Replies

Where you or a member of your family molested by a priest, by a parent, by a teacher, by anyone?

No, and I don't know.

Which is totally irrelevant. I can still recognize that sexual abuse by priests, who are supposed to be Christ's representatives on earth, and the covering up of said abuse by higher up Catholic clergy, is a special kind of evil considering that the Catholic church speaks out so much against it in the world and should be an example of proper moral behavior.

Is not the Catholic church supposed to be a light to the world and an example of Christ-likeness to the unsaved?

Do they not claim the higher moral ground? Shouldn't they?

Again, we're not just talking about allegations. There are more than enough verified cases of abuse for the Catholic church to deal with without worrying about groundless accusations, and they haven't been doing a stellar job with the legitimate ones anyway.

Add to that the Catholic Church teachings and beliefs that: 1) There is no salvation outside the Catholic Church AND 2). Priests have the power to retain or remit sins. And you can see the reasons the Catholic Church is particularly heinous in child abuse cases by priests. Public schools do not teach they have the power over a person's eternity,nor do Protestant Churches. The sexually abused Catholic Child is therefore in a true quandary. Tell on the priest and face hell, because priests can remit or retain sins. Or tell on the priest and face the possibility that they can never be saved if they leave the Catholic Church. It is a physical abuse, and more, it is a spiritual abuse, of the worst kind.