Catholic 'leaders' want the names of local pedo-priests kept under wraps

Wednesday morning, local Catholic officials told a Ramsey County judge they don't want the names of sexually deviant former employees made public.

From the AP:

A judge in St. Paul is considering arguments that the names of about a dozen Roman Catholic priests accused in church files of sexual misconduct should remain private.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who has filed many lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests, wants to make the lists of priests from the Winona and St. Paul-Minneapolis dioceses public.

There are 33 names from St. Paul-Minneapolis; all but 10 of them have been made public before. An archdiocese spokesman says none of those 10 are still priests and none of them have been criminally or civilly accused.

Okay, so knocking the Catholic Church purely on kiddie-fucking grounds is a pretty tired motif at this point. And it's hard to blame the Hierarchy for wanting to protect their minions from public scrutiny or, worse, the law. But when you ponder the numbers--just the numbers--you're forced to acknowledge something rather grotesque.

Consider: the St. Paul-Minneapolis Diocese is home to just 495 total priests, according to its website. Granted, the confirmed sex offenders no longer perform on the Sunday morning stage, but the 33 "bad apple" figure is one that--what's the appropriate phrase here?--statistically defies coincidence.

Things are even worse at the Winona Diocese, home to 79 active priests and 13 known predators. (Again, to be fair, these are retired padres).

Guess what we're trying to say is: for the love of Christ, let the bastards marry.

Include your shrill "Catholic-basher" accusations in the comments section below.