VATICAN CITY (AP)--The Vatican issued a report Monday by non-Catholic sex abuse experts who criticized the policy adopted by U.S. bishops of removing abusive priests from the ministry, saying it was overly harsh and would not protect the young.
The report was released days before U.S. bishops issue their own national survey on sex abuse by clergy, which is expected to find more than 4,000 American priests have been accused of molesting minors since 1950--far more than previously estimated.
Still, the U.S. study may also show the number of cases has declined dramatically since the 1990s, and victims fear it could lead U.S. bishops to ease off on discipline. The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said last week the American church remains committed to keeping offenders out of ministry.
Monday's report, published by the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, may fuel victims' concerns because it compiles assessments by independent, non-Catholic psychiatrists and psychologists, who say the U.S. ``zero-tolerance'' policy is mistaken.
The experts said a zero-tolerance policy was mistaken and even dangerous. Most agreed that such a policy can actually increase the chances that offenders might strike again because it removes them from supervision and the only jobs they have known for decades.
Zero-tolerance ``does not function to prevent these crimes,'' Dr. Hans-Ludwig Kroeber, head of the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry in Berlin, told the conference. ``It is better to domesticate the dragon; if all you do is cut off its head, it will grow another.''
THIS IS WHY I AM A FALLEN AWAY CATHOLIC
You Touch a child ..... YOU GO TO JAIL.... END OF STORY<<<
"Oh no, oh yeah, tell me how can it be so fair
That we dying younger hiding from the police man over there
Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"
- A.B. Original, Report to the Mist
"I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."
- George Carlin
"Right now we can tell you a report was filed by the family of a 12 year old boy yesterday afternoon alleging Mr. Michael Jackson of criminal activity. A search warrant has been filed and that search is currently taking place. Mr. Jackson has not been charged with any crime. We cannot specifically address the content of the police report as it is confidential information at the present time, however, we can confirm that Mr. Jackson forced the boy to listen to the Howard Stern show and watch the movie Private Parts over and over again."
I don't know about you, but I'd like to know why the Catholic priesthood in the united states hasn't all been detained and all this rooted out by the government.
4,000+ cases of abuse since 1950 or so? That's what, 1 per 5 DAYS.
New Criminal Stat
Once every week, a Catholic priest molests a young child.
If that isn't a massive, massive, MASSIVE attempt to defraud and interfer with justice and the law, I don't know what is.
I don't know about you, but I'd like to know why the Catholic priesthood in the united states hasn't all been detained and all this rooted out by the government.
4,000+ cases of abuse since 1950 or so? That's what, 1 per 5 DAYS.
New Criminal Stat
Once every week, a Catholic priest molests a young child.
If that isn't a massive, massive, MASSIVE attempt to defraud and interfer with justice and the law, I don't know what is.
4.9 by my count.
"Oh no, oh yeah, tell me how can it be so fair
That we dying younger hiding from the police man over there
Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"
- A.B. Original, Report to the Mist
"I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."
- George Carlin
I'm studying for the CPA exam. Have a nice summer, and if you're down just sit back and realize that Joe is off somewhere, doing much worse than you are.
Is this problem only occuring in the US or is it prevalent in other countires where Catholiscm exists also? If it is not as prevalent in other countries, why is it so in the US? Is there a major difference between American priests and French/Italian/German/Mexican/etc priests?
I remember seeing some figures, can't remember what they were but the US is not alone in this problem. IIRC, South Africa had some stupidly high about of priest child abuse cases.
Fire Fly wrote:Is this problem only occuring in the US or is it prevalent in other countires where Catholiscm exists also? If it is not as prevalent in other countries, why is it so in the US? Is there a major difference between American priests and French/Italian/German/Mexican/etc priests?
The only difference being that other churches seem to be better at keeping it under the carpet.
Great Dolphin Conspiracy - Chatter box
"Implications: we have been intercepted deliberately by a means unknown, for a purpose unknown, and transferred to a place unknown by a form of intelligence unknown. Apart from the unknown, everything is obvious." ZORAC GALE Force Euro Wimp Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.
Dahak wrote:
The only difference being that other churches seem to be better at keeping it under the carpet.
Care to back that up?
It is just an assumption. I don't think European priests are better, morally more upright, or otherwise different from the average American priest.
Great Dolphin Conspiracy - Chatter box
"Implications: we have been intercepted deliberately by a means unknown, for a purpose unknown, and transferred to a place unknown by a form of intelligence unknown. Apart from the unknown, everything is obvious." ZORAC GALE Force Euro Wimp Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.
Solauren wrote:you, but I'd like to know why the Catholic priesthood in the united states hasn't all been detained and all this rooted out by the government.
I like to why none of the Protestant Priesthood isn't detained as well.
I don't know about you, but I'd like to know why the Catholic priesthood in the united states hasn't all been detained and all this rooted out by the government.
They are, but it's a lot of work. The government is the only one here that has done anything at all to deal with the problem; the Church has done absolutely NOTHING to police itself.
BoTM / JL / MM / HAB / VRWC / Horseman
I'm studying for the CPA exam. Have a nice summer, and if you're down just sit back and realize that Joe is off somewhere, doing much worse than you are.
I don't know about you, but I'd like to know why the Catholic priesthood in the united states hasn't all been detained and all this rooted out by the government.
The entire priesthood detained?!? What the hell are you talking about? That's ridiculous; this whole thing is caused by a small group within the whole. I know several Catholic clergymen, and if any of them are child abusers first I'll eat my hat, then I'll go quit my jobs at the abbey but not before letting the dishes in the refectory pile up for a couple meals. But I don't think I'll have to do that.
I like to why none of the Protestant Priesthood isn't detained as well.
Oh, I dunno. Possibly because they haven't done anything? I'll tell you something. Most Protestant denominations allow priests to marry, thusly alleviating a lot of this problem.
The only difference being that other churches seem to be better at keeping it under the carpet.
You're assuming guilt. You call the death penalty barbaric, but at least they're innocent until proven guilty over here.
Dahak wrote:
It is just an assumption. I don't think European priests are better, morally more upright, or otherwise different from the average American priest.
Maybe not but it is possible they don't get the opportunity in Europe, in the UK at least a priest is a guy you see whilst surrounded by 100 other people while I get the sense that in the US at least the church is more a part of the community.
The UK did have a number of cases of headmasters of boarding schools and guys in charge of hostels/orphanages getting up to this sort of thing a few years ago because they do have the opportunity.
The only difference being that other churches seem to be better at keeping it under the carpet.
You're assuming guilt. You call the death penalty barbaric, but at least they're innocent until proven guilty over here.
IIRC the Mormon church and the Jehovah's Witnesses were also involved in child sexual abuse scandals at the same time as the Catholic church. I waited for news of those to go national (meaning coverage on prime-time national news alongside the Catholic church scandal) but in the end very few people ended up hearing about those. Seems the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are better at keeping their dirt under their carpets.
DPDarkPrimus is my boyfriend!
SDNW4 Nation: The Refuge And, on Nova Terra, Al-Stan the Totally and Completely Honest and Legitimate Weapons Dealer and Used Starship Salesman slept on a bed made of money, with a blaster under his pillow and his sombrero pulled over his face. This is to say, he slept very well indeed.
Rogue 9 wrote:I know several who would dispute the Christianity of the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses...
They likewise dispute the Christianity of Catholicism. So do many fundie Protestants of more 'mainstream' denominations. I know I've heard some Southern Baptists say it. What's your point?
DPDarkPrimus is my boyfriend!
SDNW4 Nation: The Refuge And, on Nova Terra, Al-Stan the Totally and Completely Honest and Legitimate Weapons Dealer and Used Starship Salesman slept on a bed made of money, with a blaster under his pillow and his sombrero pulled over his face. This is to say, he slept very well indeed.
The thing is, the Vatican gets truckloads of money from the US church every year. Shit like this will begin to take it's toll on the minds of American Catholics and they will respond with their pocketbooks.
"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.” -Tom Clancy
Col. Crackpot wrote:The thing is, the Vatican gets truckloads of money from the US church every year. Shit like this will begin to take it's toll on the minds of American Catholics and they will respond with their pocketbooks.
If this keeps up, soon enough there won't even be any American Catholics anymore.
