How does Rome and the Pope view Child Molestors?

For Mr. Joseph_Botwinick...

Taking the article you linked to at face value, the first thing I think this bishop should do is resign from his see! It would appear that he is unfit for the leadership expected of a bishop!

And that would apply as well to any non-Catholic clergyman whe did likewise, whether he "shielded" a fellow clergyman under his authority, or in general, sheielded his denomination from such charges.

Or do you reject the idea that this problem is just as prevalant in other denominations, being small enough to be under the radar screen of the media, that they would be exposed as well?

Am I angry at your post here? No, just saddened that you would even post it, wondering of what your intentions were.

And so I ask, if I were to post a similar expose' on a portion of your own particular denonination, would you be angry?

Or, would you kneel down with me and pray to God to search the souls of such perpetrators and appeal to them that they would repent of their terrible sins?

God bless,

PAX

Bill+†+


Almighty and eternal God, you gather
the scattered sheep

and watch over those
you have gathered.

Look kindly on all who follow Jesus,
your Son.

You have marked them
with the seal of one baptism,
now make them one
in the fullness of faith
and unite them in the bond of love.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

First, a question for you: are you seriously interested in searching for truth in this matter, or do you just want to kick the Catholic Church? For example, you mention pedophilia, but very, very few cases of abuse were actually pedophilia. Most involved teens, often of the age of consent, and most of those involved homosexual behavior.

Does this mean it was OK? Absolutely not! As a Catholic, believe me when I say I want to kick some people too! I'm just wondering if your questions are a serious inquiry or not.

 

I would think that anyone, at the very least, would wnat to keep them away from children, instead of moving them elsewhere tow ork wih more children, in effect giving permission by putting them more children. I would think anyone who loved and honored God would at least agree with that much.
And that would be a start.

 

having sex with teens is still a crime and is still pedophilia.

Pedophilia is the act or fantasy on the part of an adult of engaging in sexual activity with prepubescent children. The vast majority of the clerical sex-abuse scandals now coming to light do not involve pedophilia. Rather, they involve ephebophilia -- homosexual attraction to adolescent boys. While the total number of sexual abusers in the priesthood is much higher than those guilty of pedophilia, it still amounts to less than 2 percent -- comparable to the rate among married men (Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests).

"Pedophilia (the sexual abuse of a prepubescent child) among priests is extremely rare, affecting only 0.3% of the entire population of clergy. This figure, cited in the book Pedophiles and Priests by non-Catholic scholar, Philip Jenkins, is from the most comprehensive study to date, which found that only one out of 2,252 priests considered over a thirty-year period was afflicted with pedophilia. In the recent Boston scandal, only four of the more than eighty priests labeled by the media as 'pedophiles' are actually guilty of molesting young children." (Deal Hudson, Editor of Crisis Magazine)

For everyone's information:

Catholic Commentary on the Scandals in the Church

The above link will be of great help for any Catholic or non-Catholic in reading Catholic perspectives on the scandals, including myth-debunking material based upon secular sources.

 

Dear Brother Joseph --

I offer NO DEFENSE for what has happened in the Church, for there simply is none.

If you will search the Internet using the words "Traditionalist Catholic", you will find that there are still Catholics of the "old school" out there who are beyond outraged at what has happened in the Church. At some of these sites, I have actually seen some them call for the death penalty upon all who are convicted of such molestation. Unfortunately, in the rather liberal atmosphere of the Catholic Faith today, they are subject to a lot of verbal abuse for taking such a strong stand.

You are right in your judgements. One of the problems we have is that John Paul II, while a theologian PAR EXCELLANCE, is not as good an administrator of the Church. It seems that throughout history this has been the case: a pope is either very good administratively, and a nominal (albeit orthodox) theologian, or he is an excellent theologica who couldn't administer a hotdog stand. Don't know why this is.

I share your outrage, but what I do not share is your disdain for the Faith. You must always try to look at them separately. The sins of persons are not doctrinal sins of the Church. They are failures of individuals. The greater failure was the cover ups and the horrid way the whole mess was handled.

And many, many of us Catholics are praying for a general "housecleaning" in the Church which will restore it to its purity.

Cordially in Christ and the Blessed Virgin,


Brother Ed

 

I notice you are from San FranSicko. I am not the least bit surprised after reading your liberal statement above.</font>[/QUOTE]So I guess you didn't notice my next sentence, even with the bold hilighting. Me, a liberal! How about having a pinch more courtesy than judging me based on where I was born and live, and my parents before me? Believe me, that game can go both ways, except that I don't stoop to such ****vulgar word removed*** contests.

OK, so you apparently don't want to explore the truths beneath the media hype, or else you'd acknowledge my factual point that the problem (no, let's say the evils committed) were not by and large pedophilia. It's a simple statement of fact, and I mentioned it to see if you were open to the truth of the situation. But you'd rather lecture me, without knowing a single thing about my own feelings about the matter. The next time you want to "set me straight on something," do me the simple courtesy to read what I wrote.

Well, I'll just leave you with this: I'm disgusted beyond belief by the terrible heterodoxy that has so gravely injured the Catholic Church in America. As Fr. Richard John Neuhaus writes, the problem is fidelity, fidelity, fidelity. There's a segment inside the Church that doesn't give a fig about either living or teaching the truths revealed to the Church. I'd like to see the criminals among them in prison, and the rest chased out of their positions of authority with a swift kick. And I'd like to see the cowards and the turf-protectors and the outside "experts" that played their part all sent off to an early retirement. However, the Church has been cleaning out the seminaries now for over 10 years, and as the Church (and the civil authorities) cut out the dead and decaying tissue, I see healthy pink growth, fervently orthodox, coming in from below. I even like to view myself and my family as part of that new growth, having myself come back into the Church last year in the very depths of the crisis. The Church is undergoing an extraordinary pruning, and I for one am overjoyed to see the rot and poison exposed and cut away.

[ June 03, 2003, 11:07 PM: Message edited by: C.S. Murphy ]

 

I notice you are from San FranSicko. I am not the least bit surprised after reading your liberal statement above.
That was helpful

Let me set you straight on something, in most civilized places, whether it is consentual or not, having sex with teens is still a crime and is still pedophilia.
Actually, an adult having sex with teens is not pedophelia. Generally, it's statutory rape. The assertion is that, even if the act is with a willful minor, the law does not allow a minor to legally make such a decision.

You are very wrong here and should seek wisdom about the truth. a 13 to 17 year old kid is not mature enough to make a decision like this
That's a debatable and worthy topic suitable for another thread, but it has nothing to do with pedophilia.

 

Joseph replied"

The short answer is YES, but provided that the charges are actually true and proven to the extent you seem to think. I simply do not know that...

I would probably join you in all of this as well, IF I were personally aware of an individual clergyman (or anyone, actually) of being guilty as you state.

The one thing I do insist upon is the actual truth in these matters. There has been an alarming increase in claims made against innocent priests, the late Cardinal Bernardine, former archbishop of Chicago, comes to mind.

God bless,

PAX

Bill+†+


Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat!

 

I cannot help but believe that forced celebacy
is the sin at the bottom of this whole mess.

 

Nobody 'forces' these people to become priests. If they don't have the gift of celebecy (which evidently they don't) they should not become priests.

 

well some of them don't have the gift of celebacy either and they are still priests

 

Talk about a red herring.

Do you guys even bother to do research before you make these kinds of comments?

In the US the VAST MAJORITY of child molestors are MARRIED white men. MARRIED.

If everyone who wasn't married was not sexually active (celibate) do you seriously think there would be a huge rise in the number of child molestors?? That's not how it works.

Perhaps a study of MARRIED non-Catholic ministers who are child molestors would be in order also.


LaRae

[ June 03, 2003, 04:25 PM: Message edited by: LaRae ]

 

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1656.cfm

celibacy is a gift? from who?

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1679.cfm