The only *single* anything in this case the thread is about is that it's ONE man.
There's a huge difference in the reaction of Protestants vs Catholics when one of their clergy is accused, charged, arrested, whatever, concerning a sexual abuse case.
It's that Protestants see that the person is arrested, usually strip him of his credentials, applaud the action of justice being done, and express the position that the guy has no business being a minister or near children again.
In contrast to the Catholic position of moving him around, covering it up, allowing him to continue to administer sacraments and recognize them as valid REGARDLESS of the sin in his life, and counter with *Once a priest, always a priest*- his personal holiness does not affect his ability to be a priest.
Disgusting beyond words.
If I found out that some priest served me communion during a time of actively molesting little boys, I'd just want to puke. What defilement. And to hold up a eucharist to sanctify it and make it holy with hands which have done what they did?
It is beyond comprehension that Catholics tolerate it.
It was people like you who were yammering about the Holy Inquisition until it was unwisely shut down. Now it should be obvious to all that the Inquisition was a good thing which should be restored.
I wish. The more typical response is to sever the contract and sign non-disclosure contracts in exchange for agreements not to challenge the contract nullification. This, then, means that standard practice for firing a minister for inappropriate sexual conduct is STILL to allow the terminated to get re-hired by another, unwitting congregation.
Despite pleas of "we can't help it, we have a congregational polity," most congregational churches have some body that credentials their ministers. Reasonable steps would include:
Yet, NONE of these steps have been implemented. Why? Because Protestant congregations' lawyers continue to see plausible deniability as the best tactic for avoiding lawsuits. In contrast, by 1990, before the lawsuits and press reports caught on, the Catholic church eliminated 95%+ of its sexual abuse problems. See, the Catholic church makes itself responsible through its episcopalian polity. The congregational churches motivate themselves to remain ignorant.
>> If I found out that some priest served me communion during a time of actively molesting little boys, I’d just want to puke. What defilement. And to hold up a eucharist to sanctify it and make it holy with hands which have done what they did?
It is beyond comprehension that Catholics tolerate it. <<
OK, forget all the sectarian bickering. Let me explain something very plainly to you:
Because you DON’T believe in transubstantiation, you don’t make the linkages some Catholics do. Among the countless Catholic threads, there is a persistent theme of grave concern over the failure to manifest proper reverence due the body of Christ, or the refusal to properly confect the eucharist.
We don’t see these as separate issues. When we see a priest use an improper substance for the eucharist, or wrap himself too much in socialist claptrap, or tolerating showbizzy crap in the context of a mass, or failing to uphold the necessity of confession, we correlate such irreverence for the body of Christ with irreverence for the bodies of children. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that most of the liturgical abuses we’ve seen stem from priests who can’t face the Real Presence of Christ in the eucharist, so distract themselves, or avoid confecting the Real Presence in the first place. Further, I’d suppose that the bishops that can look the other way when politicians promote baby killing are the ones that look the other way when their priests commit other unspeakable acts of destruction. And, looking at the worst offenders largely bears this out: Cardinal Law, Cardinal Mahony, Cardinal Bernadin, Archbishop Weakland, etc., all chummied up with liberal politicians, and all had horrible sexual scandals in their sees.
I can’t do much to prevent the sexual abuse by a preist in Germany. No can I impanel an inquest into the local priests of my diocese. But I can beware of dissidents, heretics, and malefactors.
So, yeah, we care. But we heal the wickedness of such ministers by defending the faith, praying, and struggling to renew a sense of reverence in the world around us, not by from divorcing the Church that we hold Jesus created. And we’re certainly not going to join Protestant churches who we believe lack true doctrine and the ecclesiastical structures needed to win this war.