Catholic Diocese in India Reinstates Priest Who Admitted Child Sex Abuse [View all]

[trotsky]

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2016/04/22/catholic-diocese-in-india-reinstates-priest-who-admitted-child-sex-abuse/

A Roman Catholic diocese in southern India said Thursday it consulted with the Vatican before reinstating a priest who pleaded guilty last year to the sexual abuse of a minor in the U.S.

The suspension of the priest, Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, 61 years old, was lifted by Bishop Amalraj Arulappan from the Diocese of Ootacamund in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, earlier this year, Father Sebastian Selvanathan, a spokesman for the diocese said.

Father Jeyapaul was deputed to serve in the Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota in the U.S. in 2004. He returned to India in September 2005 and two years later, criminal charges were filed against him in the U.S. accusing him of sexually abusing a girl between 2004 and 2005. Father Jeyapaul was suspended from the Indian diocese in 2010.

...

The priest is living in the residential premises of the diocese, Father Selvanathan said, adding that “he has no responsibilities whatsoever.” When asked if Mr. Jeyapaul was prevented from having contact with children, Father Selvanathan said: “It is not a jail.” He didn’t comment on why Father Jeyapaul was reinstated.

Coming on the heels of the story I posted yesterday - Sex Abuse and the Catholic Church: Why Is It Still a Story? - well, there ya go. This is why it's still a fucking story. Here's a priest who admitted abusing children, and once again he's shuffled around and reinstated... and not prohibited from contact with children.

The church and its loyal defenders continue to sweep abuse under the rug. No big deal, it happens everywhere, what can you do. Well it's a big fucking deal whenever a child is abused. Yes it happens everywhere but in the RCC the situation is unique, and exacerbated by its teachings and practices, which continue to this day. And as to what you can do, how about you REMOVE THE ABUSER instead of protecting him and reinstating him?

Fuck all those whose response is a knee-jerk defense of their corrupt and harmful church.