There was an era in Louisiana's history where the organized, systematic, and wholesale rape of our children was infused and summarily cemented in our culture by the institutions that stood at the top of a very high morality mountain; they witnessed it, endorsed it, covered it up, and covered up the coverup. While they were raping our most precious, vulnerable children with impunity, they looked us in the eye, postured their "authority," and continued, uncontested by those sworn to protect them, and continued their atrocities upon the souls of the most vulnerable of our society, the ones who are the most precious. 

Those days are over.

"Well, there is plenty of blame to go around..." Yes indeed there is plenty of blame to go around, but unlike a Fortune 500 technology firm, it is not a case of "water under the bridge and we must move forward now in order to retain shareholder value..." With the introduction of Louisiana House Bill 492, victims and survivors of childhood sex abuse have a hope of an avenue to justice. Today, May 11th, 2021, the Louisiana House or Representatives passed House Bill 492 unanimously, 102 for, ZERO against. It is not surprising that while in the house committee, the only entity that was opposed to protecting our children was the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, of which the Archbishop of New Orleans presides.

The Catholic Church first recognized in 309 AD, at the Council of Elvira, that clergy were sexually abusing children. Over the ages the problem became so bad that in 1962, a Vatican Cardinal authored a document describing these crimes, and how to keep them secret, which was then accepted and ratified by the Pope. The Catholic Church, based in Rome, Italy, is the largest and oldest organized crime syndicate in the history of planet earth. Catholic Clergy, in numbers, rape our children. The Catholic Diocese, Archdiocese, and the Vatican cover it up. They protect these pedophiles, re-assign them over state lines to other unsuspecting communities only to reoffend again, then ship them overseas to exhaust the Statute of Limitations.

But what about you? If you were committing financial fraud, law enforcement would storm your office, serve a warrant and toss your office; taking all your files, hard drives, computers, everything. If you were a drug dealer, you would never be allowed to stave off law enforcement and providing them a list of drugs you had in the past. They would serve a warrant, bust in, suppress everyone to the ground, take the drugs and arrest you. But the Church rapes our children, why not the Ecclesiastical State of Louisiana?

That's a very good question. Why? They raped our children!

With House Bill 492, it does nothing to require our law enforcement or "leaders" to investigate the Archdiocese. But what it rocketed to lesser men is that the people of Louisiana and our Representatives have spoken, and they are squarely on the side of the victims, survivors, and our children; past, present and future. It is the opening salvo over the bow of their already sinking barge, in a war that they will lose.

To Louisiana Law Enforcement and the Attorney General of Louisiana, we say it is time that the Catholic Church be criminally investigated in the state of Louisiana. This is the time that you have the opportunity to be on the right side of history, and it is the people's expectation. Being unwilling to confront the evil right in front of you will result in a mortally wounded conscience that you alone will have to face every morning in the mirror.

Cordially,

Richard Windmann
President, SCSA