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FCS PATRIOTS wrote:D1B can bother to post the link if he wants to. Figures he'd probably kneel and bob the Pontiff over this. Of course the priest seems to have forgotten his vow of poverty.

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

Some Minnesota child molesting clerics get paid more than their non-offending peers, a new MinnPost story reveals.

There’s a simple explanation: blackmail.

Predator priests are often cunning and selfish and insist on more money. We believe that bishops comply out of fear. They are scared that unless they comply, predator priests may tell what they know and suspect about other wrongdoing in the church – sexual and financial. And bishops – more than anything else – desperately want to avoid being dragged into a public scandal.

There’s an old saying: “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.” Bishops realize that priests know a lot about private misdeeds in their dioceses. This is especially true of predator priests. So if bishops “crack down” or threaten to “crack down” on predators, those predators can retaliate by disclosing wrongdoing by their peers or supervisors.

That’s why some predator priests get special treatment and “sweetheart deals.” That’s one reason why some get their tuition paid to return to school and get degrees in teaching or counseling (like Fr. Patrick O’Donnell in Seattle).

JoltinJoe wrote:Opinion pieces with no substantiation -- just allegations.

Minneapolis Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/local/east/229029371.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Priest payments

The documents show that priests received substantial financial support regardless of their acts. After being removed from ministry, they receive a continuation of their salary, financial support for room and board, and continued annual contributions to their pension fund. In addition, some received education payments, income supplements, and funds for rehabilitation, psychological treatment, counseling and legal expenses.

Payments to priests who are removed from active ministry are not uncommon, according to Terry McKiernan, president of Bishop Accountability, a Massachusetts-based group that tracks clergy abuse. If a perpetrator does not step down from the priesthood, canon law requires that the diocese care for him. The thought is that it is better “not to have the priest destitute,’’ McKiernan said.

Some entries in the documents address special payments to priests without explanation. In 2003, for example, under the heading “Priest Support — Other,’’ there are $28,165 in expenses in a section that names an L. Krautkremer. The source familiar with the expense documents said that refers to the Rev. Lee Krautkremer, a priest who was sued for child sexual abuse in a case that revealed he was moved to different parishes as a priest after the allegations against him first came to light. He was asked by the archdiocese in 2002 to resign as chaplain at North Memorial Medical Center, and he did.

The source said the 2003 expenses relating to Krautkremer included paying off more than $20,000 of the priest’s personal loans. The expense category includes the priest’s last name and a line-item payment to U.S. Bank.