NationStates Jolt Archive


ENN: Capital Punishment for 3 Catholic Priests

Effrenata
31-01-2004, 19:52
ENN: Capital Punishment for 3 Catholic Priests

Zergandol, Uldune: 31 January
An Ulduni Top Administrative Hearing Committee today handed down a capital sentence for the Catholic Priests known as the Zergandol Three, based on over fifty evidential submissions and testimonies that the three have sexually abused or exploited dozens of Catholic youth in their parishes.

The three priests, Father Miglach Hermtine, Father Karven Stonehand, and Father Hjirlik Varni; were immediately deprived of their Effrenati citizenship, and will remain in custody for one year while they attempt to find asylum. If by the end of the year, no nation has agreed to receive the three as citizens, they will be subjected to lethal injection.

Varni Stilgatch, spokesminion for the Catholic Upbringing Survivors’ Society Special Interest Group (Motto/Philosophy: “A Catholic upbringing is a toxic upbringing!”) announced that the SIG plans to hire the Kyth Detective Agency to begin immediate investigations of forty-seven other suspected pedophile priests, and to request Administrative Hearings for all of them as soon as sufficient evidence is gathered. “It’s about time the real nuisance value of these “priests” is understood in Effrenata, and if the Church won’t handle the matter with appropriate firmness, we’ll see that the civil bureaucracy deals with them!”

A spokesminion for Cardinal Krjstian Vilharna, the Number One Catholic in Effrenata, said that the Church would be appealing the hearing decision to the Pest Control Board, and seeking guidance from the Vatican on negotiating with civil authorities. Porval Atkinsson, Chair of the Didactus Dei Special Interest Group, the Church’s officially designated SIG, (Motto/philosophy: “The Church has an answer for everything.”) has signified their intent to introduce new Administrative Rules preventing government bureaucracies from intervening in Church matters. “This is an issue we are prepared to pursue right up to the Article Review Board, if necessary. It strikes at the freedom of every Effrenati faith to deal with their own problems internally, and Effrenati freedom of religious faith is one of the bedrock Articles of our Confederacy!”

However, the SIG Devout Catholics for Reform, (Motto/philosophy: “Let the lay people decide!”) has indicated that it supports the Zergandol decision. “If the Church hierarchy won’t deal with this appalling problem, we need reform from within. It’s the only way to ensure that the civil bureaucracy butts out of church business—we have to be responsible for protecting Catholic youth, or they have every right to intervene,” said SIG Chair Marya Ermetyne at a news conference in Zergandol today. “However, we will also be filing an official protest to the Pest Control Board on the unwarranted severity of the decision. We believe the healing process must start by healing these priests, and allowing them to work for reconciliation within the Church.”

While Effrenata’s Catholic population is comparatively small (20% of Effrenati have identified themselves as Catholic in the most recent census,) the Church’s influence among the Upper Ten Thousand, particularly the neo-Frenish and Svaldi districts, is considerable. The membership of Catholic-affiliated or –identified SIGs has soared in recent months as the disturbing sexual abuse and exploitation scandals have surfaced in region after region. The Zergandol Three represent only the first to make their way through the Administrative Hearing process, but Hearings are pending on at least eleven more clergy.

(OOC: Information on Effrenata here: http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=113835&highlight= )