Posted on 01/18/2014 8:57:41 PM PST by narses
Last week, I suggested that having comprehensively and repeatedly apologised for the small number of priests who have in some way sexually abused children and young people, it was time we moved on to the offensive against those who (often with an undeclared anti-Catholic agenda) continually assert that the Church is in some way particularly prone to this disgusting crime. I referred to a Newsweek article which said that priests seem to abuse children at the same rate as everyone else.
The fact is, however, that not only is the Catholic Church NOT an endemically paedophile organisation, the evidence is now emerging that, in fact, even Newsweek is exaggerating: its not that priests abuse children at the same rate as everyone else: actually, according to Dr Thomas Plante of Stanford University and Santa Clara University, available research suggests that approximately two to five per cent of priests have had a sexual experience with a minor which is lower than the general adult male population in which the percentage of those who have interfered with minors is best estimated to be closer to eight per cent. In other words, children who have anything to do with priests are between 1.6 and four times LESS likely to be abused by them than by anyone else.
When, asks the blog La Salette Journey, giving these and other details, will the media acknowledge that the sexual abuse of children is not a Catholic problem? The fact is, suggests the writer, Paul Anthony Melanson, that the media are not so much concerned with the welfare of children as they are with unfairly portraying the abuse of children as a crisis in the Church . For example, the state school system in the US has a considerably higher rate of sexual abuse than the Catholic Church: according to a report prepared for the US Department of Education entitled Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature, 9.6 per cent of all students in grades 8 to 11 report educator sexual misconduct that was unwanted. This report has been virtually ignored by the media.
But the penny is just beginning to drop. An article by Jim Dwyer in the New York Times reported (April 27) that the New York State legislature is now addressing the fact that child abuse is not only a problem for the Church, but for the whole of society. Should it be possible, asks Dwyer to sue the city of New York for sexual abuse by public school teachers that happened decades ago? How about doctors or hospital attendants? Police officers? Welfare workers? Playground attendants? To date, New York City has been publicly silent . but sees the possibility of enormous expenses.
Well, join the club, New York City. As Dwyers article points out: Since 2004, Catholic dioceses nationwide have paid $1.4bn to settle claims of abuse, many from acts from the 1970s or earlier Yet [he continues] there is little evidence to show there is more sexual abuse among Catholic priests than among clergy from other denominations, or, for that matter, among people from other walks of life.
Thats the bottom line. This is a problem we share with everyone, though actually we are less guilty of it than society as a whole and are doing a lot better in acknowledging such child abuse as does exist. We need to get that, and the evidence for it, firmly into our heads. We have a battle ahead: we all need to be prepared for it.
Satan is at work, among those of faith and those who reject faith.
Fine. Start posting threads about all the sexual abuse of minors by Protestant clergy who were shuffled around and protected by their denominations when it was revealed and ping us when you do.Folks metmom is asking for our help in identifying the proddy pedophiles. Please help!
Those rules you allude to had to be put in place for obvious reasons. All any church has to refer to is 1 Corinthians 5 to know how to handle child rapists.
2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Agreed.
+
What’s the source for the information you posted???
Good article n
It would go a long way to proving he sincerity of metmom's convictions if she had the courage to actually identify the little cult she belongs to so that we could narrow down the filed. It is a target rich environment.
I am betting that she whines and dodges the question, any takers?
I would think that applies to the perpetrator and those that either covered it up or allowed it to continue regardless of affiliation.
I am betting that she whines and dodges the question, any takers?
Why would you want to narrow down the field??? Narses made the accusation against Protestants in general, not a specific denomination...
And what do you care about someone's convictions??? This article is about you guys defending your religion, not about someone's personal conviction...
That's a very poor attempt at shifting the conversation away from showing how the gates of hell are not prevailing against your Church...
Jesus said if you are not with us, you are against us...Why is your Church and its members against Jesus??? Why are all you against the people that would like to see the filth of your religion cleaned up instead of siding with them???
That wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Male adults who molest boys average 150-200 victims, depending on whose statistics you believe.
Shhhh, the Christians are trying to having a conversation. I am still praying that Jesus will come into your heart.
I find that a little hard to believe...
Hahahahahahahaaaaa
As I read the words of the ultimate whiners and dodgers, we Protestants are laughing at the false accusations and personal attacks. The only cult being represented on this thread is led by Rome!
Making things PERSONAL is against the rules of the forum
!
Really??? Are you required to lay on the ground out in front of the bathtub in your front yard for the prayer to be affective???
Does a more ornate tub make for a better prayer???
Exactly. The way the church turned their head on this is abhorrent.
The fact that I personally know several people who were molested by priests, in a single diocese, all by different priests, led by a diddler Bishop tells me that someone was covering this crap up.
I believe the church as a whole is not responsible and is full go decent and good men and women. My wife works for a catholic organization and it is full of sisters who are the best of humanity.
But, I also feel it is important to point out that the church, in my diocese, covered up, obfuscated, transferred, and otherwise obstructed justice when these priests were reported. This happened at the highest levels of the church. And the young men who were sodomized and otherwise damaged by these homosexual priests, deserve every nickel they can get.
These men are not pedophiles. They did not go after “little boys.” They attacked young men.
If the church acted quickly and within the law, and not stood behind canon law, this could have been nipped in the bud. People would be upset, but action is always better than cover up.
The catholic church lost me forever. And I am not alone.
How would marriage stop a pedophile man from going after a boy?
The failure to deal with homosexuals owed much to buying into the agenda of the mental health community, which is that the perps were anomalies and that could,like alcoholics, could with therapy learn to control their impulses. In other words, the same way was they had managed alcoholism,always a major problem in the priesthood. But they ignored that drunks were not organizing politically to convince the world that alcoholism is normal behavior, that it is wrong to suppress such behavior. Then there was that significant percent of clergy who rejected the teachings of the Church about the wrongness of homosexuality, just as there was that significant percent who rejected its teachings on contraception and abortion. So there is that fifth column in the Church who were (are?) determined to reshape the Church in their image.
Sexual abuse is widespread in the public schools. The difference is how the public schools handle the matter. The schools do pass the trash. Teachers are allowed to resign and to find employment elsewhere. There are 10,000 school districts in the USA and very limited communication between them. Districts hired so many people in August to fill classrooms that they are seldom particular.
How about responding to the article in question. Is it possible that you could ever agree with anything that puts the Catholic Church in a favorable light. I seriously doubt it. Just ignore the facts and move on.
Easy...Allowing married clergy would dispel the truth that the Catholic religion is a 'safe haven' for those perverts...It would over time replace the hierarchy of queer bishops, cardinals and popes with normal, heterosexual men...
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