Posted on 08/18/2017 12:59:28 PM PDT by heterosupremacist
The Boston Globes Spotlight team is out with another attack on the Catholic priesthood: this one a two-part series on Children of Catholic priests who live with secrets and sorrow.
Using a few highly publicized cases, and several anecdotal stories, reporter Michael Rezendes concludes that by any reasonable measure, there are thousands of children around the world who have strong evidence that they are the sons and daughters of Catholic priests. Yet as he acknowledges, with over 400,000 priests worldwide, even if the unsubstantiated thousands estimate is accepted, that could amount to as little as one percent or less of priests having fathered a child. And as he further acknowledges, some of these priests took their responsibility seriously.
So the question arises: Is the phenomenon of priests fathering children, then neglecting or abandoning themwhile clearly sinful and morally wrongso singularly egregious as to warrant such an exclusive exposé?
How do these speculative numbers and percentages compare with Protestant, Jewish or Muslim clergy illegitimately fathering children, then neglecting or abandoning them? We dont know, because Rezendes and the Globe show no inclination to investigate any clergy other than Catholic priests. To do so might undermine what is clearly part of the agenda here: to attack the Catholic Churchs rule on priestly celibacy. Neglected children of priests, Rezendes writes, are the unfortunate victims of a church that has, for nearly 900 years, forbidden priests to marry .
And what of our secular culture? Citing the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Fatherhood Initiative reported recently that 24 million children, 1 out of 3, live without their biological father in the home. And millions more, notes the National Center for Fathering, have dads who are physically present, but emotionally absent.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicleague.org ...
If it is true, it isn’t an attack...
Add to that the fact that there are priests in the West (and elsewhere,presumably) who are loyal to Rome and have wives and children (most,I suspect,being converts from the Church of England) it doesn't shock me to the core of my being to hear of priests with children.
Yes,my views are unlike the views of some.
Exactly and sadly there's more reason to believe it's true than otherwise.
When Natural Affections are banned some will turn to unnatural affections. It excuses nothing though. If they’re going to break their vows why not do so with consenting adults?
My take on this is “So what?”
There are millions of children all over this country who do not know who their fathers are.
This is typical Boston Globe garbage.
.
Is this supposed to remind people of the “crisis” of 2002?
[[How do these speculative numbers and percentages compare with Protestant, Jewish or Muslim clergy illegitimately fathering children, then neglecting or abandoning them? We dont know, because Rezendes and the Globe show no inclination to investigate any clergy other than Catholic priests. To do so might undermine what is clearly part of the agenda here: to attack the Catholic Churchs rule on priestly celibacy. Neglected children of priests, Rezendes writes, are the unfortunate victims of a church that has, for nearly 900 years, forbidden priests to marry .
And what of our secular culture? Citing the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Fatherhood Initiative reported recently that 24 million children, 1 out of 3, live without their biological father in the home. And millions more, notes the National Center for Fathering, have dads who are physically present, but emotionally absent.]]
Wow ! Is this trying to justify bad behavior by saying someone else does it ? I wonder if the person who wrote this even begins to realize just how bad this sounds
So let me get this straight - the tens of children of Priests is a problem worth writing about in a major newspaper, but the tens of millions of ordinary fatherless children in America is not worth any ink. Right?
A girl I went to school with got pg by the local priest. He quit the Church and married her.
This article reminds me of the anti-Catholic stories I heard in my youth in the 1950s and 60s. The Boston Globe is just giving those anti-Catholic attacks a new spin. And I give them no credence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.