Looking behind the Catholic sex abuse scandal

...Hugh alert...paging Hugh. Would Hugh please come to the white courtesy phone...

Here's another one:

NM man charged with sex assault of foster daughter

If only they were not forced to lead a celibate and priestly life! /sarcasm off/

The last line of the story is the pull-quote that a change is needed at the top in the Vatican and that because of their “top down” approach, priests just naturally pick up on that.

The story offers no opinion, but it is implicit, this is the fault of a hierarchical church, and one which it is much more difficult for them to influence and, therefore, must be pilloried at every possible moment. Kick a Church when it’s down.

This is nothing new, just the secularists putting the Vatican on notice that they are watching them and ready to turn the screws. God Bless his Holiness, I hope he opens up with both barrels on these maroons.

Has this been posted as a thread yet? If not it really should be.

Even my mother, who has never been on FR, uses “hugh.” Cracks me up.

Or pederasty...

I didn’t look for it. It probably should have its own thread, but the link seemed less than credible.

Gee, if only they had been allowed to marry...

Flipping channels the other night, I passed by "To Catch a Predator". The guy being questioned as to why he was coming to see a 13-yr-old boy was a rabbi.

"Would there were more practical discussion on how to begin the solution of the "gay clergy" problem."

It would seem the media is not reporting the complete answer to the root of the problem. I would venture to guess that the non coverage of the total response by the Church is intentional --a thorough objective coverage of the 'scandal' would tend to reflect badly upon the "all things homosexual" sacred cow that the leftist media elites strive to protect and promote...

Anyway, with regard to the homosexual problem here is what the Church has done (a before and after) -not a new teaching but a clear succinct re-emphasis of what was already policy since at least February 1961:

Religiosorum institutio - 30. Those To Be Excluded; Practical Directives

4. If a student in a minor seminary has sinned gravely against the sixth commandment with a person of the same or the other sex, or has been the occasion of grave scandal in the matter of chastity, he is to be dismissed immediately as stipulated in canon 1371, except if prudent consideration of the act and of the situation of the student by the superiors or confessors should counsel a different policy in an individual case, sc., in the case of a boy who has been seduced and who is gifted with excellent qualities and is truly penitent, or when the sin was an objectively imperfect act.
If a novice or a professed religious who has not yet made perpetual vows should be guilty of the same offense, he is to be sent away from the community or, should the circumstances so demand, he is to be dismissed with due observance of canon 647, S 2, 1 . If a perpetually professed religious is found guilty of any such sin, he is to be perpetually excluded from tonsure and the reception of any further Order. If the case belongs to the external forum, he is to receive a canonical warning unless, as provided for in canons 653 and 668, there be grounds for sending him back to the world (cf. Stat. Gen., art. 34, S 2, 4 ).
Lastly, should he be a subdeacon or deacon, then, without prejudice to the above-mentioned directives and if the case should so demand, the superiors should take up with the Holy See the question of his reduction to the lay state.
For these reasons, clerics who in their diocese or religious who in another community have sinned gravely against chastity with another person are not to be admitted with a view to the priesthood, even on a trial basis, unless there be clear evidence of excusing causes or of circumstances which can at least notably diminish responsibility in conscience (Circular Letter of S. C. of the Sacraments, n. 16; Canon Law Digest, 4, p. 314).
Advantage to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers...

The following re-emphasis, instituted to prevent the previous passive resistance by the liberal homosexual activists that infiltrated the Church and were in essence at the root of facilitating this "crisis", was put in place in November 2005:

Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders

2. Homosexuality and the Ordained Ministry
From the time of the Second Vatican Council until today, various Documents of the Magisterium, and especially the Catechism of the Catholic Church, have confirmed the teaching of the Church on homosexuality. The Catechism distinguishes between homosexual acts and homosexual tendencies.
Regarding acts, it teaches that Sacred Scripture presents them as grave sins. The Tradition has constantly considered them as intrinsically immoral and contrary to the natural law. Consequently, under no circumstance can they be approved.
Deep-seated homosexual tendencies, which are found in a number of men and women, are also objectively disordered and, for those same people, often constitute a trial. Such persons must be accepted with respect and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. They are called to fulfil God's will in their lives and to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter.
In the light of such teaching, this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question[9], cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called "gay culture".
Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women. One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies.
Different, however, would be the case in which one were dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem - for example, that of an adolescence not yet superseded. Nevertheless, such tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate...

Nonsense. Back in the day priests who wanted sex turned to woman. And there were always women available. A priest at my small EastTexas parish was suddenly transferred because of indiscretion concerning an attractive widow woman. Later the priest who succeeded him was discussing the problem with my Dad. He was telling about a handsome young priest who was assigned to his parish. The local women flocked around him like a movie star. And he thought it was his elegant sermons that attracted them!