In my state of New Jersey, a story broke last week and the names of 188 Catholic Priests that were found guilty of sexual assault were released. These scumbags were practicing at various churches around the state for decades and only now, were their names released. Many of them on the list are thankfully dead.
Now, I didn’t always hate religion. I grew up in a Catholic household. I was Baptized, was Confirmed, and took part in Communion. I attended Church every Sunday, participated in CYO, and attended CCD. I just drifted far from all of it as I got older and I am honestly thankful that I did.
My Church growing up was Holy Spirit in Union, NJ and by all accounts was a nice Church. I have a ton of memories there from weddings to funerals to baptisms. I only remember the name of one of the priest’s at the parish while growing up and attending...Father Chuck. He seemed like a nice guy and I remember him being kinda the head honcho in these parts.
So as I was reading through the articles regarding these vultures, I noticed it mentioned that Holy Spirit in Union had several priests on the ol’ list. So as I searched through the names, I came across a Father Charles Hartling...better known as Father Chuck. I even googled the name and found a pic. Yup...it was him. It didn’t go into details but it stated that he had 3 victims under him. That’s just what we know for sure. The bad news is that he practiced there while my siblings and I and all of our friends were growing up. Now I was never alone with this waste of flesh, and I don’t know of anyone that was personally affected, but it happened...and possibly to someone that one of us knows. That made me feel ill once I saw his stupid fucking face.
The good news is that this monster is no longer here. He checked out in 2012 according to records. Dead and gone...only leaving the carnage that he created for several individuals behind.
Fast forward a couple days later and we are having some family over for dinner. I’m sitting at the table with my dad and my sister Michele. Michele is my oldest sister and we are pretty close. She also has a sharp memory, so I wanted to see what she remembered if anything at all, about good ol’ Father Slimebucket.
I tell them about the article mentioning once again...188 names in NJ alone and she cuts me off and says “let me guess, Father Chuck is on the list?”. I was surprised and shook my head yes. She told me she wasn’t surprised at all. She said that he had an anger problem that she saw first hand for years at the CYO functions. Chuck was the head of that and worked closely with those participating. She then went on to tell me that he was very authoritative and downright demanding and she took none of his shit. She said he hated her as he couldn’t control her and that she always got shitty vibes from him.
As we are discussing it in detail a bit more, my pops chimes in stating he only remembered one Priest from when he was younger from his school days at Our Lady Help of Christians in East Orange, NJ. He blurted out “Ernst...I don’t remember his first name but Father Ernst”. So I go to the list and it literally opens up to this....
What are the odds?!? That at the table, we all remembered 2 Priests and they BOTH were on the list. Luckily this sack of scummy shit is long dead too, but it gave me chills seeing that word next to victims. Multiple
My pops said he didn’t remember anything odd but anything that stood out, but he was still pretty much shocked. We all sat there kinda shocked to be honest. Just at the sheer fact that we were batting 2 for 2 thus far. Sad!
Now look, I’m not saying all Priests do this shit... of course not. Hell, I have a good friend in the Seminary as we speak and he’s on here. You might have seen him around these parts. He goes by the name 
I know there are good men of the cloth. That’s not what this piece was about. But I do feel that the “Catholic Church” as an organization has handled this entire topic in the poorest manner possible and is still showing no signs of doing anything really positive to try to fix this...not that the past can be fixed. Hopefully what I’m saying makes sense. I dunno...I just know that it’s disappointing as hell to find out that a prominent figure from your youth was a vile animal that took advantage of vulnerable children. I’m glad he’s dead...and not that I believe in heaven or hell, but I hope that if I’m wrong...that he will be burning for eternity and getting what him and those of his nature deserve.