Secretive Catholic

What you are not posting is examples of Baptist pastors being caught - and then reported to a denominational supervisor that actually has control over whether they can continue to be employed as a pastor - where that supervisor then shields the offender - and is not then ALSO punished for doing it.

In other words - having these indiscretions protected by senior officials - becomes a crime not only for the Pastor but for those senior officials that enablem him to continue doing it even AFTER he has been "outed" for his crimes.

By contrast the story linked in the OP has the offending priest being outed six ways to Christmas while Pope John Paul II covers for him.

Not sure what you have to equal that level of a problem.

It would be like "inventing" the idea that the President of the Southern Baptist Assoc actually has control over which Baptist pastors can have a job and which one cannot. And then have fellow Pastors all saying that a certain Pastor is a known offender that even abused them while they were youths - and still the President of the SBA only "continued to provide air cover" for the offending Pastor - decade after decade.

in Christ,

Bob

 

Baptist church sticking by pastor facing sex charges
By Bob Allen
Thursday, May 07, 2009

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (ABP) -- A small Southern Baptist church near St. Joseph, Mo., is reportedly standing by its pastor, who is accused of soliciting sex over the Internet with a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Robert Black, 40, of Independence, Mo., waived his right to a preliminary hearing and is scheduled to appear in court May 14 to face charges of first-degree attempted statutory rape and attempted enticement of a child under 15.

Police arrested Black April 8, after he allegedly arranged by e-mail to meet for sex with a minor "girl" -- who was actually an Internet crimes detective -- at a car wash in Liberty, Mo. According to media reports, police found more than 130 online "friends," many of them teenagers, on a Facebook account registered to "Jon Still."

Investigators believe the name is an alias that Black used to entice teenagers. They have asked parents in the region to report if they believe their children may have communicated with him using that name.

Black is pastor of New Home Baptist Church in St. Joseph, Mo., a small congregation that is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist and Southern Baptist conventions. He claims he is innocent.

Clyde Elder, director of missions for St. Joseph Baptist Association, said May 6 the church is standing in support of its preacher, and by mutual agreement with church leaders Black has taken a leave of absence with pay. Elder said the church is using supply preachers during Black's absence.

"We need to keep Pastor Black and the New Home Baptist Church in our prayers," Elder said.

New Home Baptist Church has removed information about Black from its website on a staff page that formerly featured a family photo of a smiling Black surrounded by his wife and three young children.

Black has been pastor of the church, with a history dating back to 1887, since 2008. Elder said Black has been part of the New Home congregation for about four years, first as a deacon and worship leader. He took over as pastor after the death of a longtime predecessor who led the church for a total of nearly 35 years.

Southern Baptist churches are autonomous and make their own decisions, including about whom to call as pastor, but the Southern Baptist Convention urges congregations to perform background checks before hiring prospective ministers.

According to a Kansas City television station, Black cleared a mandatory background check before coaching a team of girls in the Fort Osage Youth Basketball League.

New Home Baptist Church is the third Southern Baptist congregation to feature recently in news reports involving allegations of sexual abuse.

Police in Benton, Ark., re-arrested David Pierce, 56, former minister of music at the city's First Baptist Church, May 6 on additional charges of sexual indecency with a child. Originally arrested April 24 on one count of the charge, Pierce now faces 54 counts of the crime involving four alleged victims.

Police say current charges relate to incidents alleged in the last three years. They said all the victims alleging abuse are still teenagers who are or were involved in the church's youth choir program, named Pure Energy, that Pierce directed.

According to the Benton Courier, Sheriff Bruce Pennington said in a news conference he expects additional charges to be filed against Pierce, saying allegations of abuse are believed to date back about 15 years.

After learning of allegations against him, First Baptist Church fired Pierce, who had been on the church staff for 29 years. With 2,500 members, the church is prominent in the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

In suburban Memphis, Steven Haney, 48, former pastor of Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., received probation after pleading guilty April 29 to rape and sexual battery by an authority figure.

One of Haney's alleged victims claimed that his former pastor molested him for more than five years, beginning when he was 15. He said Haney lured the youth into a long-term sexual relationship by convincing him it was God's will and a test of his faith.

Prosecutors agreed to a guilty plea to spare witnesses the stress of testifying in court. Haney still faces federal charges of child pornography that carry a 10-year prison sentence.

 

Protestant misdeeds are never to be excused.
However all of their sins put together cannot begin to compare to the sexual abuse that continues in the RCC today, which the present Pope still cannot silence. The allegations continue and rage on and on--and for good reason. For example:

For rest of article read here:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100314/ap_on_re_eu/eu_church_abuse

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100314/ap_on_re_eu/eu_church_abuse

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23369148-pope-led-cover-up-of-child-abuse-by-priests.do


This guy was no saint.
And supposedly he stands "in the place of Christ?"

 

There are approximately 406,411 Catholic priests in the world. Over 97% of them have nothing to do with molesting children. The less than 3% that do should be deposed and repent.

The Baptist pastor in nearby Fresno abused children, was convicted, and the press barely mentioned it. Let a priest be accused and see what attention it gets by the press.

Cover ups are despicable, but they are going on in Baptist churches as well. I believe that ALL clergy should be accountable for their actions, especially with children. Jesus mentioned what He thought of someone who offends them.

 

The present pope himself used to be in charge of "cover-ups" of all sexual abuse cases in the RCC. Read the quotes I just posted. His brother is being accused by 170 former students for sexual abuse. But the Pope's former job was to cover things up. Yes I agree. Cover ups are despicable. Why does your present pope engage in it?

 

I think once it becomes a contest of which church perpetuates the most abuse or whatever, we have lost perspective. The real issues are the theology.

 

Of course, DHK, you will choose to believe what you want to believe, but:

"Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, also addressed the allegations of secrecy in his Saturday statement. The norms governing canonical trials of sex-abuse cases "did not seek, and have not favored, any kind of cover-up," he said; "quite the contrary, they initiated intense activities to confront, judge, and adequately punish the crimes in the context of ecclesiastical legislation." He added that the current Pope, in his previous post as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (which handles abuse charges against priests), pursued the cases with "rigor and coherence." He called attention to the interview with Msgr. Charles Scicluna, the "promoter of justice" at the Congregation, who provided more details about the prosecution of abuse cases.

Father Lombardi went on to draw attention to a statement from the Munich archdiocese, making it clear that Pope Benedict was "completely unconnected" with a case in which a priest accused of pedophile had been assigned to parish work while then-Cardinal Ratzinger was archbishop in the German city. The papal spokesman took a slap at journalists who have churned out stories about the Munich case-- often containing erroneous information-- in an obvious effort to link the Pope to the pedophile priest. Father Lombardi said that "it is evident that over recent days some people have sought-- with considerable persistence, in Regensburg and Munich-- elements that could personally involve the Holy Father in questions of abuse." He concluded: "To any objective observer, it is clear that these efforts have failed."

 

if the pope covers up, he is just as guilty, wonder what Christ says about that, helping child molesters, defending thema nd shielding them from prosecution, and never ever protecting a child, this has become common in the rcc, and has been for many many years, and still catholics defend it. not children.

 

Just who is defending it? Do you know of Catholics defending it? I don't.

IF the pope covers up, he is guilty.

The Catholic Church has always handled such matters internally. That there have been cover ups cannot be excused. That there have been offending priests transferred to other parishes to re-offend is despicable. In fact, such cover ups need to be brought to light and those responsible deposed and hopefully repent.

But please stop the self-righteous judgments when the same thing is going on in Baptist churches. Baptist denominations are minuscule in comparison to the Catholic Church so of course more cases exist. But, as I have shown by way of documentation, the cover-ups and offenses go on in Baptist churches
as well.

 

And Donna, your accusation that I defend pedophiles was highly offensive, mean and nasty and not becoming a person who says they know Christ as Lord and Savior.

 

nether is defending pedophiles and giving them excuses and supporting hiding them so they do not have to answer for crimes against children. but you do it anyway, and support the pope doing it, 2 different popes at least now.

 

No, I do not. False accusations are a sin, Donna.
Show me where I have defended pedophiles or made excuses for them. You really need to apologize. If you aren't able to do that it really speaks for its self.

 

it's a crime, end of story, yet the rcc by your own admission covers it up and pretects these men. they need to be in prison.
the baptsits churches are not all one like rcc and you don't seem to understand that, it's one church, not all baptists, where as in the rcc it's all of the rcc, because it's all one entity, and the crimes and cover ups come down from the top. the baptist denomination isn't covering up and helping men avoid presecution and go on to other churches to continue their preversion, the rcc does. the rcc knows which men are the offenders and contunes appointing them in churches, thus supporting and approving their crimes.

 

what speaks for itself is support of pedophiles by continuing with them and not leaving them behind and speaking out aginst the cover ups in the rcc. the rcc covers up and reappointments so the sex offenders can continue is a sin, which your very presence supports.

 

You need to show my post where I support pedophiles. How do I 'continue with pedophiles'? Otherwise you are making false accusations (also called lying).

Are you speaking out against the cover ups in Baptist churches? I have stated clearly my objection to cover-ups in the Catholic Church.

 

In defending the Pope, his brother, and their former actions, I would say you have defended pedophiles. Wouldn't you? If you can't see that you can't look objectively at the RCC, and only see things blindly.

 

I nor my church have anything to do with those baptist churches, you on the other hand are rcc and they(churches) are all one instution, one entity, ruled by one man, theres a big difference there, sorry you can't see that. I and my church have nothing to do woth those men, you on the other hand are still a part of the pedophile pretectors.

 

I have seen evidence to the contrary as far as the pope is concerned. I haven't defended the pope's brother. I haven't defended pedophiles or their actions.

To say I defend pedophiles is slander.

 

I will remain in Christ's one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church because it is the Church founded upon Peter and Jesus promised the 'gates of hell will not prevail against it.'

My choosing Christ Holy Church by no means makes me a 'pedophile protector'.
The vast majority of Catholic clergy have NOTHING to do with molesting children. The Church has come through worse times than this and the Lord will bring it through as He has promised.

Your accusations were offensive and nasty and should not have come from someone who says they know Jesus. The more I continue to read the dribble from people on this board the more sure I am of my decision to leave the Baptist church. You bash each other unless there is a Catholic posting. What kind of witness do you think this is to non-believers visiting this board?