What did he say? Chilean accuser Juan Carlos Cruz
We recently came across a video of a CNN interview with 54-year-old Juan Carlos Cruz, the media-loving accuser from Chile who has claimed abuse by a priest decades ago. In the interview, Cruz addressed the high-profile visit by Pope Francis to Chile in January. Cruz told CNN:
"Very few people went to his Masses. Very few people were excited to receive him in Chile. They gave a holiday, and instead of people going to see the Pope, they went to the beach."
While there is no doubt that many in the ever-more-secular Chile – where churches were firebombed ahead of the Pope's visit – likely took advantage of a local holiday and nice summer weather to go to the beach, Cruz' claim that "very few" people were excited and went to the Pope's Masses is simply bogus. Even Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press – herself a persistent faultfinder of the Church (1, 2, 3) – reported that the Pope' visit drew "huge numbers" and was "emotional":
"[H]uge numbers of Chileans turned out to see the pope on his first full day in Chile, including an estimated 400,000 for his Mass, and he brought some inmates to tears with an emotional visit to a women's prison."
Indeed, video of the Pope's Mass not only refutes Cruz' crazy claim that "very few" people went to see the Pope but also shows that enthusiasm for the Pope was palpable:
Looking at a case
If Cruz – who left Chile many years ago and now lives in the upscale neighborhood of Society Hill in Philadelphia while working as a "communications and branding executive" – is willing to bend the truth about a visit by the Pope to a country, what else is he willing to finesse the facts of?
- When Cruz first came forward publicly in 2010 to claim he was abused by Rev. Fernando Karadima in Chile nearly three decades earlier, he said that the abuse started when he was "a 17-year-old seminary student" and continued well into adulthood. Years later, Cruz now says the abuse started when he was 15.
- Also in 2010, Cruz originally claimed that he was "not asking for money" in coming forward with his accusations of abuse. Now we have learned that Cruz has sought a whopping $600,000 in "damages" from the Church. Why?
- Cruz has insisted that that other priests witnessed his abuse by Karadima decades ago but did nothing. But how is it that all of Cruz' alleged witnesses all just-so-happen to be bishops today? In a must-read article, veteran writer Austen Ivereigh noted the oddity that all of Cruz' purported witnesses are now bishops:
"[B]ishops (Bishop Juan Barros Madrid and Bishop Horacio Valenzuela) insisted to me, as they have all along, that the claims are simply lies, and that they were wholly unaware of Karadima's sexual abuses until the accusations erupted in 2010. The news, they said, came as a profound shock to them.
"Although there were aspects of Karadima's behavior – he was increasingly obsessed with money, displayed authoritarian, even cruel, tendencies, and latterly became foul-mouthed – both bishops are emphatic that they never saw sexual abuse, let alone covered it up …
"Barros and Valenzuela also point to the oddity that, despite dozens of men being involved in the comings and goings at the time in El Bosque – it was a cauldron of vocations, which generated 40 priests and 5 bishops – it is only those who later became bishops that the victims have accused of covering up."
Hmmmmm.
Indeed, to be factual, these cases in Chile were not even episodes of "pedophilia," as the media has reported, as all of Karadima's "victims" were either older adolescents or fully grown adults. These were cases of homosexual predation. In fact, another individual who says he was "victimized" by Karadima claims that his "abuse" lasted for two decades until the age of 38, beginning on the cusp of adulthood and continuing even after he became a medical doctor, married, and had children. Don't believe it? See for yourself.
Interesting that this accuser (Cruz) has claimed that other priests witnessed his abuse, and that all these priests later became Bishops.Well I think perhaps the accusers in Australia have been reading the same Playbook. Because a recent case against Archbishop Wilson alleged that he was told of alleged abuse, (by another priest), when he was a 25 year old. One year out of the seminary…. and the supposed conversation 40 years ago?.Yet the allegant could have told any other priest in the priests' residence. Just consider if he had told, "Fr. Brown', who was transfered to a provincial backwater, and never promoted above parish priest. However this alleged victim said he told young Fr. Wilson, who later became Archbishop of Adelaide? Gee….how lucky was that?.
Lucky to have your life fucked up? Fantastic. You are a living piece of dung Malcolm Manly Man. You're like the Russia-hysterics here with no evidence to prove your bullshit point. Just assumption linked to your magnificent invented sense of victimization. And you do all this against all of the real victims . You would even steal our victim status from us. You the oppressor would rather blame the victim. Why don't you trot out a few proven cases of fraud by nonvictims. Maybe just one? Cus right now your victimhood is the only invented one here and innuendo doesn't quite cut it.. Prove what you say is true.
1) Forget the ad hominem attacks.
2) When do you plan to move past being a victim?
When do you start paying the victims you haven't and fought not to pay?
On July 21, Jim Robertson says "why don't you trot out some proven cases of fraud by nonvictims? Maybe just one?" Well…. can do that….in fact a case in which the nonvictim made no less that four fraudulent claims against the Church. His name Shamont Sapp, and the full story in the newspaper, "The Oregonian", dated October, 2013. This guy was a bank robber, in prison, and with the help of a lawyer lodged claims in four different states against four different priests. The FBI charged him with mail fraud and he pleaded guilty, to get a lesser sentence. Standing in the federal court he admitted that all claims were made up… but the newspapers had eagerly printed them…. as though they were true. Personally I think that this was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
"Personally" it doesn't matter what you think, Malcolm. What matters is the facts and the truth. The facts are that less than 1% of child abuse allegations are known to be fraudulent. The truth is that the only "tip of the proverbial iceburg" is the number of known catholic pedophiles and pederasts, compared to how many have been concealed through secret payoffs and those that are yet to be discovered. Don't make up facts to suit your agenda. servant of truth
Oh! Yeah! All the pedophile and pederast priests and bishop deniers have all been falsely accused by lying victims. The cult paid out over four billion dollars to victims who were untruthful and only lied about all the creeps running the catholic assylum. Have you people ever noticed how much you sound like Trump, claiming fake news and everyone else is a liar except for the most outrageous lying president we've ever had. You even use the similar accusations that spew from his forked tongue, that it's all a witch-hunt and the media is all against you. Pooh! Pooh!
And as far as priests that became bishops happen to be the ones who witnessed the perversions of your cult's priests, it wouldn't be surprising for a cult of perverts and their excusers to promote to bishops the priests that did the best job covering-up and keeping secret the malfeasances of their corrupt hierarchy. For you Malcolm, cardinal Pell being a perfect example of a pedophile priest promoted to cardinal who denies, covers-up and makes excuses for other pedophile priests, afterall being one himself. And Dave, if the victim made a mistake as to when he was first molested, the fact that he was underaged and molested by one of the cult's creeps is the fact that really matters, not whether the date it started was always accurately recalled. Keep trying to smear anyone who exposes the disgusting ills of your cult. And why should we start believing lying bishops or priests who make claims that they never witnessed anything. "I KNOW NOTHING!! Their famous nazi catholic mantra.
When are you catholics going to come to terms with the terrible stench coming from your church, and stop blaming and accusing the innocent for the disgusting crimes you've committed against thousands of young boys? Malcolm, Fr. Gerald Risdale spent time in prison for molesting over 65 victims and he isn't even the worst among your thousands of perverted clergy. Take your heads out of the sand, catholics, and quit with all your excuses. DESPICABLE!!
Dan, on July 22, says that Gerald Risdale abused 65 boys and went to prison. Well he went to prison, that's true. But how could he have abused that many boys, and got away with it for so long? For the Catholic haters the practicalities are never considered. However somebody would have to be living in fantasy land to imagine he could do all that, but not one of his victims told parents? His first victim was his nephew, so no eyebrows were raised when they were seen together. Risdale was a homosexual and the boy was groomed. Later the boy became a man and a homosexual himself. Later he too was convicted of abuse of a minor. Mostly the other "victims" were likely engaging in a "pile-on". You know…. that very predictable response of greedy opportunists and their lawyers.
The only "pile-on" in the catholic church is your popes, cardinals, bishops and priests piling-on adolescent boys. Apparently it's a modus operandi that's been taught and has gone on for centuries. Fr. Gerald Risdale is not the only multiple offender, Malcolm, so take your head out of the sand and wake up to reality. This sickness is systemic and I believe an acceptable practice among your clergy, otherwise they wouldn't work so hard to lie, deny and hide it's many cases from the public. The publiar would be proud of you, filling his shoes as the next defender, excuser and liar of the false faith.
Cardinal McCarrick now steps into the spotlight as the next multiple child sex offender of the church. One victim finally steps forward to expose the sicko and now documents and interviews show he was molesting other young boys and the church was aware of the allegations for decades. Malcolm, this is how your priests, bishops and cardinals become serial child molesters, because the hierarchy knows about the malfeasances and is too busy protecting the churches name and covering-up, so the whores continue while brainwashed witnesses whisper and gossip in the background. "Pile-on" my ass. Stop your stupidity.
My comment at 9.34 pm on July 20 may have been misleading. On the fourth line I said ……"by another priest'." But meant to say that a 15 year old boy alleged saying to Fr. Wislon that he (the boy) had been abused by another priest.
This alleged conversation is what the case against Archbishop Wilson is all about. If it (the conversation) never happened then the accuser is deliberately fabricating. My considered opinion is that he is indeed lying. Speaking as a former altar boy I never even heard of molestation by a priest. Nor did my peers. My wife and friends, from different parishes, never heard of it either. But realistically any young person has a natural instinct to turn to parents for protection. If say, a schoolteacher had been victimizing me, would I have told another schoolteacher at the school?. A waste of time…. I would have told my parents… to make it stop. So would have done the same if a priest had abused me.These accusations are motivated by greed… and fuelled by deliberate lies.The Bishops in Chile are right…. an orchestration of deliberate lies.
Malcolm, Often I'm very troubled by the things you suppose and the rose-colored stories of your youth and life. I also as a former altar boy, never heard any accusations against priests molesting young innocent boys in my church or diocese, until being told by my Highway Patrol cousin around the age 58 that the majority of priests in my church were child molesters. So was the old man who open and closed the gym and the choir leader. My cousin had no reason to lie, seeing that his family and parents were staunch catholics and very active and respected members of their church.
After hearing this information I started looking into other catholic churches in our diocese to find members of clergy that were molesters in their churches also. Like I've said, you just may want to take your head out of the sand, and when you observe all these accusations, admissions and secret payoffs from pedophile and pederast priests, bishops and cardinals in just about every catholic diocese across the earth, well just maybe it's time you open your eyes.
How dare you make a blanket statement that, "These accusations are motivated by greed …and fuelled by deliberate lies." You don't know what you would do in the situations these young boys were up against, even at times having parents who refused to believe their own children, because of their churches holier than thou brainwashing. Why shouldn't we all agree with your suppositions, especially when all we seem to hear from many catholics is a slew of lies from compulsive liars. Try being honest in some respect and we might start believing in some of your nonsense.
It has left me dumbfounded that a cult that has been caught in lies, deception, false statements, coverups, secret settlements and the transfer of child molesting priests and bishops, can consistently point their fingers at victims and attempt to smear their reputation with no regards to the damages they're causing and continue to cause by revictimization. REPULSIVE!
Dave, it's possible that the victim now asking for $600,000 in damages, may have been motivated by the comments, accusations and disbelief of your very own pope, along with the denials by other bishops and priest witnesses. Very possible.
Did P die? Or is the new propaganda "program" at TMR. equating Catholic victims seeking compensation with outsiders attacking the Catholic faith? If P passed, I wish I'd have known. I would have liked to do a little jig on his coffin. It's just the Irish in me.