Kaput with Chaput

Randy Ellison
Boys Don't Tell
Oct. 28, 2011

News item: Rep Louise Williams Bishop proposes bill that would eliminate Pennsylvania’s civil statute of limitations on child sex abuse. That means victims can sue the perpetrators and those who protected them once they heal enough to talk about it.

News item: The Catholic Church appoints Charles Chaput the new Philadelphia Archbishop. Mr. Chaput comes from Denver where he orchestrated the defeat of a bill to provide a one-year window on the statute of limitations for victims to seek civil justice from their abusers and protectors.

Hmm… connection? Naw, I’m sure this was just a nice promotion for this man of faith. I listened to the interview with the Philly Inquirer. He sounds real nice and talks Christian real good. Wants to help the victims heal and is sorry so many left the church.

He makes it clear that just as he believes in Jesus Christ and wants to help Philly Catholics be better Christians, he believes in the statute of limitations. He did not quote a chapter and verse from the Bible for that, but I’m sure it’s there somewhere, and probably goes something like this: After suffering for decades from being raped in the house of God, thou shalt not attempt to hold that house responsible for said rape. We merely opened the door and provided the room for said rape. Okay, we may have paid the rapist for his services, housed and fed him, and gave him a new place to rape from, once people complained, but really, to everything there is a season and the season for justice ends at age 30 in Pennsylvania.

While on the job in Denver Mr. Chaput led the Catholic faithful in a successful defeat of a bill to allow victims of child sex abuse their day in court. After the bill was introduced Mr. Chaput wrote a letter decrying the injustice of targeting the poor Catholic Church that was required to be read from every pulpit. There were also the 25,000 protest cards handed out after mass to be signed and sent to the state capitol. Alliances were formed with teachers unions and anybody else that might be held accountable for their direct support of child sexual perpetrators. Thanks to Mr. Chaput’s upholding of God’s law, the season for civil justice for victims of child sexual abuse in Colorado still stands at age 24.

Mr. Chaput’s thoughts on separation of church and state can be summed up in his own words: “Stuffing your Catholic faith in a closet when we enter the public square or join a public debate isn’t good manners. It’s cowardice.” He pointed to the vacuum of moral leadership in the world, and that what the world “needs more than anything else is holiness—holy men and women who love Jesus Christ and God’s Word more than they love their own careers and agendas.”

Side note: Mr. Chaput did not say, but implied that said holy leaders also need to limit or deny victims their day in court while protecting the assets of the church.

Conclusion: I want to wish Mr. Chaput all the best on his promotion to Philadelphia where he has the opportunity to teach people to be better Christians. And I don’t think it would be nice for any of us to speculate that he was put in that position not as a minister of religion, but as a fixer for the Catholic Church to once again defeat a law that would aid child sex abuse victims.

Disclaimer: I want to say that I have nothing against Catholics or any other religious organization, BUT DAMN IT, when are you people going to quit acting like CEO’s, drop that corporate attitude and start acting like people of faith? Walk your talk.