Back where they belong (l to r): Fr. Michael Pfleger (Chicago), Fr. Larry Sullivan (Chicago),
Fr. Joseph Edward Bradley (Kentucky), and Fr. Patrick Sullivan (Minnesota)
In the past several weeks, a number of falsely accused priests were finally returned to ministry despite the extremely liberal and nebulous standards used by diocesan review boards of whether the allegations against them were deemed merely "credible":
● The Archdiocese of Chicago reinstated Fr. Larry Sullivan over a strange allegation dating back to when he was only 18 years old and had not even entered the seminary yet that he yelled something at a young lady.
● The Archdiocese of Chicago also restored the high-profile, civil-rights priest Fr. Michael Pfleger after an investigation determined that accusations dating back some 45 years ago – and in which an alleged victim sought hush money from Pfleger – were baseless. [Note: TheMediaReport.com's David F. Pierre, Jr. was cited in this article in the Chicago Tribune about the Pfleger case.]
● The Vatican cleared Fr. Joseph Edward Bradley of the Diocese of Owensboro (KY) over phony accusations dating back to the 1980s.
● The Vatican also exonerated Fr. Patrick Sullivan of the Diocese of Crookston (MN) over a vague claim of sexual abuse of a teenage boy.
The fraud now being perpetrated against the Church by hucksters, nutjobs, and greedy lawyers is shocking as the Church, pressured by the media, reliably always caves in to this injustice.
As always, the same question remains: When will someone, anyone, in the media finally take notice?
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Want to learn more about the rampancy of false accusations against priests?:
- "False Accusations Against Catholic Priests Are Now At Epic Proportions" (May 2019)
- The Greatest Fraud Never Told: False Accusations, Phony Grand Jury Reports, and the Assault on the Catholic Church by David F. Pierre, Jr. (Amazon.com)
Dare I hope that this signals a change of heart from the hierachy. Those false accusations against Cardinal Pell would certainly have caused much soul-seaching in Rome. Perhaps even making them question to what extent individual priests must suffer… "for the good of the Church". Also making it crystal clear that if a Cardinal can be falsely accused, how much more likely a parish priest would be seen as an easy target.
Whatever the particular motive… usually money or ideology.
So we can only hope that the Cardinal's prayers, from his prison cell, will result in more divine light to guide us.
Let us not forget dissident priests as Fr Mark White in Virginia who causes scandal to the Church by publicizing the sins committed against her by corrupt clergy instead of concentrating on their parish work and puttind all their efforts into combatting the Holocaust of Abortion. When a priest gives publicity to career 'victims' of alleged sex abuse it recalls to mind the man in an asylum painting the walls with excrement. Anathema.
Father Gordon MacRae still languishes in a New Hampshire prison as the result of a crooked court system there. The man that accused him of abuse was proven un-reliable and known to have accused others of similar acts. The prosecuting attorney(s) offered Father MacRae a plea deal if he would confess to having commited the crimes for which he was accused. Father flatly refused to confess to something he did not do. Now that's New Hampshire justice for you. Oh, and the Diocese of Manchester quickly threw this priest under the bus and offered him no support.
One way to discourage phony complaints is to counter sue. I realize that is somewhat distasteful to many but the ill disguised antipathy to the Church by many has to be confronteed by means that get their attention and discourages future adventures in money grabbing.
Man, I totally agree. Countersue them. Go the full Lin Wood on their assets.