Posted on 11/16/2006 9:54:57 AM PST by presidio9
The US Roman Catholic Church has asked a criminology school to delve into the darkest pages of its history by probing the causes of a priest sex abuse scandal.
At a meeting due to end Thursday in the eastern city of Baltimore, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to disburse 335,000 dollars to fund the first three phases of a study by New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
"It will be a groundbreaking study, never done before in the US, nor in the world," Bishop Gregory Aymond, who chairs the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, told AFP.
"We don't know what would come out of it, but we are going to tell the truth," said Aymond, of Austin, Texas.
In 2002, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice had made a list of complaints and pedophilia cases in the US Catholic Church since 1985, when one of the first scandals came to light with the case of a Louisiana priest.
The university will now look into the "social and historical context" of sex abuse to see if such cases are more frequent in the Church than in the rest of society, notably in schools and youth clubs, Aymond said.
The Church wants to "look at what is unique" in the priest sex abuse crisis, he said.
The first part of the study would be completed in 2008 and made public, although the names of suspected priests would be omitted.
In the second part, the university will evaluate the Church leadership's response to sex abuse cases.
"We want to see where we failed and made some mistakes, and learn from those who handled it well," Aymond said.
The study will also paint a psychological profile of pedophiliac priests by reviewing cases in treatment centers.
The review will aim to show "to what extent is a priest sexual abuser profile the same as the psychological profile of the non-priests who are sex offenders," Aymond said.
The university will also interview abuse victims and examine education at seminaries over the decades.
The majority of priests accused of sex abuse were trained in the 1960s and 1970s in seminaries where psychological tests and sexuality education have since been introduced.
A final phase of the study will make proposals on how to prevent sex abuse and help victims.
"Our goal is to ascertain the causes of the clergy sexual abuse crisis and if we need to change any method we have now," said Teresa Kettlekamp, the executive director of the bishops conference's Office of Child and Youth Protection, which was created in 2002, in the wake of the sex abuse scandal.
But the study would also be useful to schools and youth groups, Church officials said.
"The pathology of abusing children isn't unique; it's a societal problem," Kettlekamp said.
"We are hoping it will be a big, big help to the society in general," she said.
"...it begins with an "H"......for homosexual..."
it begins with an "Q"......for queer......
Was St. Paul married?
1 Corinthians 7:8Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.
You are putting words in my mouth. I'm not saying that if someone wants to be celibate that that is wrong. I'm saying that celibacy should be optional for the priesthood. In fact I will go as far to say that to require it to enter the priesthood is immoral because you are excluding a vast amount of highly qualified individuals who would be better than the current crop of gay boys.
Save the money - the cause is LIBERALISM!
And less divorce, and less abortion, and less sexual abuse, etc...
*************
One would think. It's funny that so many here see celibacy as some kind of punishment, when it is my understanding that it is partly designed to free a priest from responsibilities that would distract him from his role in the Church and parish. It is a choice, a way to serve God more completely. Ironic, I think that it is so often viewed otherwise.
I agree with that. It has nothing to do with the vow of celibacy.
If one chooses to break that vow it would be with the person to whom they have an original attraction.
How right you are!
So what thats just one good example of someone who was true to his vows. The real question is why are married men excluded. In fact why are women excluded as well. It was the women who were more loyal to Christ at the time of his death. The men ran.
Exactly...
The Church foolishly turned its back on its tradition... it instatiated its own version of "don't ask don't tell" basically saying you can be homosexual, as long as you aren't "practicing" and we'll still consider you for priesthood.
Well this turned the priesthood into an ever growing group of homosexual men.. and all that comes with it. In some diocese they have become so dominant that they control everything, trade sexual favors for influence and power and push aside any who speak up against them or they feel is a threat.
It is not coincidence that the vast majority of sexual abuse of boys is done by unrelated men... You don't let mentally ill people who believe their sexual gratification trumps everything else, no matter how self destructive it may be into any organization that has power, or even the perception of power over others, let alone grants them trusted access to children, particularly boys.
The church turned its back on the biblical teachings regarding homosexuality in a bid to feel "more inclusive" and they got burned badly for it... I don't believe the typical lay Catholic has any idea how widespread the problem is today.
Good point. I would have liked to have had a large family, but we only have two girls. Still, I tell them that the most important decision they will have in life is choosing between the religious life and marriage. It tears me up because, on the one hand, I'd love to have grandchildren. OTOH, I'd love to see them serve the Church as religious. The Christian life is a life of sacrifice, not selfishness.
But that's what truth does.
Bring it on.
Don't worry. If they choose the religious life they will have many spiritual children and save many souls. And this is wonderful.
Therefore he exhorts all Catholics to remember deceased clergy in their intentions eve3ry day.
Priests act in the person of Christ, so unmarried men stand in imitation of Christ. They also represent a sign to the culture of sacrifice with the hope of the life to come. Finally, there are practical reasons. As St. Paul says, the married man is busy with his wife's concerns. His heart is divided.
In fact why are women excluded as well.
The priest acts in the person of Christ. Christ was a male, he is the eternal high priest, and he chose males as his priests/bishops, so priests must be male.
Celibacy is a charism for the building up of the body of the Church.
So all my priest friends are gay?
Celibacy has its roots in medieval thinking and has no origin in early Christianity.
St. Paul would disagree with you:
"To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry." (1 Cor 7:8-9).
Our Lord would also disagree with you:
"Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom it is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it" (Matt. 19:11–12).
Perhaps celibacy may have been a positive force in the middle ages when people were not deluged with sexual advertising and messages.They did not have to deal with these things back them. Today society is sexualy charged and it far far more difficult to maintain celibacy.
It sure doesn't make it any easier.
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