My favorite song of 2013 is Get Lucky by Daft Punk.

This pick is way out of charter for me, but I've loved this tune since my first listen, which was in my truck with wife and son after a visit to The Farmers Market in Los Angeles back in summer. Electronica is not my genre. I really don’t like it, but I'm hooked on this song and on the whole album. What can I say… people change. what was your favorite new song this year? - Mojoey reflecting on the 2013

Was Monsignor William Lynn a scapegoat?

Monsignor William Lynn, convicted of child endangerment, was released from prison because of a ruling by an appeals court which dismissed the charge. Most reports I've read indicate that the ruling is based on a technicality.

But Bergstrom says the law states a parent, guardian or other person supervising the child must knowingly endanger that child.

“There must be some direct control over that child, and in this case there wasn’t. I mean Monsignor Lynn never knew this child,” he said.

In the court paperwork, judges explained that Monsignor Lynn did not have control over reassigning priests, and this played a factor in their decision.

Source: Pa. Court Reverses Monsignor William Lynn's Conviction by Steve Tawa

Bergstrom in the quote above is Thomas Bergstrom, Lynn's defense lawyer.

Was Monsignor William Lynn a scapegoat? I think so. My reading of the law is constant will the Pa. Court of Appeals. It appears that the prosecution reached for a conviction using a law that did not cover the Lynn's actions. I think the right course of action here is to change the law. Lynn and the Catholic church should be held accountable for their inaction, they should also be given credit for making structural changes in how they operate, so perhaps the penalty here should be assessed in a civil trial.

Let’s remember what Monsignor William Lynn did. He reassigned sexual predators from one parish to the next which resulted in the abuse of children. He is culpable. If not in a criminal sense due to poorly written statutes, the in a civil sense. His action would never survive a jury and the payout would counted in the millions of dollars. 

Former youth pastor David Webb released from prison

Former youth pastor David Webb, convicted in 2009 for transporting a 15-year-old girl across state lines for sex, was released from prison after serving his five year sentence.

Webb was arrested and pleaded guilty in 2009 to transporting a minor girl across state lines for sex. He served a five-year federal prison sentence and was released Dec. 23, according to the Bureau of Prisons database. Last year, a Jefferson County jury awarded a $1 million judgment against Webb because of his sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old girl in the congregation.

Source: Ex-youth pastor David Webb released from prison after serving 5 years for sex with minor by Greg Garrison

Webb was the youth pastor at Word of Life Christian Center. The church suffered after the conviction and was eventual renamed to The Life Church Birmingham.

David Webb has served his time and is a free man, but no church should hire convicted pedophile and registered sex offender to work as a pastor. If he still believes, there are plenty of other ways to serve. Contrition helps too. There was precious little of that in this case. Webb maintained his innocence until he admitted his guilt by taking a plea deal. At least he is a registered sex offender. 

I remember this case for two reasons. First, David Webb worked as a youth pastor in his father’s church. This implies that there were inadequate controls in place at the church since no background check or oversight were in place at a family church. The reality was that David Webb was a princeling operating as an owner and was untouchable in his little domain. And second, his wife is what I call “Christian Crazy”, meaning that she forgave her husband when he confessed and then forgave the victim too. There was way too much forgiveness and too little accountability. If there had been accountability, there would have been less abuse. 

Fr. Harry Walsh did not make the credible sex abusers list

Father Harry Walsh retired two years ago. He's now teaching sex education to at risk minors. Noboday at his new job knows that the Catholic church paid out a settlement to an alleged sexual abuse victim and actively sought his removal from the clergy. He was also left off the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse

Walsh told MPR News on Wednesday that he never sexually abused children. "I'd have been shocked if I was on the list because there's nothing credible about it," he said. "If I were hiding that, you wouldn't be in my house right now; I would have been very careful."

Walsh said he left the priesthood voluntarily because he has a heart condition. "I gave almost 50 years of service," he said. "I felt that was a generous offering."

If Walsh did not abuse a child, then why did the church pay out a settlement on his behalf and seek his removal from the priesthood?

Nienstedt told the Vatican: "Father Walsh's scandalous living arrangements and his endorsement of 'optional celibacy' for clergy have continued unchecked for too long. Furthermore, the allegations regarding possible sexual abuse of minors necessitate that Father Walsh no longer hold a place of prestige and authority in any parish in the Archdiocese."

Nienstedt... that would be Archbishop John Nienstedt. He needs to find another job or go to prison with the other child-molesting priests because he's been accused too. In fact, the whole Archdiocese needs a do over.

Seven of the priests named were not previously known to the public as accused abusers. Five of those seven are still living. About one-third of the priests on the list are dead.

The accused priests have served at nearly half — 92, in total — of the 188 parishes in the archdiocese, according to an email sent to priests by vicar general Rev. Charles Lachowitzer, the archbishop's top deputy.

If you are a Catholic in Minnesota, it might be time to change churches.