The May 2010 Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Newsletter can now be found at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/Newsletters/Newsletter108(May2010)(RGB).pdf Bill C-384 was soundly defeated by a vote of 228 to 59. Check how the Members of Parliament voted at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/HowTheyVoted.pdf On June 5, 2010, we are co-hosting the US/Canda Push-Back Seminar at the Radisson Gateway Hotel at the Seattle/Tacoma Airport. The overwhelming defeat of Bill C-384 proved that we can Push-Back the euthanasia lobby in the US and Canada and convince people that euthanasia and assisted suicide are a dangerous public policy. Register for the Seminar at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/2010SeminarFlyer(RGB)(LetterFormat).pdf The Schindler family are being attacked by a Florida television station and Michael Schiavo. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is standing in solidarity with the Schindler family. My blog comments: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2010/05/att...
Reflections from the pastoral ministry of an Evangelical Catholic Priest.
After being presented with the facts from both sides of this case , 12 unbiased men and women after deliberations without prejudice found that without a shadow of doubt this Fr. Gordon MacRae is guilty of the crime he is accused of.
ReplyDeleteDr.William Donohue may or may not have been presented with the same facts in the same way but for sure he does not have the same benefit of an unbiased perspective as he picks and chooses the facts that seem to best support his pre-judiced conclusion.
The fact that Fr. MacRae would not agree to a plea bargain or that he proclaims innocence is in reality no evidence at all to support the same claim. If that were so then we should release almost all criminals because the majority do the same. The negative character traits that Donohue paints the victim with is in reality no evidence at all to support the pre-conceived notion that the victim was always after money and the priesthood and never justice. In reality the victims character and apparent dis-ordered personality, support further that the jury in this case reached the right verdict.
There is a travesty of justice in this 'ordeal' and there is in every other 'ordeal' just like it. i.e.there is never any real way to restore even a semblance of such an imbalance of justice. Troubled children are the chosen victims mainly because the clerical pedophile is confident that the victim would never be believed if they tell on him. Sadly,due to a prevailing ignorance , it turns out that in large Fr. pedophile is right ( which by the way is also the reason for opting out of a plea bargain) even if in his calculations -with regard to what degree- he is wrong. A travesty of justice because any sense of justice a victim experiences after the conviction of his offender, is short lived when he learns that he is still not believed and is shunned by so many people in the church ( including clergy), in his family, his community who will continue to question the authenticity of his accusations based on their judgment of his 'shady' character.
The visible wounds that forever plague the victim are used by the like of Donohue to drag the wounded one down even further into unfathomable depths agony and to raise his attacker into heaven and Sainthood.
Nobody wins anything from this sort of cruel obsession with out casting victims in order to protect image of clergy and church.It simply serves only to reek havoc and destruction of spiritual well being for so many human beings. I.e. Maybe according to the terms of Donohue, clergy and the Catholic church, Fr. Gordon MacRae is a martyr and a Saint... but he is also a pedophile.
Larry: And yet the Wall Street Journal, PBS (Frontline) and other major media US media outlets (none of whom are very positively disposed to giving the RC Church a pass on this issue) have all come to the conclusion that this is indeed a travesty of justice and that Fr. MacRae should at the very least be granted a new trial. A just and fair trial is predicated on the prosecution honestly and properly handling and presenting the evidence before a trial and judge. Although I have no first hand information as to why, many important media voices have presented a compelling argument that this did not happen in this case. I will grant you that there have been cases where things swung the other way and the Church had too much influence and was able to deny justice. But that doesn't mean that this case wasn't indeed improperly conducted resulting in an innocent man being sent to prison.
ReplyDeleteFr. Tim