Rev. David Bendix resigned from St. Paul Lutheran Church in New Ulm, MN. I posted on his case because of his attempt at spinning his solicitation story towards the single mistake trope.
Rev. Paul Jordan was arrested soliciting prostitutes in a Sioux City police sting. Jordan was a pastor at Biblical Restoration Ministries, in Sioux City, IA. Pastor Jordan is an ordained minister who has also been involved with Child Evangelism Fellowship.
Lets not forget pastor John Huffier, he was arrested for soliciting a prostitute back in May.
Of course, pastors fall to other temptations too.
Pastor Xavier Franklin Lewis of the Holy Ghost Praise and Deliverance Ministries, was sentenced to about nine years in prison for his role in a tax fraud scheme. Lewis operated his scam in the Savannah, Ga.
Let’s not forget pastor Corey Butler. He was arrested for possession and distribution of child porn. I wrote about him in On pastors and excuses for child porn.
Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Gonzalo Galvin Castillo, 64, of the Diocese of Autlan in Mexico. Castillo is alleged to have shielded priests who had abused children.
In 2009, a 24-year-old man identified only as Eric reported to Galvan that Lopez had sexually molested him when Eric was 11. Eric's parents also demanded that Galvan take action to prevent the priest from harming other children, but Galvan reportedly transferred Lopez to another parish. The priest's current whereabouts were not known.Pastor Christopher Howarth, mentioned in COH #6, was convicted of sexual offenses against two boys. Sentencing is August 7. Howarth committed his crimes in Uckfield, UK.
- via The Sun Herald
In other news…
Where do priests go after being ousted? Former priest Edward Igle became a family therapist. Hard to believe, right?What price does one pay for prosecuting the church? Boz Tchividjian, former child abuse chief prosecutor, knows, and his article, The spiritual struggle of fighting the church makes for an interesting read. Tchividjian is the 3rd-eldest grandson of Rev. Billy Graham and the brother of disgraced pastor Tullian Tchividjian.
In my professional life, though, the church is often my adversary. In the 26 years I have worked in the field of child protection, I have seen the church repeatedly used as an instrument of abuse. We all know of priests and pastors who have sexually abused children. What we fail to realize is that most sex offenders claim to be religious and often use the church to great advantage. When sexual abuse is found within the church, parishioners often rally around the offender and ostracize the victim.Jeff Buchheit thinks the Archdiocese of Dubuque dropped the investigation into his sex abuse allegations against Rev. Leo Riley too quickly. The archdiocese cleared Riley five days after an initial interview with Riley. I smell rotten fish. I smell a lawsuit too. Rev. Leo Riley made CoH #10.
- via Rhymes with Religion
A catholic priest named Rev. Mark Beard, denied Mark Ardillo communion at his mother’s funeral. Ardillo is gay and married. The priest may of learned of it in the obituary. God forbid that a grieving man eat a stale communion wafer at a time of intense spiritual need. What a jerk.
Church is supposed to be a safe place, right? Well… not really. One of the main point of these Chronicles of Hypocrisy posts is that bad things happen in holy place. Liberty Bible Church in Chesterton is supposed to be a holy and safe place, yet the alleged rape and molestation of a mentally challenged woman happened there, as did the molestation of two other mentally challenged women. The alleged perpetrator is Thomas Cooperider. He’s not a pastor or in church leadership in any capacity. He’s just a Christian and long-time member of the church.
Link to Chronicles of Hypocrisy #11
