[billorites]

"The guidelines contain no formal provision for referring suspects to the police, suggesting that the Church might prefer to deal with the problem through secret internal procedures. "

Secret internal procedures is what got these priests in trouble.

[KirklandJunction]

Church internal justice vs. civil courts?
Golly, might be a good idea to rent "Becket" or "Man For All Seasons" again. Beats studying! Uh, not in law school, nope.

kj would say hi! but I'm sure he's already up, out and long gone for the day.

(s)
One of the kids!

[chatham]

Unless and until the Heirarchy of the Catholic church respond to Pedophilia with the severity such a Heinous crime demands, they continue protect clerical criminals and destroy the credibility of the church...

Opus Dei is a secret organization within the church and their most prominent member is The FBI Spy Hannsen, so much for secret organizations.

The heirarchy should turn the perpetrators over to the police where they belong.

If they don't they should be charged as accomplices.

[Grut]

Gee, secret trials. Dubya for Pope!

[Alberta's Child]

It's worth noting that these rules apply only to cases as they are reported to church officials. Any Catholic whose child reports sexual abuse at the hands of a priest can pursue the case through civil authorities.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that Catholics should first report any such abuse to civil authorities, and should probably forget about dealing with the church authorities. Church authorities have proven themselves to be utterly incompetent when it comes to dealing with this issue, and the truth is that the church was never concerned about priests who molested children until they began losing millions of dollars in civil lawsuits.

[Okies love Dubya 2]

Ping

[Incorrigible]

Here's another thread that was running last night.

Vatican Issues New Rules on Pedophile Priests

I was an alter boy and attended an all-boys Catholic school but never was approached (nor anyone else I know of) by a priest in an inappropriate way.

If I was, I would prefer they be dealt with in the legal system rather than an ecclesiastical court.  I don't know what penalties can be issued by this court other than damnation in Hell but society need to be protected from the pedophile until that time comes.

[Wolfie]

Harboring a criminal and obstruction of justice...so what's the problem?

[Revelation 911]

But ya know, a Cath apologist I just finished discussing this with would tell you an undiscovered priest is still qualified to serve communion and perform "valid" Mass behind the altar.

Rubbish, such demons are vile and not worthy to touch the Blood & the Body as they remain unrepentant for thier ongoing sin. They walk not with Christ but satan.

The appearance then is that the ritual is served rather than Jesus

heres his quote

The disposition of the priest has no bearing on the validity of the sacraments celebrated by the priest. Jesus acts through the priest, whether the priest is in a state of grace or not.

[arepublicifyoucankeepit]

I became interested in this issue because there was a local priest here in Maine running a homosexual chat room (for priests) called Sebastian's Angels. A real priest went in undercover and exposed the pornographic web site. The story was available at Roman Catholic Faithful (www.rcf.org), which is a whistle-blower organization of sincere catholics who want the perversion out of the church.

So far, here in the states, the solution to pedophile and pervert priests has been to move them to a remote diocese where they are not known. Thereby supplying them with fresh victims. The problem of homo-priests is a very big one, there is also a lot of priests dying of AIDS. I believe there is lots of homosexuality at the top, covering up the perversion. Estimates from some of the homo priests in the SA chat room were as high as 75% homosexuals among priests. Makes you feel sorry for those who are sincere and playing by the rules.

[Campion]

I think people, in their zeal to hate the Catholic Church (and the chief haters know who they are), are missing the point of this.

This doesn't replace a criminal trial, and it doesn't prevent a criminal trial. The purpose of an ecclesiastical trial would be to determine if an alleged offender should be removed from the priesthood (permanently, I mean).

Proceedings in ecclesiastical courts are typically secret, as far as I know, to protect everyone involved.

As far as a criminal trial is concerned, it isn't the Church's business to initiate criminal proceedings. That's the victim's responsibility, if he or she chooses. It's the Church's responsibility to cooperate with the investigation.

[Arthur McGowan]

I think they should be tried in a criminal court like everyone else. Of course, being tried in an ecclesiastical court doesn't preclude that.