Posted on 04/14/2010 6:49:02 AM PDT by NYer
Gay rights groups have condemned the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, for claiming that the Catholic church's sexual abuse crisis was linked to homosexuality and paedophilia and not celibacy among priests.
Bertone, who is considered Pope Benedict's number two, sparked the controversy on a visit to Chile when he suggested gay sexuality was to blame for the church's child abuse scandals.
Homosexual associations in Italy reacted with anger and indignation. The biggest group, Arcigay, called the cardinal's words "shocking and irresponsible". The president of the gay media service, Gaynet, said if senior church officials "feel constrained to dump the blame on homosexuals, it says a lot about the current state of desperation in the Vatican".
Gay rights advocates in Chile also waded in. "Neither Bertone nor the Vatican has the moral authority to give lessons on sexuality," Rolando Jiménez, president of the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation in Chile, told AP.
No reputable study exists to support the cardinal's claims, said Jiménez added. "This is a perverse strategy by the Vatican to shirk its own ethical and legal responsibility by making a spurious and disgusting connection."
The cardinal, who is known for his blunt and sometimes tactless manner, made the remarks at a televised press conference in Chile's capital Santiago.
He said: "Many psychologists and psychiatrists have shown that there is no link between celibacy and paedophilia but many others have shown, I have recently been told, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia. This pathology is one that touches all categories of people, and priests to a lesser degree in percentage terms. The behaviour of the priests in this case, the negative behaviour, is very serious, is scandalous."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
“Vatican attacked by Gay group”...you mean the NYT?
Oh, and AIDS isn’t a Gay disease.
I think the Vatican needs to go on the attack. Stop using polite language and mumbling about “some experts,” and go into some nauseating detail about exactly what “gay rights groups” do with each other. Use quotes from their own literature, about how they feel about nubile teenage boys. (Can boys be nubile? Better look it up.) Quotes from some of the letter Weakland wrote to his toyboy, perhaps ...
Charlton Heston did it with the Gangster Rap, remember? He went to Time Warner’s stockholder meeting and read the lyrics to the “music” they were selling. Yes, it’s hideously disgusting, but that’s what the behavior of homosexuals is, too.
I think the Vatican has to stop making excuses for why they have Priests abusing children, get back to their biblical justification if any for celibate priests, and pledge to hold their Priests to God’s standards, not try to use man’s fallen standards to excuse their behavior.
80% of the incidents are with boys. The most common characteristic of were molested boys between 11-14. Anyone who went to Catholic school knows that there were too many fruity priests and the only molester I knew of was a bad drinker as well.
Fags are more likely to be teen and child molesters.
I’m shocked by the suggestion that there is a link between homosexuality and men who molest boys. What possible connection could there be between 85% of pedophilia and male-male sex?
The Cardinals claim is absolutely correct, homosexuals are 49 times more likely to be in jail for abusing a child than their heterosexual counterparts, that’s from FBI statistics folks... Anyone telling you otherwise is flat out lying.
I know I don’t find women trying to entice our Cub Scouts away from day camp when we hold it every year!
These people are just flat out dishonest about themselves, no not every homosexual is a pedophile, but as a group they are far more likely to be a pedophile if they are homosexual. That’s just facts folks.
There. . .fixed it.
Gays just can’t seem to face facts
Instead of trying to disprove the allegation the gay groups attack the messenger.
Hmmmm. Where have we seen this before?
Next thing you’ll be telling me is that there is a North American Man Boy Love Association which is always welcome to march in “Pride” parades.
I think you need to wake up and realize no one in the Vatican is making excuses for why some Priests abused children. Acknowledging the existence of the link between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors is not an excuse but a necessary task.
They know it’s true unfortunatley.
They know, yes they know, they know, they know, they know. They just can’t escape their tormented consciences, they wail so loudly, but just can’t escape, oh yes indeed they know.
I think FReepers need to learn how to read. The Cardinal is explaining a) what sort of people infiltrated the priesthood, and why those people are being deliberately excluded from the priesthood. One cannot solve a problem one has not identified. Why defend militant faggots and pederasts?
get back to their biblical justification if any for celibate priests,
It's hard to "get back" to something when one has been continuously doing it. The leftist secular press ignores it, of course ...
and pledge to hold their Priests to Gods standards,
Already done. LSP ignores it.
not try to use mans fallen standards to excuse their behavior.
Vatican is not offering excuses. Vatican is identifying perpetrators by category.
Chalk one up for the Cardinal. Bertone has gone up a notch or two in my book.
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