Posted on 07/21/2010 10:57:27 AM PDT by TSgt
EVEN WHEN a religious institution has its own procedures for punishing wayward clergy, the sexual abuse of children is a serious crime that warrants prosecution by civil authorities. But when the Vatican revised its disciplinary system for sex-abuser priests, it missed the opportunity to take an unambiguous stand against pedophiles and those who protect them. The new rules do not order church officials to report allegations of sex abuse to the police, nor do they establish even internal penalties for bishops who cover up cases of abuse. Until the church adopts a zero-tolerance policy, justice cannot be served, and the worldwide uproar over the church’s handling of such cases will continue.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
From what I see, 50+ years ago, before gays entered the seminaries after Vatican II, the priesthood used to be a much more masculine profession, and less “touchy feely.”
If I were a priest, and anyone I knew besmirched my profession by molesting kids, I would be very tempted to give them a good beating before I handed them over to the cops. Its probably a major reason why I’m not a priest.
Many of these allegations were false, dug up by ambulance chasing attorneys.
So I must ask of the people who keep bashing the Catholic Church on this matter:
Where you or a member of your family molested by a priest, by a parent, by a teacher, by anyone?
No.
I just saw the typo. Thanks for the fix.
THX THX.
I hate this topic. We Catholics must understand that the hierarchy gave the devil this enormous stick with which to beat the Church, he didn’t have to go looking it was served up on a silver platter.
Yes it’s becoming apparent that the various denominations and the public schools are “worse” and that the media doesn’t particularly care. But then why should they? The world doesn’t really care about pedophilia or ephebophila (or whatever it’s called) or homosexual activity, but they do (in some way) care about hypocrisy (and headlines). The way this scandal was and is being handled by the hierarchy just reeks, it stinks on ice. Nevermind the idea that “handling” the scandal is a problem of its own.
The Catholic Church has presented the world with a series of moral propositions concerning human sexuality and the hierarchy on the whole has demonstrated that not only are those propositions not being lived up to but they’re being selectively ignored.
From the sexually perverted priest who was/is shuffled around to the wealthy parishioner who gets a fast track annulment the world is constantly shown a Church which speaks from both sides of her mouth, God forgive us. How long will He put up with this nonsense?
Yes, we now have this bizarre corporate inspired zero tolerance safe child program which doesn’t actually address the issues but makes everyone feel like they’re doing something. Huzzah.
This scandal was created and sustained by at least two generations of bishops and very few have shown any interest in doing anything about it that didn’t require constant pressure and scorn from the press. It’s a damnable embarrassment.
As a Catholic who dearly loves the Church what I find even more appalling is my growing suspicion that the bishops of the Church on the whole don’t believe in a little Catholic thing called penance in any real sense of the word.
We must stop trying to defend the indefensible, it isn’t working and it isn’t right. We should be yelling louder than anyone.
We have the example of two men, close to Our Lord, who betrayed or abandoned him. One repented and became a great saint, the other didn’t and his very name still means traitor. The bishops of our time have a lesson to learn there.
Perhaps I should have distilled my earlier ramblings to: “The Church isn’t as depraved as the world” is not a defense worth mounting.
Dittos.
When you've been in the trenches fighting the Lavender Mafia and the molestation that always accompanies it, you quickly get to a zero tolerance point.
Obey the Church laws that forbid ordination to homosexuals, throw out the active homosexuals including those among the bishops and cardinals, and never ever disobey Church law by ordaining them again, and this problem will be solved.
Until then, anti-Catholic bigots will continue to have a club to beat us with.
Rome won't change because it doesn't think it has to change.
God willing, civil, legal and moral authorities will prove them wrong.
See, right there is the problem. Are the errors of Rome's complacency its own responsibility or the responsibility of those who point out those errors?
Rome's hubris is unbounded.
Case in point...
Your point in this case is murky.
What do you mean?
I think the point is one of those “haterz gonna hate” kind of things.
People who hate the Catholic Church will always have an abundance of clubs with which to beat us, I’d be thrilled to be verbally abused about something I actually believe rather than the abominable cover-up and pervert shuffle.
There are plenty of threads like that. Shall I ping you? 8~)
But try not to frame the discussion in such personal terms as "verbally abused."
Disagreement is not abuse, no matter how much Rome insists it is.
Non-Catholics wouldn’t have any clubs to beat the Catholic church with if it didn’t give it to them.
The church’s inept dealing with this situation is what gives people ammunition. They only have themselves to blame.
But I really dislike the fact RC apologists always speak in such violent, masochistic terms. After all these many occasions where RCs paint themselves as "victims" of "hatred" and "bigotry," a rational conclusion is that they actually like the idea of being smacked around because they talk about it endlessly and see it everywhere.
Maybe it makes them feel holier to think they are withstanding physical assaults. Self-flagellation, and all that.
Are you not understanding why abuse of children by priests in the Catholic Church is far graver than any other place that it is done? Seriously, there is a reason.
bookmark
Couple of things here, "Rome" in the person of the current pope isn't the problem. Joseph Ratzinger is about the only curial official who actually saw "the problem" as a PROBLEM. The rest of the Romans were just oblivious, eight years ago the actual quote most Romans were throwing around was "let the Americans take care of 'the American Problem'". I really believe they were, on the whole, really that clueless, except for then Cardinal Ratzinger. If the American bishops had been minding the shop we wouldn't be in the mess we are now in.
One thing I find interesting in all of this that nobody else has picked up on is that this has been transferred to CDF, the former Holy Office, the Former "Universal Inquisition". The abuse of minors by members of the clergy has been turned over to the thumbscrew mob rather than The Congregation for the Clergy where one might expect it to be.
We should expect the CDF to be charged with the female ordination craziness, having the CDF charged with resolving the abuse of minors by clergy is like having the Joint Chiefs tasked with solving murders.
God willing, civil, legal and moral authorities will prove them wrong.
You might want to reconsider who you're making common cause with here. Think about it, those "civil, legal and moral authorities" won't stop with one issue and they won't stop with us. Once they get done with us not practicing what we preach they'll go after us for practicing what we preach... then they'll move on to you. It isn't like they care about the actual sexual abuse anyhow.
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