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I had the same experience when I visited the Vatican in 1977. Thought to myself that more should be done for the poor and less glitz and glamor at the Vatican. The final straw for me to leave the Catholic Church was the child abuse.
Catholic Church Scandal! (3 Viewers)
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"Converted?"
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Frankly I had the same thought when reading his post. "You're fat, isn't that a sin" is an unusual conversation starter.
I didn't go there in til after they used Bible passages to justify condemning others for sins. It was more a check out that plank in your eye before you start talking about others splinters vibe.
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Guess this can go here
=================
Geo, the name he prefers, sits in a coffee shop on a rainy afternoon as streetcars clang along outside. He is 64. He arrived at Madonna Manor, the Catholic orphanage he is now suing, in August of 1967, as a ward of Louisiana, age seven.
“My childhood was horrific,” he says matter-of-factly. “My father was an abusive alcoholic, my mother diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. Madonna Manor was a place where dysfunctional parents dumped their children. My mom was subject to electroshock therapy and thorazine. She lost a baby. She had a psychotic breakdown and was placed in a mental hospital. The state took me over.”
Thin, bearded, redolent of nicotine, he holds a sketchbook of his works.
He enjoys the fellowship of a drawing class once a week, sketching figures of live models. Alcoholics Anonymous helps too, he says, adding: “I have been sober since May 30 and intend to go a long way sober.”
Existing on a disability check and earnings from his sporadic art sales, Geo lives on one side of the shotgun-style house where he grew up. His brother, a survivor of the same orphanage, lives on the other side. Neither man has children.
Madonna Manor and its sister facility, Hope Haven, occupy Spanish mission-style buildings on opposite sides of Barataria Boulevard in the New Orleans suburb of Marrero.
From the time he entered the now-shuttered complex, says Geo, the “sexual and physical abuse was constant”.
Sister Martin Marie was “a huge, ugly, mean woman we called Mastadon behind her back”, he said of a nun who worked there. “The nuns had a sadistic streak. Martin Marie liked to whip out a fold-out army shovel and beat us.”
He sips from a cappuccino sitting next to his sketchbooks.
“She was famous for grabbing and abusing us for sexual pleasure. A lot of these women – those nuns – had severe problems,” he adds.
Charles Earhardt, a bus driver and presence at the home, began molesting Geo immediately after the boy arrived, he says. Earhardt, named by several other survivors as a pedophile, was dismissed from his duties.
Yet somehow he managed to adopt two boys – and, in short order, abused them, too, according to documents produced during a memorandum that led to a $5.2m settlement between the church and orphanage abuse claimants………..
The sheer scope of the institutional sexual abuse that the Catholic church in New Orleans concealed at the orphanages alone beggars belief.
The institution was … out of control, had no safeguards to protect the children, and was a haven for pedophiles,” wrote LaMothe, Stetter and Pfau in a 2009 report to the mediator helping them negotiate with the church attorneys.
Earhardt is now dead. So is Sister Martin Marie and seven other nuns accused of physical and sexual abuses while Earhardt and 13 other male predators sexually traumatized boys at the orphanages, according to the narrative in the settlement memorandum, anchored in files that church attorneys provided in the discovery phase of the litigation.
New Orleans archdiocese spokesperson William Kearney told the Guardian that while the organization maintains a list of ordained clergymen faced with substantial allegations of child molestation – the church was not responsible for publicizing the names of nuns or religious brothers. That should be done by their respective orders, Kearney said.
But the website of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the religious institute which staffed the orphanages, has no such listing – and the order declined to answer why that was……..
www.theguardian.com
=================
Geo, the name he prefers, sits in a coffee shop on a rainy afternoon as streetcars clang along outside. He is 64. He arrived at Madonna Manor, the Catholic orphanage he is now suing, in August of 1967, as a ward of Louisiana, age seven.
“My childhood was horrific,” he says matter-of-factly. “My father was an abusive alcoholic, my mother diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. Madonna Manor was a place where dysfunctional parents dumped their children. My mom was subject to electroshock therapy and thorazine. She lost a baby. She had a psychotic breakdown and was placed in a mental hospital. The state took me over.”
Thin, bearded, redolent of nicotine, he holds a sketchbook of his works.
He enjoys the fellowship of a drawing class once a week, sketching figures of live models. Alcoholics Anonymous helps too, he says, adding: “I have been sober since May 30 and intend to go a long way sober.”
Existing on a disability check and earnings from his sporadic art sales, Geo lives on one side of the shotgun-style house where he grew up. His brother, a survivor of the same orphanage, lives on the other side. Neither man has children.
Madonna Manor and its sister facility, Hope Haven, occupy Spanish mission-style buildings on opposite sides of Barataria Boulevard in the New Orleans suburb of Marrero.
From the time he entered the now-shuttered complex, says Geo, the “sexual and physical abuse was constant”.
Sister Martin Marie was “a huge, ugly, mean woman we called Mastadon behind her back”, he said of a nun who worked there. “The nuns had a sadistic streak. Martin Marie liked to whip out a fold-out army shovel and beat us.”
He sips from a cappuccino sitting next to his sketchbooks.
“She was famous for grabbing and abusing us for sexual pleasure. A lot of these women – those nuns – had severe problems,” he adds.
Charles Earhardt, a bus driver and presence at the home, began molesting Geo immediately after the boy arrived, he says. Earhardt, named by several other survivors as a pedophile, was dismissed from his duties.
Yet somehow he managed to adopt two boys – and, in short order, abused them, too, according to documents produced during a memorandum that led to a $5.2m settlement between the church and orphanage abuse claimants………..
The sheer scope of the institutional sexual abuse that the Catholic church in New Orleans concealed at the orphanages alone beggars belief.
The institution was … out of control, had no safeguards to protect the children, and was a haven for pedophiles,” wrote LaMothe, Stetter and Pfau in a 2009 report to the mediator helping them negotiate with the church attorneys.
Earhardt is now dead. So is Sister Martin Marie and seven other nuns accused of physical and sexual abuses while Earhardt and 13 other male predators sexually traumatized boys at the orphanages, according to the narrative in the settlement memorandum, anchored in files that church attorneys provided in the discovery phase of the litigation.
New Orleans archdiocese spokesperson William Kearney told the Guardian that while the organization maintains a list of ordained clergymen faced with substantial allegations of child molestation – the church was not responsible for publicizing the names of nuns or religious brothers. That should be done by their respective orders, Kearney said.
But the website of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the religious institute which staffed the orphanages, has no such listing – and the order declined to answer why that was……..
‘We called her mastodon’: infamous New Orleans orphanage’s abusive history ran deeper than ever known
Survivors of child sex abuse by male and female clergy seek justice – but are answered with silence
Boy_of_wonder75
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A little act of goodness some might be able to do. The article lists the Instagram page of Geo, the focus of the piece, which is where he sells his art. If you can, buy a painting. https://www.instagram.com/geojfineart/Guess this can go here
=================
Geo, the name he prefers, sits in a coffee shop on a rainy afternoon as streetcars clang along outside. He is 64. He arrived at Madonna Manor, the Catholic orphanage he is now suing, in August of 1967, as a ward of Louisiana, age seven.
“My childhood was horrific,” he says matter-of-factly. “My father was an abusive alcoholic, my mother diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. Madonna Manor was a place where dysfunctional parents dumped their children. My mom was subject to electroshock therapy and thorazine. She lost a baby. She had a psychotic breakdown and was placed in a mental hospital. The state took me over.”
Thin, bearded, redolent of nicotine, he holds a sketchbook of his works.
He enjoys the fellowship of a drawing class once a week, sketching figures of live models. Alcoholics Anonymous helps too, he says, adding: “I have been sober since May 30 and intend to go a long way sober.”
Existing on a disability check and earnings from his sporadic art sales, Geo lives on one side of the shotgun-style house where he grew up. His brother, a survivor of the same orphanage, lives on the other side. Neither man has children.
Madonna Manor and its sister facility, Hope Haven, occupy Spanish mission-style buildings on opposite sides of Barataria Boulevard in the New Orleans suburb of Marrero.
From the time he entered the now-shuttered complex, says Geo, the “sexual and physical abuse was constant”.
Sister Martin Marie was “a huge, ugly, mean woman we called Mastadon behind her back”, he said of a nun who worked there. “The nuns had a sadistic streak. Martin Marie liked to whip out a fold-out army shovel and beat us.”
He sips from a cappuccino sitting next to his sketchbooks.
“She was famous for grabbing and abusing us for sexual pleasure. A lot of these women – those nuns – had severe problems,” he adds.
Charles Earhardt, a bus driver and presence at the home, began molesting Geo immediately after the boy arrived, he says. Earhardt, named by several other survivors as a pedophile, was dismissed from his duties.
Yet somehow he managed to adopt two boys – and, in short order, abused them, too, according to documents produced during a memorandum that led to a $5.2m settlement between the church and orphanage abuse claimants………..
The sheer scope of the institutional sexual abuse that the Catholic church in New Orleans concealed at the orphanages alone beggars belief.
The institution was … out of control, had no safeguards to protect the children, and was a haven for pedophiles,” wrote LaMothe, Stetter and Pfau in a 2009 report to the mediator helping them negotiate with the church attorneys.
Earhardt is now dead. So is Sister Martin Marie and seven other nuns accused of physical and sexual abuses while Earhardt and 13 other male predators sexually traumatized boys at the orphanages, according to the narrative in the settlement memorandum, anchored in files that church attorneys provided in the discovery phase of the litigation.
New Orleans archdiocese spokesperson William Kearney told the Guardian that while the organization maintains a list of ordained clergymen faced with substantial allegations of child molestation – the church was not responsible for publicizing the names of nuns or religious brothers. That should be done by their respective orders, Kearney said.
But the website of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the religious institute which staffed the orphanages, has no such listing – and the order declined to answer why that was……..
‘We called her mastodon’: infamous New Orleans orphanage’s abusive history ran deeper than ever known
Survivors of child sex abuse by male and female clergy seek justice – but are answered with silence
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With a self-imposed deadline looming to file a plan to reorganize New Orleans’ bankrupt Roman Catholic archdiocese, a committee representing about 500 survivors of clergy sexual abuse in south-east Louisiana on Friday proposed that the organization, its affiliated churches, ministries, schools and their insurers should pay more than $1bn to settle their claims.
The archdiocese quickly answered with its counter-proposal: $62.5m, or more than $900m less.
Looking at it another way, the survivors are seeking $2m per claim – the church is offering $125,000 on average.
The vast majority of the money in the abuse claimants’ proposal – roughly $800m – should come from insurance companies, according to the plan filed on Friday in US bankruptcy court by a negotiating committee representing the abuse creditors. Meanwhile, the archdiocese should pay $84m and its affiliates – known as apostolates – should chip in $133m.
In the church’s competing plan, the archdiocese was prepared to offer $50m and its apostolates $12.5m. Nothing additional would come from the archdiocese’s insurers.…..
www.theguardian.com
The archdiocese quickly answered with its counter-proposal: $62.5m, or more than $900m less.
Looking at it another way, the survivors are seeking $2m per claim – the church is offering $125,000 on average.
The vast majority of the money in the abuse claimants’ proposal – roughly $800m – should come from insurance companies, according to the plan filed on Friday in US bankruptcy court by a negotiating committee representing the abuse creditors. Meanwhile, the archdiocese should pay $84m and its affiliates – known as apostolates – should chip in $133m.
In the church’s competing plan, the archdiocese was prepared to offer $50m and its apostolates $12.5m. Nothing additional would come from the archdiocese’s insurers.…..
New Orleans Catholic church offers $62.5m after abuse victims seek $1bn
Archdiocese’s proposal comes as survivors of sexual abuse by clergy request ‘very reasonable’ $1bn to settle claims
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Close the whole thing, sell off its assets sounds like a nice compromiseWith a self-imposed deadline looming to file a plan to reorganize New Orleans’ bankrupt Roman Catholic archdiocese, a committee representing about 500 survivors of clergy sexual abuse in south-east Louisiana on Friday proposed that the organization, its affiliated churches, ministries, schools and their insurers should pay more than $1bn to settle their claims.
The archdiocese quickly answered with its counter-proposal: $62.5m, or more than $900m less.
Looking at it another way, the survivors are seeking $2m per claim – the church is offering $125,000 on average.
The vast majority of the money in the abuse claimants’ proposal – roughly $800m – should come from insurance companies, according to the plan filed on Friday in US bankruptcy court by a negotiating committee representing the abuse creditors. Meanwhile, the archdiocese should pay $84m and its affiliates – known as apostolates – should chip in $133m.
In the church’s competing plan, the archdiocese was prepared to offer $50m and its apostolates $12.5m. Nothing additional would come from the archdiocese’s insurers.…..
New Orleans Catholic church offers $62.5m after abuse victims seek $1bn
Archdiocese’s proposal comes as survivors of sexual abuse by clergy request ‘very reasonable’ $1bn to settle claims
Boy_of_wonder75
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I am a Catholic. I have worked for the Archdiocese. I believe that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. I recite the Creed with zero hesitation. So when I tell you that I believe that the Archdiocese of New Orleans is an evil organization, believe me when I tell you that I have arrived at that through tremendous pain and soul searching. The AoNO is an evil organization.With a self-imposed deadline looming to file a plan to reorganize New Orleans’ bankrupt Roman Catholic archdiocese, a committee representing about 500 survivors of clergy sexual abuse in south-east Louisiana on Friday proposed that the organization, its affiliated churches, ministries, schools and their insurers should pay more than $1bn to settle their claims.
The archdiocese quickly answered with its counter-proposal: $62.5m, or more than $900m less.
Looking at it another way, the survivors are seeking $2m per claim – the church is offering $125,000 on average.
The vast majority of the money in the abuse claimants’ proposal – roughly $800m – should come from insurance companies, according to the plan filed on Friday in US bankruptcy court by a negotiating committee representing the abuse creditors. Meanwhile, the archdiocese should pay $84m and its affiliates – known as apostolates – should chip in $133m.
In the church’s competing plan, the archdiocese was prepared to offer $50m and its apostolates $12.5m. Nothing additional would come from the archdiocese’s insurers.…..
New Orleans Catholic church offers $62.5m after abuse victims seek $1bn
Archdiocese’s proposal comes as survivors of sexual abuse by clergy request ‘very reasonable’ $1bn to settle claims
sfidc3
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Thank you for your honesty, most Catholics (not all) and certainly the organization are in total denial....still.....
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I am not Catholic and I have come to my current outlook through no particular trauma (other than reading these horrific stories), but I have finally accepted that I DON'T [edit] need to attend to brick and mortar church filled with mortals to have a relationship with God. God didn't do these things, people did (or satan, if you will). My mom stressed GOING to church but she always had a purpose (the choir) other than simply sitting in the pews and attending so I am just going to hope she's forgiven me for my decision.
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Boy_of_wonder75
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My issue is not that the Archdiocese isn't perfect. My issue is that they act on the side of evil. The Archdiocese will sell out a person in an instant in order to protect their money or influence. I've seen it happen. And it's not that it happened once, it's that it's their institutional policy.
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Dang it, I completely messed that sentence up. Here's how it should read:
".... have finally accepted that I DON'T need to attend [a[]brick and mortar church filled with mortals to have a relationship with God"
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I am genuinely curious b/c even though i grew up Catholic (under the NOLA archdiocese) , but no longer practice- what is it that makes you think that the Archdiocese of NOLA is any more evil & corrupt than the entire Catholic organization writ large ? We know that priests have been shifted around to different parishes throughout the US, possibly the world, when they’ve committed crimes.. and we know that the Catholic Church has exclusionary policies preventing women from becoming priests , and preventing priests from getting married or having families or even romantic relationships (which attracts all manner of deviants and miscreants to the priesthood).. and by my last count, we know that the Catholic Church has paid out in excess of half a Billion dollars to settle child abuse claims…. So what is it that makes you think that the NOLA archdiocese is any worse than the entire worldwide Catholic Church ?
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