...she didn't have to.
Before some of you guys jump down my throat let me say this. I am an "innocent until proven guilty" guy 100%. But this guy's resignation sure is suspicious as hell. Nothing will surprise me now.
It's not a sad story as one poster said...it is a sick and disgusting story.