National Catholic Register.
Groeschel's Vanishing Comments Condemned by N.Y. Archdiocese
The Archdiocese of N.Y. has issued a statement condemning the comments of Franciscan Father Benedict Groeschel. If you missed his observations in an interview with the National Catholic Register that's no surprise. The entire interview was scrubbed last night ftom NCR's website after Father Groeschel thoughts on the psycholoigy of priest sexual abusers began to provoke widespread outrage. His comments, which seemed to excuse some priest pedophiles suffering "nervous breakdowns" and "seduced" by teens, came right out of the dark ages of the sex abuse crisis. Groeschel goes well beyong blaming the victim and excusing people who should have known better from reporting sexual assaults of children. He even offered an understanding heart for Penn State's "poor" (I kid you not) Jerry Sandusky.
In a statement released today, Joseph Zwilling, Communications Director for the Archdiocese of New York, said, "The comments made by Father Benedict Groeschel that appeared on the website of the National Catholic Register are simply wrong. Although he is not a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, what Father Groeschel said cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged. The sexual abuse of a minor is a crime, and whoever commits that crime deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Groeschel was "inclined to think" first time offenders shouldn't be sent to jail "because their intention was not committing a crime."
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