The claims Rod Dreher makes below are not, on their face, incredible. Some accusers and chancery officials have itchy trigger fingers when it comes to accusations. Knowing a little about the various “safe environment” policies that are in use in dioceses across the country, I am aware that being, for even a brief moment, in the altar boy sacristy with a child but without another adult present can trigger this kind of investigation. A priest known to me was made to suffer horribly for such a thing, being ultimately vindicated only after his name was thoroughly dragged through the mud.
(Rod Dreher’s Diary) — I begin today with awful news about Father Carlos Martins, the Catholic exorcist I’ve praised recently in this place. This broke over the weekend …
You might assume, as I initially did, that “inappropriate conduct involving children” involves sexual misconduct. It’s not true. It’s not remotely true! I gathered more information on the incident — information I am not yet authorized to make public, but will as soon as police finish their investigation — but I can assure you that this is nonsense. As we will all soon know, it’s an example of an innocent Catholic priest held up to humiliation and contempt, including by Catholic authorities, in a hysterical overreaction by people eager to believe the worst about all priests.
I have every confidence that Father Martins will be exonerated, and soon. Watch this space for the whole story, as soon as I can tell it. It’s important to me, though, that you all know that this is … slander against a priest who did nothing wrong. You all know that Rod Dreher is the last person to side automatically with a cleric accused of wrongdoing against a child. My outrage over this kind of thing, and decades of lying and cover-up by Catholic authorities, cost me my Catholic faith. But justice is justice; what Father Martins is suffering now is profoundly unjust. Even after he is cleared, there will be many people who assume he is some kind of dirtbag abuser.
Read more at Rod Dreher’s Diary…
