I didn't like that theme when my English teacher covered it so long ago. I still don't.
Posted on 08/31/2012 8:03:38 PM PDT by Morgana
FULL TITLE: Outrage at friar's claims that it is often the teenage boys who seduce priests in religious sex abuse cases... and he calls Sandusky 'a poor guy'
A friar has sparked outrage after claiming it is often the boys who seduce priests in religious sexual abuse cases.
In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Father Benedict Groeschel of the conservative Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said he did not believe a priest found guilty of sexual absuse should go to jail if it was his first offence.
He even went on to describe disgraced Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky as a 'poor guy'.
Father Groeschel, an influential voice in the American catholic community, has written several books and appears weekly on a religious television network.
He said: 'People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to [be] a psychopath.
'But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer.'
He added: 'Here’s this poor guy Sandusky it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn’t anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn’t break the ice.
'Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime. It was a moral failure, scandalous; but they didn’t think of it in terms of legal things.'
'If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties — except for rape or violence — it was very rarely brought as a civil crime.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I do know an abused person not by clergy but relatives. He was so confused he would go to any because of sex. He thought this was normal behind doors as a kid. This is how far this abuse ruined a life. He would initiate the act because he thought it was normal as a kid.
Now this priest is a therapist. Could he be trying to explain this bad side of abuse? I do not know but he needs to be investigated. He has some kind of misplaced spiritual love for a first time offender who needs to be contained from children to say the least.
Oh ok, yes, that’s why I posted the link from the Register, there was an interview and they did publish it. The WSJ referenced it too.
It is true, sometimes the teen is the seducer.
That does not remove culpability from the of-age adult.
I have an acquaintance who was seduced by a trio of admittedly underage teens. He was reported to the police by the teens who admitted on the witness stand they were blackmailing him for thousands of dollars to keep quiet, and reported him because he didn’t pay. This did not keep keep him out of jail for life. (135 years for three teenagers)
He does belong in jail. But IMHO the teens are just as disgusting.
I don't know about homosexual sin oriented young men, but I do know that some girls in my high school were very seductive towards adult men, who usually didn't succumb, but I know one teacher that did. Some of the girls in my high school had the mentality of 40 year old prostitutes. There was not much innocent about them at all.
This makes me question the article. Any Priest of his standing should know about 'millstone tied about their neck and cast into the sea.'
Such a scriptural failure just doesn't sound right.
I think someone is out to scuttle him, or the damage from the accident was worse than it was thought to be.
it’s a priest psychologist and alas, back in the 1980’s such cases were not prosecuted. In 1970’s some on the front line of medicine were saying teenagers should be allowed to have sex and older mentors should train them.
And I don’t know about boys, but if you had a girl who had been sexually abused, you had to warn her fosterparents/grandparents/adoptive parents that she would try to seduce the men in the family.
And since one cdc survey shows 12 to 24 percent of gay teens had “intercourse” below age 13, it looks like no one worries about it unless it was by a priest.
one should note that the priest has already apologized (it was on a live program) and most folks who watched the show are aware that he is slow of speech and gets things mixed up a lot, after a major brain injury (he is mainly an interviewer on the show).
but of course this is only a way for the PC to destroy the priest and mother angelica’s catholic tv net work, so don’t rely on the press coverage.
Irrespective of the circumstances involving this particular interview and this particular priest - who I don’t know anything about, the Catholic church needs to be beyond any reproach regarding this issue. If you can’t trust the church to protect children, you just can’t trust the church.
I didn't like that theme when my English teacher covered it so long ago. I still don't.
No doubt this guy is as queer as a football bat and he’s worried someone is going to come forward and reveal his secrets...
My comment was actually about someone else. Knowing people with traumatic brain injuries, I have yet to hear any of them defend heinous crimes and make excuses for the people who commit them.
He’s a great priest and also has a PHD in psychology.
He has counseled thousands of sexual addicts/molosters in the last 50 years. He could have phrased things differently but he can barely speak now. And he has appologized for the way he expressed himself. This is a classic smear on another Catholic priest by the Christian-hating liberal New York press. The man is in the twilight of his life and needs to be able live his remaining few years in peace. I suspect Cardinal Dolan will put out a statement on Father Groeschel shortly. And yes the liberal media is making a mountain out of molehill but that’s what they for for a living. They’ll be calling for him to be burned at the stake in the next few days.
Thanks to everyone for clarifying this to me. I don’t have nor want cable but as a result I don’t watch a lot of EWTN. I had never heard of him. I have a feeling is just old and confused. Yes I know the lib media will run a marathon with this story.
feh...
I was not aware that the National Catholic Registry and EWTN were part of the Christian-hating New York press. I could see if this came from National Catholic Reporter or the Catholic Register.
He’s a great priest and also has a PHD in psychology. He has counseled thousands of sexual addicts/molosters in the last 50 years.
And if his latest statement is not the muddy ramblings of a sick and mentally feeble old man and are indicative of what he really believes about child sexual molestation, then I’m sure those thousands of counseling sessions were most helpful. / s
He could have phrased things differently but he can barely speak now. And he has appologized for the way he expressed himself. The man is in the twilight of his life and needs to be able live his remaining few years in peace.
Can the same be said or should be said of Jerry Sandusky and of the late Joe Paterno and countless other perpetrators or enablers? Does age and infirmary really excuse molestation or the enablers of the molesters?
If Father Benedict was truly misquoted or did not say what he was reported and heard to have said, then why the apology? Why did he or someone on his staff who was there not say, “That wasn’t what I said or meant to say at all”?
Father Benedict is not the first among the Catholic clergy BTW to posit the idea that the victims of child sexual molestation were the aggressors and the “seducers” of poor venerable (nervous breakdowns?) adult priests.
That might even make some sense if we are talking about already (homosexually) sexually active 16 or 18 year olds who did not become that way because some adult male, priest or otherwise molested them previously. But when we are talking about 10, 11 year old altar boys and the boys that Sandusky molested (raped) who were also in that 10-11 year old age range, to infer in any way that these children “seduced” the older man, a man in a position of power and trust, and that if the man, if it’s his first offense, that “they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime” is IMO disgusting.
“Here’s this poor guy Sandusky it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn’t anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn’t break the ice.”
So Sandusky is just some “poor guy” and it’s his victim’s fault for not “breaking the ice”?
I am of the opinion that this was not a misquote or something taken out of context but that Father Benedict’s present condition meant that he didn’t realize that speaking what he really thought was going to be problematic. Often in people with dementia and brain injuries, the normal “filter” that had been in place to keep them from sticking foot in mouth is no longer working.
Thought I’d post the statement from his community and Fr. Groeschel himself issued within 24 hours of the publication of the interview (keep in mind that interviews, often with spontaneous statements taken out of context, is not always a fair scenario, whereas these statements are very clear and to the point):
http://franciscanfriars.com/for-immediate-release-august-30-2102/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2012
The Community of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal sincerely apologizes for the comments made by Fr. Benedict Groeschel in an interview released yesterday by the National Catholic Register, online edition.In that interview, Fr. Benedict made comments that were inappropriate and untrue. A child is never responsible for abuse. Any abuser of a child is always responsible, especially a priest. Sexual abuse of a minor is a terrible crime and should always be treated as such. We are sorry for any pain his comments may have caused. Fr. Benedict has dedicated his life to helping others and these comments were completely out of character. He never intended to excuse abuse or implicate the victims. We hope that these unfortunate statements will not overshadow the great good Fr. Benedict has done in housing countless homeless people, feeding innumerable poor families, and bringing healing, peace and encouragement to so many.
Fr Benedict helped found our community 25 years ago with the hope of bringing the healing peace of Jesus Christ to our wounded world. Our desire has always been to lift up humanity and never to hurt. About seven years ago, Fr. Benedict was struck by a car and was in a coma for over a month. In recent months his health, memory and cognitive ability have been failing. He has been in and out of the hospital. Due to his declining health and inability to care for himself, Fr. Benedict had moved to a location where he could rest and be relieved of his responsibilities. Although these factors do not excuse his comments, they help us understand how such a compassionate man could have said something so wrong, so insensitive, and so out of character. Our prayers are with all those who have been hurt by his comments, especially victims of sexual abuse.
Personal Statement from Fr Benedict Groeschel:
I apologize for my comments. I did not intend to blame the victim. A priest (or anyone else) who abuses a minor is always wrong and is always responsible. My mind and my way of expressing myself are not as clear as they used to be. I have spent my life trying to help others the best that I could. I deeply regret any harm I have caused to anyone.
With questions please contact Fr. Glenn Sudano at 914-965-8143.
Dreadful.
“I was not aware that the National Catholic Registry and EWTN were part of the Christian-hating New York press. I could see if this came from National Catholic Reporter or the Catholic Register”
Like I said the LIBERAL media heard the interview on NCR.They ran with the story. Simple as that. From your indictment of Father Groeschel it’s obvious you were not aware of this man before this story broke. He has lived his life in an exemplary fashion, living the life of a pauper since he was ordained half a century ago.
http://www.catholicleague.org/fr-groeschel-under-fire/
“The article was in the Charlotte Observer newspaper today, too. NOT a smear campaign from an Email.”
The senile Father is in nursing home or similar facility of some sort. He is incapable of coming to his own defense so he is a prime target to manipulate.
No this smear campaign is orchestrated by media to sink it’s targets.
It is important to understand that this article was only published online - not in the actual paper (which I get BTW.) There is a strong possibility that the bulk of the interview is bogus because of this extreme irregularity in publication. I do not think this went through the normal channels of departmental editing etc and I suspect it’s release(hacking?) was meant to attack, the Fr., the ETWN network and the Catholic paper itself.
I write this coming from a parish that had TWO priests arrested and am very glad to see the the rotten ones kicked out. Those Gramscians who want to decimate the Church will use any means to do so including false accusations.
For heaven’s sake, we all know even the current administration is attacking Catholicism, this is just another volley in that war.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you posted this before you read post #55. It was no "smear campaign". The man said what they said he did and both he and his organization tried to clean up the mess afterward. There were no indications that he had been intentionally misquoted or that there were ulterior motives to smear him and the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church does a pretty good job of setting up their own targets to be sunk. Men of God are supposed to be "above reproach".
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