Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital
<Chick>Because they are the whore of Babylon!!1111!!!</Chick>beyond hope wrote:
This is the thing I really don't get about the Catholic church: why the hell haven't they taken measures to clean house themselves? I'd think that would be preferable to one diocese after the next having scandals, especially when the administration must know who the paedophiles are because they shuffle them around to new dioceses when they get in trouble. Even if the rot isn't endemic, these coverups only serve to make it look like it is.
Howard? (Please use quote button). But yeah I agree.`naeo wrote:The fucking slime. Hope the guy doesn't get the parliament again. He should be in an old person's home.
At least in my parish there was also condemnation of those responsible for obstructing justice.Marksist wrote:I don't think condemnation of the Church was universal. Moreso the condemnation of the Priests who did this, and not the Catholic Church itself. Of course this is just amongst the people I've come into contact with.Joe wrote:Condemnation of the Church was nearly universal among Americans, save only a few hardcore conservative Catholics who saw the whole thing as a media conspiracy.
I don't think that celibacy makes you a pedophile. You are or you are not. However, the celibate pledge and other cultural side-effects thereof make the priesthood more of a safehaven for pedophiles. It creates a fertile environment for them.Joe wrote:That is possible; part of the job description of being a Catholic priest is that you're going to have quite a bit of access to young boys, certainly something that could be quite attractive to pedophiles.
They mean, "It's nothing serious! Don't get mad at us, and especially not at me!". Perhaps they realized how pathetic this sounded, so this guy added that it "had nothing to do with homosexuality."HemlockGrey wrote:What the fuck do they mean by "childish prank?" Are they serious, or just making extremely unfunny puns?
Speaking from Israel, I've heard of far too many Rabbi pedophiles, though they go mainly for the girls, if it makes any differance. I think we have to look at it not from the celibacy angle(The ultra-Orthodox Jews out here are real egg hatchers) but from the authority angle. A priest who commits these acts does them mainly to alter boys, or other youths inside the Church, correct? These guys are raised in awe of priests. Likely a lot of them want to become priests. The stigma against opposing priests is likely extremely strong(as a parallel, most of the cases with Rabbis involved girls inside the community), and the boys just shut up, until it explodes out.
I don't know, I don't ever recall hearing about pedophilia being as widespread of a problem in religions that do not require their holy men to be celibate as it is in Catholicism. How many Rabbi pedophiles have you ever heard of? Or Greek Orthodox priests? Or Protestant pastors/reverends?
All that needs to get through the altar boys' heads is that when a priest starts raping you, his authority just went out the window. Oh, let's blame the victim for not being strong enough. For being a "stupid" rape victim.Rogue 9 wrote:The church wouldn't have to tell the faithful to universally suspect priests.
Perhaps I worded that badly, because I didn't intend to blame the victim for being raped. I did intend to say that the authority of the priest over you stops when he starts behaving that way, and you shouldn't protect him. Faqa was suggesting that the reason no one spoke out and that no churchwide internal investigation has occurred is the respect/awe that the victims hold for the priests, and that changing that would involve telling the faithful to suspect all priests of wrongdoing, which would radically undermine the church heirarchy. I meant to convey that it was not necessary to presume priests guilty until proven innocent, but rather to realize that once they start violating the law and the rules of their own oaths and orders then they are no longer worthy of such respect. I in no way meant that it was the victims' fault.In Britain at least the Catholic Church seems to have been stung into significant PR type action. I have no frame of reference so I’ve no idea if 52 allegations is a lot also I’ve no idea how reliable these Church spun figures are.RC Church reveals 'abuse' figures
Director Eileen Shearer and the Most Revd Vincent Nichols
Fifty two priests and church workers were accused of sexual abuse against a child last year, the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has said.
Not one of the accused has yet been prosecuted, however one has been dismissed and another has resigned.
The Catholic Office for the Protection of Children (COPCA) report said 5,000 criminal record checks were made.
It said the Church had begun its journey to make itself as safe as possible for children.
As well as the 52 allegations of sexual abuse, there were a further 10 complaints of physical and emotional abuse against children.
The 62 allegations were made to police against priests, volunteers and employees of the Church.
They were reported to the 22 Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales and to Catholic religious orders during 2003.
In addition there were 51 reports of "inappropriate behaviour" towards children which were dealt with internally by the church after consultation with police and social services.
The figures for 2002 covered only the dioceses and showed 148 complaints of all kinds were made.
This compares to 110 such complaints to the dioceses in 2003.
'Vigilance'
Eileen Shearer, the non-Catholic independent director of COPCA, said the report showed a "sea change" in how the Church was tackling this issue.
"There is no quick fix to this work, we have much yet to do but I think this report shows that we have begun the journey towards the goal of making the church as safe as possible in all its activities with vulnerable people," she told a news conference in London.
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham, and chairman of COPCA management board, said: "This report shows that the systematic work of child protection is proceeding steadily within the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.
"It is essentially about building a culture of vigilance and practical care for everyone who is entrusted to us."
COPCA was set up on the recommendation of the Nolan report, which was commissioned by the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor.
It reported in 2001 and made 83 recommendations for the protection of children within the church and for the introduction of greater accountability and transparency.
In the US, the Archdiocese of Portland last week became the first American diocese to file for bankruptcy caused by sex abuse lawsuits.
Could be wrong, but I think that's what Joe was saying. It makes a certain amount of sense to me, for what that's worth.Illuminatus Primus wrote:I don't think that celibacy makes you a pedophile. You are or you are not. However, the celibate pledge and other cultural side-effects thereof make the priesthood more of a safehaven for pedophiles. It creates a fertile environment for them.Joe wrote:That is possible; part of the job description of being a Catholic priest is that you're going to have quite a bit of access to young boys, certainly something that could be quite attractive to pedophiles.
Either way, celibacy is probably at the root of dysfunction in the clergy.
