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I don’t know why I let myself get drawn in. I had meant to keep a Lenten fast from these style of posts. I’m gonna log out again and keep that intention.

You are right about increased attacks. I get very upset when people equate sexual abuse by clergy and the coverups by Bishops with Catholic teaching. I get very upset when people do not bother with the facts of sexual abuse in other institutions. I get upset when they cut and pste facts to present a completely lopsided view of the crisis.

Why? Because such tactics all allow lies to stand. Yet again we are not allowed to defend ourselves. Even when other take what we write and quote it out of context so it appears to support their arguments we are forbidden from calling them to task.

God bless and remember “the gates of hell shall not prevail.”

I get very upset when people equate sexual abuse by clergy and the coverups by Bishops with Catholic teaching.

I get upset because it's the Catholic teachers who are perpetrating the cover ups...

I get very upset when people do not bother with the facts of sexual abuse in other institutions.

I get upset when they cut and pste facts to present a completely lopsided view of the crisis.

It's not a lopsided view, it's a lopsided crisis...Yours is the only institution that hides and provides cover for these perverts...You then shuffle them to different areas with the same set ups and allow them to commit even more crimes...And then you shuffle then again...

And then they get promoted to a higher rank within your institution...

HuH??? You guys are constantly trying to defend yourselves...Problem is; there's not much air in your balloon...You guys have to resort to trying to change the subject by pointing out what you seem to think are flaws in the religion of others...

If you guys would team up and aid Jesus in removing those rascals from your religion instead of trying to deflect the attention they are getting, just think of the hundreds of millions of dollars your parishes could have to spend on worthwhile projects and programs...

I get upset when they cut and pste facts to present a completely lopsided view of the crisis.

Thirty-seven priests in one city in one diocese.

Yet again we are not allowed to defend ourselves.

No one is preventing anyone from defending anything. Roman Catholics on this forum regularly defend pederast priests and the organization that covers for them by diminishing the assaults, by pointing fingers at everyone else, and by denying the victims' charges and intentions.

This thread is filled with those kinds of dissembling. There is no "lopsided view of this crisis" other than the view presented by Rome.

"Crisis" for whom?

Why? Because such tactics all allow lies to stand. Yet again we are not allowed to defend ourselves.

What lies? That there was abuse in the Catholic church?

Sure you can defend the church, but since it's apparent that there IS a problem and there the church WAS remiss in how it dealt with the problem, why would you want to defend it?

Everyone knows that not every priest abuses. Everyone is aware that false accusations can and probably will be made (which is reprehensible because it does a great disservice to those actually abused).

Therefore, in light of that, it's possible that the problem is not as widespread as it appears.

OTOH, Catholics need to at least be realistic and realize that the problem could also be worse than it appears. Not everyone who was abused can or will report it. Some likely have died, and some probably want to move on and forget about it.

But there is no reasonable, credible defense of the priests and the hierarchy which protected them. No excuse cuts it and no amount of blameshifting works either.

All that does is leave the distinct impression that Catholics are out of touch with reality on the issue and want to believe so badly that the problem isn't what it appears that they deny the obvious, that it indeed could be worse.

Nobody wants to feel betrayed by an organization they trust, but sadly that has happened. The Catholic church has failed the victims, has failed their families, and has failed the rest of its members in about the worst possible way.

Should we expect any church to be exempt from sin by it's members and clergy? Not realistically.

Should they be exempt from addressing it properly? NEVER.

Yet again we are not allowed to defend ourselves. Even when other take what we write and quote it out of context so it appears to support their arguments we are forbidden from calling them to task.

You wrote the 'quote out of context' in your recent post to me. Is that in reference to me? If so, show me what I took out of context. You whine about it but you never showed me WHAT was out of context. You accuse but don't back it up. So what's this about not allowed to defend yourself? Is it that you CAN'T as apposed to not allowed?