If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Options
Catholic priests
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I don't see the sex abuse headlines as an attack on the Catholic church so much as a warning that one should be aware who they follow. Who has more of an influence on organized religion? God or man? Why do men so commonly distort the very foundation they are supposed to so lawfully represent. B/C they are just men and men make mistakes. But, when those mistakes are made by priest and consist of molesting children it should make you stop and wonder.
Obviously every religion/spiritual practice can and has been misrepresented by mankinds misinterpetation of its scriptures accompanyed by his ignorance and greed. Who do you think has a better tool in fighting the temptations of sexual abuse after making a tough commitment of celibacy; a Catholic priest with his faith in God and prayer for guidence, or a Buddhist monk with his faith in himself and pratice in meditation to block out distractions through detachment and controlling his mind?
Obviously every religion/spiritual practice can and has been misrepresented by mankinds misinterpetation of its scriptures accompanyed by his ignorance and greed. Who do you think has a better tool in fighting the temptations of sexual abuse after making a tough commitment of celibacy; a Catholic priest with his faith in God and prayer for guidence, or a Buddhist monk with his faith in himself and pratice in meditation to block out distractions through detachment and controlling his mind?
0
Comments
Shouldn't they have fucking had one before, the idiots!
Every man has his beliefs and a belief does not make a person good or bad. Like Christianity, in the western world, Christianity is thought of as a decent religion by the general public.
What about a religion such as Muslim?
Of course, due to the WTC incident, a lot of people say that their religion is 'evil'. But then does that make every Muslim evil?
I think that people have different expectations of different religions. Maybe we should open our minds, but also watch our backs.
Doesn't it worry you that the Catholic church systematically covers up child abuse perpetrated by its own priests.
The US situation isn't the first to come to light, what with the numerous cases in both Ireland and the UK.
I presume that the US legal forces are looking into the attempts by the Boston Cardinal to pervert the course of justice...
It also pisses me off how a lot of religious groups seem to think they are above the state laws......
as I live in Boston and used to be Catholic - I can only offer that Cardinal Bernard Law will likely never face prosecution. This is due to the traditionally large amount of clout priests have had in our city for more than 100 years; the Catholic voice is a strong one and affects votes.
Because of this and despite the outrage - State Prosecutors like TOm Rielly and MIke Conte will never even consider indicting Law - at least not til after hes safely in Rome.
Personally I beleive he should be tried for aiding and abetting or criminal harboring.Additionally, All those guilty of pedophelia should be executed - there's no lower crime in the world than abusing a child - I do not care or beleive in the argument that these priests (or anyone) has a sickness.
Organised religion = shit
Personally, I think celibacy is the worst possible restriction to place on someone who is surrounded by vulnerable people. It's a bizarre situation for someone who is celibate to offer sex and relationship advice - which is what part of his role is.
Anything that blows the cobwebs out of the Catholic church is a good thing, and if that means making these various scandals public then so be it.
I will point one thing out though: that most Catholic priests are not paedophiles and the ones who have been found to be abusing children clearly do not represent the views of Catholicism.
Organisations covering up members mistakes is one thing. But these aren't <STRONG>mistakes</STRONG> this is sytematic child abuse on a large scale covered up to protect the church. Holier than thou...fuck off.
Balddog has it right Organised religion = shit. If you or I protected a paedophile we would be jailed. What these so called religious people have done is betray every ounce of trust put in them by their own congregations and by the innocent children they have abused. Death is too good for them.
Why hasn't the Pope ex-communicated them all?
Because, you can bet your arse, that he supports their actions.
He currently has 86 civil suits pending against him; I wouldn't be surprised if we later find that that number ought to be higher.
With this case publicized, the Church has now handed over the names of up to 80 clergymen who have been accused of abusing children within the past 40 years while in the past the Church preferred to settle problems quietly within the Church.
Their way of looking at the issue of sexual molestation amongst priest, it wasn’t a crime to be punished, but rather a sin to be prayed for. So basically, in my eyes at least, these people got off (legally).
I think that charges ought to be held against those who knew about the molesters yet allowed them to continue having contact with children (Law).
The Church and all other institutions which deal with peoples' faith and emotions carry extra responsibility to ensure the welfare of those they council.
They knowingly put minors endanger by ignoring the problem and therefore were a part of the problem.
The public should make sure that when an official is a pedophile or supports a pedophile, action is taken to protect the community.
I don’t think the molesters do this out of normal sexual frustration which would be the basis of the celibacy arguement.
Pedophiles are sexually attracted to children for whatever reason whether it is power, being molested themselves in the past, or maybe they are just unexplainably demented like that. Married people can still be pedophiles because a grown person is not going to satisfy their lust for a child.
Some think that priesthood attracts a small percentage of pedophiles not because they’d have ample opportunities to “pick on” children, but rather because some of them think that they’d be able to control themselves better in the Church. A former priest has a different theory that they are sexually immature and see themselves as the young boys they are molesting; this may explain Geoghan’s case.
I think that the reason why pedophilia is such a problem in religious institutions is that religious institutions are places where there is a lot of trust. The children trust the religious leaders greatly. In addition, although there are probably no more pedophiles in the Church than in other institutions, it is a problem here because even if the children do come forward, some people think that pushing for these molesters to be punished would be to compromise their own faith. There is an unwillingness to treat these people as, people.
So what ends up happening is that everything is hushed up and while in other institutions the molesters are more likely to be punished legally once exposed and parents would most likely push for these guys to get thrown out of the system--in this institution, the priests aren’t really punished and too many times are given second, third, fourth, fifth, etc., chances.
After the meeting at the Vatican, what has happened?
It seems like the Church is pussyfooting over their responsibility to the congregation-- making up new terms, like "true pedophilia" (I think it implied that having sex with a child over a certain age is not pedophilia--forgetting the word child and again showing disregard to the law) and not being firm in promising that they will now report all cases brought forth to them.
There are even accusations set forth against the Pope's right-hand man (I don't remember his name), that has continued to be brushed under the rug--even after that all so enlightening meeting.
To me, it seems like all the Church is worried about it the money they are about to lose and their image in the media, and while they ought to be a cause for concern, where is the remorse for the children?