No they aren't because none of them pass themselves off as vicars of CHRIST.
Of anybody on the planet, those who claim responsibility for bringing us the Bible, for being the sole voice of Christ on the earth for hundreds or thousands of years, who take the high moral ground are FAR, FAR more responsible in the eyes of God and the world than those who make no such claim to religious and moral superiority.
They are without excuse in the greatest way.
"I don't excuse any of them for a moment, but "...
No *buts*. None at all. That completely negates the first part of the statement you made of *I don't excuse them for a moment....* and it's something we hear all too often from Catholics in their defense of their church.
The only way moral integrity is going to be restored to the Catholic church is to say *I don't excuse them for a moment*.
PERIOD.
No *buts*. None at all.
The appeal of *Hey, we're not as bad as anyone else because more of them do it too*, makes me want to vomit.
Anyone with that attitude is condoning what happened.
The mental, emotional, and SPIRITUAL damage done to those children and their families is inestimable. It is the WORST of the worst kind of betrayal because it absolutely destroys the image of God a child has when someone who claims to represent Him to them victimizes them in that kind of manner.
Until Catholics admit to the seriousness of the situation and renounce it completely and unconditionally, they are part of the problem. Otherwise they come across as being no different than the bishops and cardinals who protected the abusers by shuffling them around to victimize other children.
the word "but" followed a comma thereby meaning that it referred to the following statement having to do with the readers understanding of what I was saying. There was NEVER a "but" referring to the first part of my statement concerning excusing the perps.
There is only one Vicar of Christ on Earth and that is the Pope.
Until Catholics admit to the seriousness of the situation and renounce it completely and unconditionally, they are part of the problem. Otherwise they come across as being no different than the bishops and cardinals who protected the abusers by shuffling them around to victimize other children.I see you got a reply, but big crickets on that part of your posts.
You would think Catholics would flock to that statement and loudly say they renounce those actions completely and unconditionally.
That's pretty Biblical, but maybe not "Sacred" Tradition approved.