Vatican: U.S. Catholic Sex Scandal Was Overstated

Washington Post ^ | Friday, October 10, 2003; 4:16 PM | Reuters

[RaceBannon]

Vatican: U.S. Catholic Sex Scandal Was Overstated Reuters Friday, October 10, 2003; 4:16 PM VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The media has exaggerated a sex scandal that has shaken the U.S. Roman Catholic Church and unfairly tainted thousands of priests with overzealous coverage, Pope John Paul II's top aide said Friday. "The scandals in the United States received disproportionate attention from the media," Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano told Reuters in an interview. "There are thieves in every country, but it's hard to say that everyone is a thief."

[Dr. Marten]

Dr. Marten says the Pope is overrated!

[wardaddy]

Precisely...well said.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Hit that one out of the ballpark.

Becky

[LayoutGuru2]

No $hit! Wow.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Actually, the Church did as much to prevent the problem as any other institution was doing at the time, (including our public school system),

You really set some high standards there. Public Schools definitly should be the standard for any church to run by < /sarcasm >.

Becky

[TheEngineer]

Until the Catholic Church forthrightly states that gays have no place in the priesthood, these problems will continue. There is a vastly disproportionate number of gays in the priesthood. The result is not true pedophilia, which is thankfully a very rare occurrance, but "chickenhawks" who seduce teen boys... The media have never even stated the problem clearly.

Absolutely agree.

I've heard reporters firsthand dismiss the idea that these crimes are homosexually motivated. The extents to which the media will go to protect homosexuals from criticism is sickening.

[Conservative til I die]

The haters will be out in full force on this thread!!! Should be a good read.

[Conservative til I die]

Thanks bro for this post. Needed to be said. I've actually seen the cartoons with the "alligator-head" mitres. Real low-brow disgusting cartoons the likes we see in say, a Neo-Nazi or Jack Chick tract.

[Conservative til I die]

Right, masturbating during the Mass. Whatever you say, buddy.

[Conservative til I die]

Even one child being abused is too many.

Even one child being killed by firearms is too many.

Now do you see what we're getting at, about statistics being overstated? No one's minimizing the victims' suffering, we're just talking about the facts here.

[Conservative til I die]

I take any poster who has scripture in his screename with a grain of salt when talking of the Catholic Church. Especially when you slyly inject your own personal theological beliefs into the discussion.

[Conservative til I die]

Well, looks like the thread is officially in the process of being hijacked. Yep, the sex scandal in the Church is because we aren't IFBs. Of course.

[Conservative til I die]

Why are priests not allowed to marry? Does it say in the New Testament that priests cannot marry? If someone could help me here, thanks.

I can't tell if you're honestly curious or just asking a loaded question, but there is nothing in the Bible that makes clerical celibacy compulsory, and the Catholic Church has never said as much. It all boils down to two things. If you can't accept the second, then this argument will make no sense, but the two things are:

1) Christ was celibate, and clerical celibacy is based on the imitation of Christ. It also allows the priest to devote himself to Christ and his ministry, whereas a Protestant preacher has a wife, mortgage, kids, etc to worry about. Every minute spent worrying about them is a minute not spent doing clerical things. This isn't knocking preachers who have families, just a simple fact.

Basically, the reason for celibacy is spiritual, not just for the sake of of doing it.

2) The Church, as founded by Christ, holds teaching, doctrinal, and disciplinary authority over the Body of Christ. That means the Church can set certain rules. One of them happens to be the celibacy of the clergy. If, in 200 years, the Church feels that celibacy is a hindrance to spirituality or no longer necessary for it, it might relax the restrictions on it.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

[Dajjal]

Once again:

The true scandal was NOT the pederast priests.

The true scandal was those BISHOPS moving these priests around from parish to parish to parish!!!!

And the evil done by those bishops CANNOT be overstated!!!!!

[Conservative til I die]

No problem. But honestly, for a better treatment of the subject, there are a lot of apologetics sites that cover the topic of clerical celibacy. What I've given is just the top-level, skimming the surface treatment.

But I'll leave you an interesting tidbit. The Catholic Church, while not having denominations in the true sense of the word, there are about six rites of the Church, each with their own divisions. They all are true Catholics and recognize the Pope, and are totally orthodox in their beliefs. The main difference is how they worship and conduct Mass. Anyways, the Eastern Catholic Church does allow married clergy. Also, with an increasing amount of Episcopalians/Anglicans and Lutherans converting to the Catholic Church, exemptions have been made for married priests that convert. So there are a small amount of sanctioned married clergy.

[Catholicguy]

Smashing post, Crusader. God Bless you

[Catholicguy]

The Torque was a sissy when compared to the First Inquisitor, Moses. Go read the OT and see how many he bumped-off, including wimmin & chirren, compared to my man Torque.

[Starboard]

Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano told Reuters in an interview. "There are thieves in every country, but it's hard to say that everyone is a thief."

He's equating horrific abuse with petty larcency. Disgusting.

[sitetest]

Dear Conservative til I die,

As well, celibacy isn't the universal rule in the Catholic Church. Those who don't aspire to the office of bishop usually may marry prior to priestly ordination in the Eastern Catholic Churches, and there are provisions for admitting married converts to the priesthood in the Latin Rite. Celibacy is only the GENERAL rule, not the ABSOLUTE rule, and only in the Latin Rite.

The Church believes that it is a useful discipline in the Latin Rite, and as Catholics understand the Church, she has the right and the authority to make disciplinary rules for her members.

As you rightly point out, the day the Church believes the discipline of celibacy no longer serves the Latin Rite, she can change the rule.


sitetest