Posted on 06/26/2002 8:23:23 PM PDT by Aliska
There's much truth here. An important point.
Doc, this is the Nigerian who raped a woman.
The consensual remark was about his molestation of the 12 year old girl, not a woman.
I don't think it will end until the Catholic Church acknowledges the blatanly obvious - that many homosexual men are sexually attracted to teenage boys. That means - either get rid of the homosexuals, or at the very, very least, never let teenage boys be alone in their presence. But I guess formerly trusting parents will have to adopt that policy for them - and since parents don't know who's who in the Church, they will simply have to keep their kids away from priests, always and forever.
They have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for far too long.
God is supposed to do the calling, and the leadership is supposed to test the spirits.
There is also a scripture that says something to the effect of "Do not suddenly (or too quickly) lay hands on someone."
People should have to prove their worthiness to be with our children through a (1) history of good Christian living, and (2) background investigations.
I require it of my teachers.
As a children's pastor, I can say without fear that one of the biggest problems is the lack of volunteerism (especially from parents) to work with children in the church.
This leads to lowering the standard on many occasions.
I know how to prevent this problem:
Parents need to volunteer to work in their church's children's ministry.
I love all of the kids in my ministry, but not as much as their parents love them.
We try to do the same. And I have had over five extensive birds and bees discussions with my teenage sons. We've covered: Christian sexual morality (not just the rules, but its wisdom and God's purpose in it), the sexual act itself, physical and mental changes experienced by boys - and all the practical matters, learning self-control and the freedom it brings, discerning the motives of different types of women, contraception, venereal disease, homosexuality, abortion, marriage, the lack of sexual morality in today's society, etc. etc. We expect that our kids will get a lot of 'information' from other sources, but we aim to provide the foundation upon which they consider such 'information.' We tell them that no one but God loves them more than we do - and that we will always tell them the truth about these things - with the hope they will find fulfillment and happiness in life. We hope they know and understand that. But it would be even better if we could count on our Church to be partners in this process. Instead, it's the dead opposite.
I agree. Parents should be involved. I've been involved in the Boy Scouts, and I can tell you that the young men in our troop understand instinctively the love shown by the many fathers (and some mothers) who've involved themselves in helping to raise these kids. Your challenge, I would think, is to show parents the benefits to them and their children of getting involved. I know in the scouts, many dads realize, on camping trips to far away places, that but for the scouts, they would not have had the wonderful times together with their sons. It tends to build on itself, so that both the sons and fathers come to greatly value these brief moments. And the show of fathers supporting the values supported by the scouts helps immensely to reinforce those values with all their sons.
They may tell you otherwise, but their actions tell you differntly.
For instance, in most churchs, the children's ministry is the second largest ministry within the church, based on group size.
Even with that, you'll almost always see a music "pastor", or teen "pastor" on full-time staff.
There is almost never a church with a full-time children's pastor that did not first have a full-time teen pastor, accountant, bookstore manager, and maintenance staff.
One rarely ever sees a church with a larger youth department than children's department.
With this as the case, the children's ministry leaders often have less time to prepare for lessons, as they are balancing their own children and a full-time job with their minstry.
Children's pastors burn out fast in most cases.
I do this. We keep a table in the foyer to recruit teachers-we have more youth members volunterr than we do parents.
I have about 20-teachers. Approximately 33% of them are youth, and 20% of them either have no children, or their kids are out of the group.
I've been in the children's ministry for 10-years and I am qualified to tell you this:
Most parents use the church (to some degree) as an escape from their children. Most could still teach, even though there are many options to teach a class that does include their own children.
That's a shame. It sounds like you do great work, though. Good luck and may God be with you each day.
I've seen this too. One would think children would be the very first priority - for their own sakes', and because they are those who will carry Christianity into the next generation. I have a hard time understanding some Church priorities.
For years, he said, the diocese has had a policy requiring priests from abroad who are authorized to work in parishes to provide an affidavit, signed by the priests' own bishops, that they have no history of "anything that would disqualify them from working in a parish." Such affidavits were provided by the two other priests who now face sexual abuse charges, he said.The bishops who provided the predator priests with the affidavits should be investigated immediately. And since it involves the international exchange of clergy, that investigation should be conducted by Rome.
It may well be that the bishops will maintain that they were merely relying on the word of the heads of the orders. Passing the buck seems to be S.O.P. (e.g., note the spokesman for the Diocese of Brooklyn's comment that the accused priest "is not a priest of the Brooklyn Diocese or associated with that parish").
The article of faith we all need to adopt in our fight to cleanse the temple is this:
When Bishop Gregory was on Meet the Press last month, Tim Russert quoted Luke, when Christ said that if someone caused little ones to sin, it would be better if a mill stone was tied to their neck and cast into the sea.
When Russert asked for Bishop Gregory's comment, and if that was the case here, he said in effect:
"I don't know."
He should be standing up in front of all the bishops shouting this verse and then getting on his knees and begging God to redeem the Church. Most all of these bishops are cowardly and often unGodly politicians.
Let's hear it for common sense! Going the extra mile to make sure that there is no hint of improper behavor will keep you out of a lot of hot water. or to quote
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-23
Good advise from 2000 years ago.
a.cricket
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