Protect yourself from
the hinder part of a mule,
The front part of a
woman, from the side part of a wagon,
And from all sides of
the priesthood.
(An old proverb)
...But I do not have to
go that far back in time, for there are enough examples in present times. Ammann, who spent thirty years in a cloister, quotes many such examples.
In 1832, a pater by the name of Amandäus came up with some kind of pious pretext
whenever he wanted to spend the night with an infamous woman in Mels,
Switzerland. In order to catch this pious hypocrite red-handed, a few young
men were lying in wait for him, and they caught him in the arms of this
courtesan. They dragged him triumphantly to the cloister, but his only
punishment was a transfer to Schwyz, Switzerland.
Two other
monastic clergymen, Pater Augustine, a priest in Tussnang, and Pater
Benedict in Bettwiesen seduced many women and then without compunction went
to their homes under the pretext that they had to administer the last rites.
In several
places in Switzerland, where there were cloisters located, women did not
dare to walk the streets at night, as these oversexed clerics would actually
physically attack them, and their dreadful lewdness did not spare children
either.
Pater
Frederick from the Capuchin Cloister in Appenzell, Switzerland satisfied
himself with unnatural sexual excesses when he was a mere frater, but he was
not allowed to leave the cloister. But when he became a pater he enjoyed
more freedom and he began to demand more natural sexual satisfaction. He
went from Appenzell to Teufen near St. Gallen, Switzerland, to preach in
some Catholic congregations and to hear confessions. When he was not far
from Teufen he was entering a small forest, when a girl ran after him and
asked him for a picture of a saint. This was the custom; when children saw a
Capuchin monk they asked him for these kinds of pictures. Pater Frederick
pulled a painted picture of a saint out of his hood and showed it to the
girl, and he promised to give it to her if she would accompany him a little
along the way. In this manner he lured the innocent child into the forest,
and as soon as he had found a place out of sight and covered with shrubs he
committed one of the most brutal rapes on that young girl.
The little
girl screamed for help, and her father, who recognized her voice, ran as
fast as he could and caught the oversexed clergyman red-handed. However, her
father restrained himself and he did not give the monk his just rewards
right there and then, instead he immediately reported the pater’s
disgraceful activities to the authorities. The pater was arrested and taken
to Troegen, where this matter was judicially investigated. The investigation
revealed that the poor child had been severely violated and there were also
significant physical injuries.
The views of
the pater, which led him to this crime, are highly peculiar, but almost all
the monks in the cloisters shared these views. He believed that the
reformists were all so evil that they considered nothing to be a sin and
that everything was allowed, because they did not have to go to confession.
Therefore, he was of the opinion that as far as the reformists were
concerned, he did not commit a crime when he raped the child of a reformist!
The pater
would have been sentenced and publicly put on display in a pillory and then
flogged or fined a considerable amount of money. However, the highest
official in this canton in Switzerland, Joseph Anton Bischofsberger, took
sides with this criminal. In other words he got away with it, and he was
released.
The
immorality of these clergymen revolts me and probably the reader as well.
For the sake of completeness I must add a few words about the unnatural
vices which were committed in these cloisters, which are the very sad
consequences of celibacy.
Ammann claims
that among 200 Capuchin monks there were at least 150 who masturbated.
Ammann is the most competent judge in this respect, because only a Capuchin
monk would be so well informed about that, and Ammann was a Capuchin monk.
In the
Cloister of Fischingen a certain Pater Berchthold was engaged in dubious
activities, the main purpose of which was to seduce the students and young
monks in the cloister. On purpose he heard confession not in the public
confessional box but instead in a dark corner, and many boys who made their
confessions in the dark corner complained that he tried to seduce them. But
the guardian of the cloister paid no attention to these complaints.
Berchthold became bolder and bolder, and he no longer attempted to conceal
his despicable vice. Finally the cloister was forced to commit him to his
cell, and then he was transferred.
When Ammann had taken his
vows, this homosexual pedophile sneaked into his cell that same night. He
sat down on his bed, then he pulled out a bottle of schnapps and some
cookies and began to tell Ammann about his conquests over women. When Ammann
asked him to change the subject or leave his cell, Berchthold said: “Yes, it
is sheer futility to speak of such tasty morsels if we cannot have them.
However, we can find pleasure with each other!” This compelled Ammann to
call for help by knocking on the thin wall of the cell, whereupon the
seducer left the cell.
Pater Joseph
from Freiburg took Pater Berchthold’s place. He was considerably worse than
his predecessor. He distinguished himself not only through the above
mentioned vices, but in addition he was also endowed with impish hypocrisy
and a very clever maliciousness...
