Yikes, it seems that 17 Twin Cities Catholic priests are now being identified as child rapists. Originally 37 substantiated claims of abuse had been filed against the Church and now that number has increased to 55. According to TwinCities.com:

The Twin Cities archdiocese and the law offices of Jeff Anderson issued a joint statement Thursday disclosing names of 17 priests with “substantiated” claims of sexual abuse of a minor — including four previously unknown to the public. The names bring to 55 the number of priests deemed to have substantiated claims of child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Ten of the 17 priests have died, “but the pain they caused is very much alive,” Archbishop John Nienstedt said in a news release. “I am profoundly saddened and sorry for the harm clergy sexual abuse has caused victims and survivors, their families and the community.”

The archdiocese’s says he is profoundly saddened by this and sorry for the harm caused by these priests, yet he refused to release any of the priests names and continued to protect their reputations until he was compelled to release them as part of the settlement.

The joint statement comes 10 days after the archdiocese and Anderson’s office, which represents victims of clergy sex abuse, announced the settlement of a lawsuit that had disgorged more than 50,000 pages of priest personnel documents going back decades, and a new child protection plan. The disclosures Thursday were part of the Oct. 13 settlement, Anderson said.

Why does it take suing the Catholic Church to get them to release the names of priests who rape children? Why is an organization that claims the moral high ground time and time again, refuse to stand up against pedophilia and continue to harbor priests around the world? And how can a church leader feign sadness when it took a court order for him to name the abusers? The Catholic Church continues to fight very hard to protect these abusers.

I expect Patheos bloggers like Rebecca Hamilton (and other Catholic apologists) to stand up against this kind of abuse, as she holds all Muslim leaders responsible for radical Islamic extremism and even holds Satanists and atheists responsible for any action she finds un-Catholic, like blaming Satanists for the actions of Christians.

So I will wait patiently for these “persecuted Catholics” to speak up for actual persecuted victims, children, who were raped and had their childhoods stolen by leaders in their own churches.

The Pope just spoke out about Christian science denial and urged Christians to accept evolution and the big bang, but perhaps he can do an even greater task and urge all Christians to turn in all pedophiles, and he himself can order the Vatican to turn over all files to the authorities and we can bring these monsters to justice.

(h/t WWJTD)