Posted on 02/05/2019 2:43:47 PM PST by Gamecock
Nuns have suffered and are still suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and bishops, and have even been held as sexual slaves, Pope Francis confirmed on Tuesday. The abuse was so severe in one case that an entire congregation of nuns was dissolved by former Pope Benedict.
The scope of the abuse of nuns by clergy members first came to light with the publication at the beginning of February of the monthly Vatican magazine "Women Church World." The edition included Francis' own take on the scandal -- long known about by the Vatican but virtually never discussed -- in which he blamed the unchecked power wielded by priests and higher clergy across the Catholic Church for such crimes.
An Associated Press journalist who first reported on the scandal last year asked Pope Francis on his flight home from the Arabian Peninsula on Tuesday whether enough was being done by the Church hierarchy to address the problem.
The pontiff conceded that it was a problem and said more action was needed. He insisted the will to confront the abuse is there, and stressed that the problem is not new, and that the Church has been working to address it for some time.
"It's a path that we've been on. Pope Benedict had the courage to dissolve a female congregation which was at a certain level, because this slavery of women had entered it -- slavery, even to the point of sexual slavery -- on the part of clerics or the founder," the pope conceded.
Alessandro Gisotti, interim director of the Vatican press center, later confirmed to CBS News that the order of nuns dissolved under Benedict was the Community of St. Jean in France. The reason the order was dissolved had not previously been made public.
The Saint Jean order was dissolved in 2005, the first year Pope Benedict served as the head of the Church. He stepped down and Pope Francis took over as pontiff in 2013.
"I would like to underscore that he was a man who had the courage to do many things on this topic," Pope Francis said of his predecessor on Tuesday.
The pope confirmed that the abuse of nuns was an ongoing problem, but said it was only in "certain congregations, predominantly new ones and in certain regions more than others."
While the pontiff did not provide further detail on Tuesday, nuns in India and Chile, at least, have previously reported abuse at the hands of priests.
Francis told reporters on his flight that the Catholic Church," shouldn't be scandalized by this," adding that "there are steps in a process," and "we are working on it."
The Vatican's new openness in discussing the abuse of nuns comes after years of revelations about clergy abusing children, mostly boys, in their congregations across the globe, and senior clergy members covering up those crimes.
On his last flight home from an international trip, just last week, Pope Francis warned that expectations for an upcoming landmark Vatican summit on clergy sexual abuse should be "deflated," as the problem was unlikely to be resolved through it.
The pontiff's move to lower expectations was likely a disappointment to many Catholics, particularly in the U.S. where the last year has seen a string of revelations about senior church leaders covering up abuse.
I once saw lesbian nuns on the Phil Donahue show. Just saying, that years ago, people knew they were out there.
A calculated and deliberate ploy from Bergoglio and his MSM waterboys to distract attention from the sodomite elephant in the room, immediately before the so called “summit” on sex abuse to take place later this month.
#WalkAwayRome#PriestsLikeWomen???
Not sure if I can believe this. Priests going after adult women?
Slightly irritated? Peevish? Vexed? Nettled?
I guess the Pope will blame "clericalism" again.
Back in 1985 when we were deciding on elementary school for our son I went to our local Catholic school to talk to the principal, a nun. There was one other nun at the school and they shared a home. It was morning about 10am and Sister reeked of alcohol and was obviously tipsy. We had a really nice public elementary school in our neighborhood and after that interview there was no way we would send our son there. It wasn’t too long after that the Bishop removed both nuns from the school - because they were lesbians.(This was the local talk about it as there wasn’t a statement. Different times in 1985!) Guess I was pretty naive at that time because the lesbian thing never dawned on me!
I'm not trying to rationalize, minimize or excuse severe misconduct. I can imagine some pretty sick communities with a high degree of peer pressure and cultish behavior enforced by a corrupt leadership group. The worst recent cult I can think of was the Jim Jones crowd in Guyana. But even there, the people weren't slaves. Brainwashed dupes, yes. Slaves, no.
LMAO! SOME sense of normalcy.
He is doing his job.
Nothing new. The brother (Sweyn) of Harold Godwinson of 1066 fame was exiled for using a Nunnery as a personal whorehouse and abducting its abbess. Don’t remember the exact year, but it was before 1066.
Sure...That's why the straight priests don't rat out the queer ones...
Would it help if priests and bishops, etc.... were required to follow Jesus’ teaching....(perhaps as a nice little ceremonial part of their ordination to Holy Orders ?).....
“But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
—Matthew 19:11–12
Could there be a more vague confusing article on this?
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/
“Francis told reporters on his flight that the Catholic Church,” shouldn’t be scandalized by this,” adding that “there are steps in a process,” and “we are working on it.”
RICO prosecutions are needed here. Clean out the RCC from top to bottom.
L
“The fact that the Catholic Church has not always been cooperative with law enforcement in these matters is troubling.”
Troubling?? It’s fricking criminal.
L
Well, there are all the testimonies of the nuns who have quit the RCC and testified that it happened to them. You can buy that. Their testimony isn’t hard to find if one looks. I know one personally who went to a church I attended.
You’re just some weirdo on the Interwebs.
And they were abused by priests. You don’t need to abort babies if your being abused by a mother superior. There’s plenty of testimony out there from former nuns who went through these things....and it’s not just a couple.
Ok. Glad to know I don’t side with people who rape nuns, kids, say I’m anti-abortion and anti gay yet let my priests do whatever they want with zero repercussions...and spend billions to defend them and the institution that enables them. The catechism says it’s wrong to be homosexual yet bishops can speak at pro gay rallies. It says abortion is wrong but your politicians are rapidly pro-abortion with zero consequences. Now this...and I’m a weirdo? Ok. All I did was say research it. Does truth hurt that much that you can’t even research it or look into it? You have to dismiss it? 30 years ago you probably dismissed the idea that priests were raping little boys. Guess so. Go away sicko. You’re in the right religion.
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