Posted on 01/26/2014 9:15:50 AM PST by Renfield
Pope Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests for raping and molesting children in his final two years before stepping down as the head of the Catholic Church in 2013, documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal.
According to the data, 260 priests were deprived of their ecclesiastical status in 2012 and 124 in 2012 – more than a twofold increase over the 171 priests defrocked in the preceding two years.
The figures represent the first time the Vatican has provided statistics on the number of priests to be removed for sex abuse as a result of the Church’s in-house procedures. A canon lawyer, however, told AP the real future is likely higher, as the statistics obtained Friday do not include the number of sentences handed down by diocesan courts.
The Vatican initially accused AP of misrepresenting the data, claiming “information diffused this evening by the Associated Press appears to be based on an incorrect reading of data published in the volume.”
The Church later did an about face, however, with Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi confirming that the AP figures were correct.
The internal Vatican document, comprising statistics compiled over several years, was intended to help the Holy See defend itself before a United Nations committee in Geneva this week....
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
Good for Pope Benedict XVI ... He might have saved the Church with this important step...
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
It’s a start! :)
yes. Now he should go after CINOs who are pro abortion and excommunicate them.
Yes, but there is still much to be done. I was just reading in the Lexington paper a few days ago about a nearby dioces (or archdiocese, I forget which) that was forced by a court to pay $12.6 million to survivors of priestly sexual abuse. The bishop had just transferred offending priests to other posts, instead of turning them in to officials.
There are lots of dioceses in the USA. Most of the abuse took place 25-40 years ago. As long as each diocese is treated like a new, big story, the news media will keep piling on. This is all old news, and the RC has done a very good job of reviewing records, condemning past policies (which included following the bad advice of the American Psychiatric Association which insisted that their programs would cure these priests of their predatory ways against teenage boys), and disciplining priests, defrocking some, and isolating others, etc..
Have you ever once heard of a lawsuit against the psychiatric professionals who earned lots of money from RC dioceses to treat these men, who came back only to repeat their offensive behavior? Why have they never been sued for malpractice?
An overwhelming majority of priests never have inappropriately touched a child or teenager, yet they are lumped into the group of perverts. It’s all unfortunate for the poor victims and the innocent clergy who have a scarlet letter on their foreheads because of the deeds of others.
That’s why I LOVE Pope Benedict!!!!!
He's not the pope anymore, in case you missed it.
This is something the pope needed to do. There are way too many Catholics going out the back door to other denominations because they are afraid of exposing their children—especially their boys —to the priests.
sorry....He should have.
This pope should do it then.
Why is the current pope allowing the gay mafia to continue on at the Vatican? Has he read Romans?
I spent some time searching on the net attempting to find the article I referenced, with no luck yet, but I recall it quoting one of the victims as claiming to have been abused by a priest between 1993 and 1996.
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.