Catholic Ping
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Posted on 04/09/2010 6:16:37 AM PDT by NYer
The Catholic sex-abuse stories emerging every day suggest that Catholics have a much bigger problem with child molestation than other denominations and the general population. Many point to peculiarities of the Catholic Church (its celibacy rules for priests, its insular hierarchy, its exclusion of women) to infer that there's something particularly pernicious about Catholic clerics that predisposes them to these horrific acts. It's no wonder that, back in 2002—when the last Catholic sex-abuse scandal was making headlines—a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll found that 64 percent of those queried thought Catholic priests "frequently'' abused children.
Yet experts say there's simply no data to support the claim at all. No formal comparative study has ever broken down child sexual abuse by denomination, and only the Catholic Church has released detailed data about its own. But based on the surveys and studies conducted by different denominations over the past 30 years, experts who study child abuse say they see little reason to conclude that sexual abuse is mostly a Catholic issue. "We don't see the Catholic Church as a hotbed of this or a place that has a bigger problem than anyone else," said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "I can tell you without hesitation that we have seen cases in many religious settings, from traveling evangelists to mainstream ministers to rabbis and others."
Since the mid-1980s, insurance companies have offered sexual misconduct coverage as a rider on liability insurance, and their own studies indicate that Catholic churches are not higher risk than other congregations. Insurance companies that cover all denominations, such as Guide One Center for Risk Management, with more than 40,000 church clients, does not charge Catholic churches higher premiums.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
How many men have bosses who help cover it up?
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
I would expect people who dedicate their lives to God would have a slightly better record than the typical man.
Exactly. The problem is not the frequency of occurrence, it’s what happens after it’s discovered.
Funny how a possible direct correlation between the Catholic faith and sexual abuse can be freely and publicly debated, while a direct connection between the Muslim faith and terrorism is off the table for fear of offending.
He then asked the question: Why is it safer to send your child to a nudist camp than to the Catholic church?
The argument is filled with fallacies, but funny.
The priesthood is a good place for perverts to hide.
What happens afterward ensures greater frequency.
We don't need a circular firing squad among Christian denominations.
I don’t for a minute believe that one in 10 men sexually abuse children, but a guy from an organization dedicated to sexually abused children might want to believe that.
As to the ministry and different denominations, I think the only possibly differentiating line would be the prevalence of homosexuality in the differing denominations if, as some studies seem to show, there is proportionately more abuse with gay rather than heterosexual men.
I would say in some diocese that USED to be true. But those who did not belong in the preisthood to begin with have been weeded out and that is definitel no longer the case.
Priests are not men, they claim to be representatives of God.
The fact that so many of them commit such heinous acts is proof they do not represent God.
The fact that the vatican does not excommunicate and turn them over to the cops is proof the the church does not represent God.
By their works shall ye know them.
How can people continue to insist that a system which accepts only men uninterested in women and and then grants them spiritual and temporal authority over young males is not an ironclad guarantee of terrible abuses?
Molesters cannot be said to be terribly dedicated to God. Using a front of dedication to God, however, is an excellent disguise for a freak.
“How can people continue to insist that a system which accepts only men uninterested in women and and then grants them spiritual and temporal authority over young males is not an ironclad guarantee of terrible abuses?”
You’ll find this wherever you find PEOPLE period. Schoolteachers can marry...
Whoever said these men were not interested in women? The Catholic Church does have some married priests but these are in the Eastern Catholic Churches and amongst converts from protestant denominations. Even in the Eastern churches, though, there have always been some restrictions on marriage and ordination. Although married men may become priests, unmarried priests may not marry, and married priests, if widowed, may not remarry. Moreover, there is an ancient Eastern discipline of choosing bishops from the ranks of the celibate monks, so their bishops are all unmarried. Priestly celibacy is not an unchangeable dogma but a disciplinary rule.
St. Paul makes a case for preferring celibacy to marriage: "Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. . . those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. . . . The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband" (7:27-34).
Paul’s conclusion: He who marries "does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better" (7:38).
If this is your argument, then please explain
Sexual Abuse of Children by Protestant Ministers
A local rabbi, married with children, was recently arrested for sexual abuse of children. As you can see, there is no difference between those who choose marriage and those who prefer the celibate life.
Priests are in a position of trust which amplifies their crimes many fold.
No kidding. Satan must be sitting back with a big smile while Christians tear each other apart instead of praying for one another.
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