Posted on 10/14/2019 6:15:25 PM PDT by marshmallow
Melbourne City Council member Nic Frances Gilley has introduced a proposal to require Catholic churches to comply with the province of Victoria's new mandatory abuse reporting laws or have signs posted outside warning parents that the houses of worship might pose a danger to children.
The Age reports that Gilley is requesting the state "write to all churches and places of worship requesting assurances that all staff and associates will abide by the law of mandatory reporting," and if they do not provide those assurances the state should erect appropriate signage.
In September, Victoria passed the Children Legislation Amendment Act 2019, which added religious leaders to the list of individuals who are legally mandated to report child abuse to the authorities when they learn about it. That list already included police, teachers, nurses, midwives and other occupations.
Many Catholic leaders are protesting the law because it includes abuse admitted within the space of the confessional. In July, the Vatican's Apostolic Penitentiary released a statement pushing back against it, saying that "Any political action or legislative initiative aimed at breaking the inviolability of the sacramental seal would constitute an unacceptable offence against the (freedom of the Church)."
Gilley said it was the government's responsibility to "clearly advise people of the risks of using such institutions."
Councilor Gilley has a personal stake in this conversation. He was an Anglican priest for 23 years, rising to the position of executive director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence. He left the church in 2008, penning an open letter in which he revealed that he was sexually abused as a child.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Children are in a hundred times more danger of being molested by government school teachers than they are by Catholic priests.
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/03/10/26abuse.h23.html
While your point is good, that’s 15 year old data at the link. Unfortunately, though, the situation hasn’t changed since that time. Go to Google News and search “school teacher sexual abuse”, it’s still an epidemic.
The problem is that Catholicism not only had a priest sexual abuse of children issue, but it hid it knowingly... and then shuffled around the abusers to fresh pastures.
This is the result.
The Catholic part is pretty much in the past and it’s being dealt with - nowadays the rate is on par with other denominations and , as noted in an above post, nowhere near the rate of assault going on in public schools.
First, it is only fair if they do this in front of mosques, too.
Second, the Catholic Church brought on this sort of thing by letting in pedophiles and then protecting them instead of severely punishing them, then letting civic authorities deal with it ... like they used to.
How The Ancient Catholic Church Dealt With Priest Sex Offenders
https://www.ucatholic.com/blog/how-the-ancient-catholic-church-dealt-with-priest-sex-offenders/
Seems like every time you hear about school teacher sexual abuse of students its some hot looking young female teacher banging a 14 or 15 year old boy. I would have welcomed such abuse in my youth. What I don’t understand is why do the boys rat out the hot teacher?
Actually there are more abuses in Non-Catholic churches as well as in schools.
They need to check their facts.
Boys forget the “shut-up” part.
I think they feel the need to brag. Schoolboys are not known for rational, logic thought when it comes to sex.
...............
Disagree entirely.
It takes 15-25 years for many survivors of Catholic priest sexual abuse to have the courage to come forward.
Most never will.
What you see today are people abused decades ago, coming forward.
This happened worldwide, under at least 4 popes.
If this was not the Catholic Church, it would be a RICO case - and may still be.
Add to this the WIDE presence of gay priests, bishops and cardinals - from the Vatican down.
Somewhere between 25% and 80% of Catholic priests are gay.
The Catholic church has not addressed, nor changed that unbiblical problem.
The rest is a symptom and not a cause.
Nor have they faced the horror they committed in court yet.
What we see today is the tip of the iceberg.
The Catholic priest sex abuse is the largest religious sex abuse in history, from any group.
That doesn't come close to my experience, and I think it's a ridiculous assertion, particularly at the high end.
They will come for you, too. If you think "I'm innocent!," then you don't understand how societies on their way from freedom to dictatorship operate.
“ That doesn’t come close to my experience, and I think it’s a ridiculous assertion, particularly at the high end.”
Do you ask??
Did you survey 1,000 priests??
“ but all Catholics need to suffer because some Catholics abused kids.”
1. Massive abuse
2. Massive coverup
3. Massively gay.
Yes, some people did something Omar...
“What you see today are people abused decades ago, coming forward. “
—
This is what I mean; it’s almost entirely in the past as far as the bulk of the complaints go. Now it’s just the usual (sadly) mopping up that goes with any organization when it comes to such matters.
When you examine the more recent cases that have come to light, it’s overwhelmingly younger adult male seminarians who were preyed on by older seminarians.
Although you’ll find the odd case here and there of a priest abusing a number of children, it’s a relatively rare exception these days rather than the rule. As I noted, the abuse is on par with other denominations/religions/spiritual-related groups/cults.
I’d be more concerned about the ongoing abuse of children in public schools, where there is zero accountability.
Seminarians are already adults.
Children who are abused will take +10 years or more - and 80% never will.
Start with clearing the gays out of Rome and you’ll have some believability.
“Children who are abused will take +10 years or more”
—
There’s kind of an inherent logic problem there. That is, it’s impossible to quantify an unknown, all you have is speculation. It’s somewhat like the joke about a the guy who wore mismatched socks because it warded off elephants. When somebody challenged him he replied “You don’t see any elephants around, do you?”. i.e. trying to derive some meaning from a lack of something.
Also, you would expect there would be a constant and heavy stream of reports if a problem remained at a status quo. Instead, it’s been drying up with the young seminarians constituting the bulk of later years victims. As you said, that has to do with the Church being weak on homosexuality in it’s ranks.
“ all you have is speculation”
No, we have an incredibly corrupt priesthood, a documented abuse of children, and a worldwide criminal cover-up.
We also have the approval of popes that keeps gays in the Vatican in positions of authority.
Cases of abuse being reported and abuse are two vastly different things.
Given the history of coverup by the leaders/clergy, we have a basis to expect it is more effectively covering up now.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, the priesthood is rife with gays, but no effort to cleanse it.
Why??
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