Yes, That Shit is Still Going On; Diddling Priest Edition

The Belleville [Illinois] Diocese, the organization that oversees Roman Catholic churches in the region, depends on the church’s international ties to recruit missionary priests from across the globe. In Latin, they are called fidei donum, or gift of faith.

The Rev. Peter Balili, of the Philippines, was one such gift, with a tough assignment. He was called to replace the Rev. Steven F. Poole, who was arrested in 2010 for theft.
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Balili seemed to have the spirit to lead his flock out of an embarrassing time. He’d sing “You are my sunshine” and interact with parishioners of all ages.

Then, without fanfare, he left in 2014.
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None of the congregants contacted for this story said they were aware that the Belleville Diocese had, in fact, kicked out Balili and requested that he be sent back to the Diocese of Tagbilaran in the Philippines.

That apparent lack of information raises questions as to whether — well more than a decade after the clergy sex abuse crisis broke open in Boston — the push for disclosure and transparency has reached all corners of the church.

Then this:

A U.S. Conference of Bishops' notice that Balili was dismissed over "inappropriate conduct regarding certain of his parishioners" doesn't appear to have been released by the Belleville diocese to its members. The notice did not specify the nature of that conduct or the age of the parishioners.

The San Francisco archdiocese says that prior to coming to Belleville, Balili was dismissed from a northern California parish over improper Facebook contact with students.

So that priest was either a creep or he was getting into Chester the Molester territory. And, as they have repeatedly done, the church hushed it all up.

I'll bet that you can easily find posts moaning that the events in Spotlight took place a long time ago. But that's bullshit. Only two years ago, an archbishop testified in a deposition that he wasn't aware that having sex with a child was illegal. The church has engaged in financial shenanigans to screw over its victims.

Moving priests out of the reach of the cops and the victims is what the church continues to do to this very day.

And yet, the Most Holy Order of Child Molestation continues to claim some sort of moral high ground, because Jeebus, or something. Talk about chutzpah!