"Bishop Anthony B. Taylor has suspended Father Demets' faculties to function as a priest effective Nov. 9, 2011, and has removed him from the Latin Mass Community in Cherokee Village pending completion of the investigation."

Excellent.

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Was this mattered referred to the police?
If left up to the church, this guy will probably just be referred to another church.

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I went to Catholic schools. The kid probably needed it. Saw a whole grocery store full of ones this weekend that needed it.

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No child "needs it."
Another old woman (not angry)

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Can Father Demets coach football on the college level?

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I'm going to establish a child discipline consulting service, if any of you are interested. I'll whup the tar out of any of the little darlings who need whupping, and the parents or administrators can avoid bad publicity or troubles with the law or church hierarchy if they'll only sign up for my services.
You can describe me as a Certified Child Disciplinologist, and I'm starting out in a bad mood, if you get my drift.

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I guess a nun with a 1/2" thick yard stick is the approved method in the 60's, by the 70's a priest at Catholic High was approved to pull and yank hair or just outright smack anything from the waist up.

Times they are a changin'!

Louie, are you in a bad mood because you haven't visited your trailer of adult refreshment, or too many visits yesterday?

Or better yet, just use an extension cord for "encouragement" (plugged into that low cost electricity of course)

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Perfectly acceptable pre-Vatican II behavior. If you're into that retro latin catholicism thing you better be ready to take one for team.

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It's a sad goddam world when we're glad that a priest _only_ slapped a child.

By the way: Hit a kid, go to jail.

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Notice that this bitch slapped a kid -- not another grown man.

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I know I will sound like an anti-papist cynic, but my first thought was how big a donor to the diocese was this child's parents.

Based on past published experiences with the Catholic Church in America, and some old friends' experiences with the "penguins" (their term) in parochial school, the amount that the parents donated or their influence would be the only consideration that would cause Bishop Taylor to take such action.

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Citizen1,
Thanky for them kind words and the free advertisement for the mobile adult beverage emporium.
There must be something seriously wrong with me, and I am unaware of it. I'm the product of two different Catholic elem schools, and a lifetime of religious education. Have had about 2 dozen different priests during that time. And I was neither struck nor molested. What is it that the others had and I didn't? One thing I DID have was a fight at every recess with kids whose parents told them I was not Christian so they took it upon themselves to address my shortcoming. And THAT'S when I decided to become a Certified Child Disciplinologist!
Oh well, it's getting late and I've got to tend to business at the emporium.

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Sad, horrible and ugly, a priest slapping a child in parochial school. Humiliating, painful, modeling violence . . . one can go on and on about how wrong.

Happily, both my niece, Samantha, and nephew, Biff, have been enrolled in karate classes in Santa Monica since they were four. Not necessarily in preparation for parochial school (there’s a very good one there, which they now attend), but still.

I understand Father Demets possibly demonstrating the lesson about turning the other cheek and everything. But Sam and Biff have both been drilled in how to react to inappropriate touching.

I’m confident that Biff, though barely nine, had he been slapped by Father Demets, would have eschewed turning the other cheek for a swift mule kick to the priestly groin then calmly used his iPhone to speed-dial the family attorney to report the assault and battery and initiate a lawsuit while the unfortunate celibate writhed in agony on the floor before the nuns or whatever could arrive to make nice.

They'd be looking at a five-figure settlement, minimum.

But that’s SoCal and not The Natural State.

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So true, "they rushed to say it was not a sexual act" perhaps signals Rome's burning? Just in case the Roman Church falls, I want his pointy hat!

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I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I smacked my two children when they were small. EVERY TIME WAS A FAILURE OF PARENTING ON MY PART. The priest is said to have slapped the child. On the face? Really? What would Jesus have done?

I grew up in an era when whippings were the rule and I received my share. My parents were the best, but it was simply wrong and did not make me a better child or a more obedient one. All it did was enrage me.

Striking a child teaches that violence is the answer. It creates rage within. Maybe that's why I still have an "inner mean girl" and Hayden does not. Maybe that is why my son has never struck anyone in anger. He had a couple of incidents in elementary school where he could have gotten down in the dirt, but he chose to walk away. It worked, because the instigators later apologized and were ashamed of themselves.

For what it's worth, my children were generally well behaved. They never embarrassed me---much---with their behavior. I was probably more embarrassing to them on occasion.They were and are well loved by their teachers, their peers, all of our friends, and all of their co-workers today. They are good citizens, have work ethics that would make a corporatist proud, are honest almost to a fault, and are generous and loving in their behavior to others and the planet. Sometimes I wonder how I got them that way. It was definitely not due to corporal punishment.

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What would Jesus have done?

"And when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew"

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Why, Frances! How adorable of you! New here, yet ALREADY mentioning my name! (Which is Norma Bates. My Razorbabies know I LIVE to see my name on blogs because, truly, what else IS there in life?)

My assistant, Fu Mei, as part of her duties, scours blogs daily for mention of me, when she's not preparing delicious MSG-free stir-fry delicacies or buffing her wok. Regulars already know this, so I, Norma Bates, shan't belabor the topic.)

Yet, how DISTURBING to learn that you confuse disciplining children with slapping them! Nobody even MENTIONED the notion of not disciplining children, except you, who introduced the assertion, for some reason, causing my beloved Razorbaby regulars to mentally hit PAUSE and wonder why you would attempt such blatant misdirection unless you are, you know, kinda warped . . . but let's move forward.

How EQUALLY disturbing to learn you misapprehend familial blood ties and believe aunts, not parents, raise children (or "kids" as you put it in your charming vernacular), except, of course, in cases of untimely tragedies that wipe out the parents, leaving their offspring to be adopted by aunts and uncles or complete strangers -- none of which is even IMPLIED by my comment!

Sam and Biff are my niece and nephew, darling. I, Norma Bates, am not their parent.

Finally, it's TOO disturbing to realize that you confuse self-defense (karate in the face of attack, for instance) with criminal assault (like slapping, hitting, punching, beating, etc.). See, one's a crime and the other isn't. Unless one is, you know, kinda warped.

No, no. Seriously.

Are you a nun?

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