Diocese: Pedophile priests should get benefits

[LynneSin]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091120/ap_on_re_us/us_diocese_bankruptcy_abusers

WILMINGTON, Del. – The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington says it is obligated to keep paying retirement benefits to six priests who church officials have confirmed are pedophiles.

The diocese filed for Chapter 11 protection last month. Officials had told the judge the church would not make any payments to priests accused of sexual abuse without a court order, even if the abuse had not been substantiated.

But in a filing late Thursday, the diocese said it has an obligation to care for retired clergy, including priests dismissed from public ministry.

The motion asks for permission to continue paying benefits to six confirmed pedophiles, including 80-year-old former priest Francis DeLuca, who was defrocked after serving a jail term in New York for repeatedly abusing his grandnephew.

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Yes but the Catholic church does NOT want to be forced to pay benefits for couples in a healty relationship simply because the people in question are gay.

Time to start taxing the Catholics!

[Owl]

1. Are the pedophile priests in prison? If not, why not?

[piratefish08]

2. Hey Catholic Diocese of Wilmington - Fuck You!

Fuck your pedophile priests and while we're at it fuck the pope too.


you make the baby jesus cry.

[bjb]

3. Stupak

I received my monthly Catholic Bulletin and they were making Stupak look like a hero for trying to derail the HCR because of his abortion amendment.

[Xithras]

4. Do they have a choice?

Let's take the priesthood out of this for a moment. Assume that the guy was a UAW worker who built GM cars for 20 years, got angry at his boss one day, and then came back and shot a bunch of people to "vent". GM would obviously fire the guy and the UAW would revoke his membership, and he'd obviously be spending a term in prison, but he would STILL get his retirement benefits when he got out of the graybar motel. Why? Because the circumstances surrounding his termination have nothing, legally, to do with his retirement. He would still be contractually entitled to any benefits he earned during his 20 years of service. If the benefit was earned as a term of employment, it cannot be denied simply because the former employer finds the employee abhorrent.

So the real question is whether or not they have any choice here. Are priests contractually promised retirement benefits in exchange for their service to the church?

[GodlessBiker]

5. Even if the priests were contractually promised, do their intervening criminal acts violate...

any morals clause (yeah, catholic church, morals clause, that's a laugh, HA!) which might nullify that promise?

[Xithras]

9. Again, you'd have to see the employment contract.

Though I have to say that I've never seen a morals clause that will terminate earned retirement benefits. Morals clauses, when used, typically only terminate current employment. A terminated employee is still entitled to collect on benefits earned prior to the termination.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. What a bunch of crap

run by shit for bullshit.

Suckers paying into the catholic church

[Xithras]

11. Contract law is crap? What are you, an anarchist?

Very, very few people on this board would agree that employers should have a right to cancel earned and contractually promised benefits and wages after the fact. Big businesses would LOVE it ("I know we agreed to pay you $25 an hour Bob, but we decided that we don't like you, so we're only paying you $10 an hour for the work you did last week.")

My point was simply that it's an odd position for the church to take, and a contractual obligation is a simple and obvious explanation for their backpeddaling.

[Ichingcarpenter]

13. Have you ever studied on how to be priest?

You know nothing about the catholic religion, their
laws come from their religious order and not business contract law.

This will be a papal/bishop decision
coming from the top of Catholic religion.

It is a MORAL decision on what they are gonna do.

I don't see them doing the right thing.

[stray cat]

8. Logic for a change -

[stray cat]

7. the same goes for our politicians so we as a people seem to agree with it

[Sinti]

10. I agree they should have benefits - three squares

and a cot, with bars, and nasty industrial prison food. Maybe a little yard time a few days a week.

[madmom]

12. So now any money given to the catholic church goes to help fund pedophiles, good

recruiting slogan "give till it hurts...the kids"

[dflprincess]

14. Yet they'll withhold food and shelter from the poor if DC approves same sex marriage

Go figure.