Sex Crimes: Pedophile Priest HIV+

Fr. Philip Magaldi's photo from BishopAccountability.org

Well, it was just a matter of time. As more and more "religious" leaders are outed for the skanky hypocrites they are we find that religious orders often are chosen by perverts for the protection they afford. And will continue to afford as long as religious leaders like the pope refuse any sort of accountability for these misdeeds.

AllHeadlineNews (AHN) is reporting that Father Philip Magaldi, a former Catholic priest, has revealed that he tested positive for HIV. According to the report, Magaldi's doctor says the priest does not have full-blown AIDS, but our understanding is that infection with HIV is the prelude to developing AIDS, even though not all those infected end up with AIDS.

Magaldi served as a priest in Rhode Island and Fort Worth. If you or anyone you know has come in contact with this guy, check on the degree of contact. He's been accused of molesting at least five minors in Rhode Island. Apparently, he's also been accused of pedophilic misdeeds in Forth Worth, but the article does not provide details.

We hope that Father Magaldi was not in the habit of exchanging blood with his victims, given the recent report of the death of a nurse seven years after she pricked herself while taking blood from an HIV+ patient.

This is, we feel, one of the worst things about organized religion: that it promotes some people above others in matters of spirituality. If there is a deity (and we don't believe there is, but you're welcome to), why would that deity only speak to some of its creations, and not others? How are religious leaders qualified to lead? No one examines their bona fides stringently, no one calls them to account, yet they exercise tremendous power over gullible people and, worst of all, gullible and helpless children.

If adults wish to place their trust and their trust funds in the hands of some yob or the other, they're adults and should be free to do as they please. We don't believe the state should interfere with the church any more than the church should interfere with the state.

But no child should be placed in the power of any religious leader. Until they reach the age of adulthood, they should be protected from such people, not because we believe all such people are bad, but simply because children are exceptionally vulnerable creatures and deserve special protection.

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Religion: It Makes You

Dress up like a hooker for Halloween, ABC tells us.

C'mon, do I look like a perv to you?

Or something. This story might belong in Republican whack-a-mole, except we don't know the guy's politics. We will not be surprised in the least if he turns out to be a card-carrying member of the Republic party.

The charming lad pictured above is one Paul A. Schum, principal of Bethlehem (a Catholic high school), recently arrested for loitering in Louisville. Mr. Schum might not have come to the attention of the authorities in Louisville if not for an unfortunate incident which resulted in the following description of his attire:

"He was wearing an all-black, leather, woman's outfit, fishnet stockings and women's black plastic breasts," Russell said, describing the part of town where Schum was found as "a problem area" for prostitution and drugs.

Mr. Schum was, apparently, sitting in his car in full regalia. Now, as far as I know, cross-dressing isn't a crime, even in Louisville. But the cops busted him for "loitering" because he offered "inconsistent explanations" for his presence and appearance.

Most cops don't have a problem with arresting your average poor person, like, oh, crackheads, street hookers, and Persons Of Hue. But, as a rule, they stay away from the rich and powerful. The principal of the local Catholic high school is likely to get a warning instead of an arrest unless he's actually caught in the act of buggering a sheep. So I figure the only reason they didn't let him off is, he was dressed in a manner, or acted in a manner, that indicated something more serious going on.

To all the apologists who say, Hey, it was Halloween, he should be able to dress as he likes. Yes, he should. In our book and yours. But he's a member of a Church that frowns mightily on Teh Gay (even as it covers up for pedophiles to the tune of millions of dollars in collection-plate offerings from the faithful). It is not we who will pillory him for his questionable activities. It is his own church and community. And given how the church has treated LGBTQ folks, we insist on treating this as high entertainment.

Praise Be to Sister Nancy Beth Eczema for her acuity and acumen in turning us on to this amusing spectacle.

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Religion - La Papa

Oy, what a schnoz!


Yes, yes, I know it means "the potato," not "the pope," but frankly, I've never liked Ratzi, and his talent for putting his foot in it (his mouth, I suppose) combined with his fondness for soles, as opposed to souls, makes him more of a potatohead than a Pontiff, in my book. Why should I care, you ask? I'm not a Catholic, after all. I care because I was educated in a Catholic school and saw firsthand that many, very many, people are affected by what comes out of that church. I think John Paul was Pope when I was growing up, and the Church of those days seemed a lot more progressive than it is these days. I remember the glory days of Liberation Theology, and how many Catholics fought for the rights of the poor and oppressed and even went gladly to jail to protest unjust wars.

The Catholic church of pope Ratzi of the Red Prada Slippers is a very different beast indeed. These days all we ever hear about is how the Vatican is cracking down on the errant clergy who have the gall to support women's rights, or speak out against poverty and injustice. Shoes of the fisherman indeed!

At any rate, the potatohead got hisself a little press when he went to visit Brazil and make noisome news about his opposition to abortion. Luckily not every politician in the world is a spineless, slimy toady of the Bush and Blair stripe.

Following the pontiff's not-very-diplomatic words on abortion, Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomez Temporao - who recently worked with Lula towards a liberalization of the abortion legislation - fired back.

No church, no religion should impose its dogmas and precepts on a society, the minister said openly. One should listen to women, he noted Wednesday, adding that "unfortunately men do not get pregnant - if they got pregnant this question would have been solved a long time ago."

Well put, sir. I've always maintained that if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament. In the interim, I'm not about to be dictated to in matters of private morality by some dithering old Queen in a dress. The world would be a much better place if nasty old men would keep their noses out of women's reproductive organs.

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Apparently, Some Kinds of Suffering Are More Important

Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters


The Pope decries the suffering of the world:

"How much suffering there is in the world!" Pope Benedict XVI lamented in his Easter sermon yesterday, naming Darfur, Iraq, Somalia, the Congo, Lebanon and other trouble spots around the globe.

But not, apparently, the suffering of women sexually abused by priests.

Confronted by their testimony, the church authorities first transferred the priest to another parish, and then out of the diocese. But he remains a priest, and has received only token punishment. In the United States, failure to take firm action against abusive priests left the Church in Boston with a legacy of bitter mistrust and legal bills totalling more than $150m (£76m). In Italy, however, it would appear that the lessons have not been learnt.

What have I got against the Church? Actually, I've got it in for all religions on this one point: they all treat women like shit.

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