Is the Church really this blind? (Pedophile Problem)

LA Times ^ | 11 November 2007 | Jason Berry

[shrinkermd]

In 2004, Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, proclaimed that after two years of relentless investigations into priests who sexually abused children and the bishops who protected them, "the scandal is history."

For reporters weary of the scandal's emotionally draining subject matter, Gregory's sound bite invited a retreat. The bishops pointed to the "youth protection charter" they had developed, laying out guidelines for removing predator priests and for treating victims responsibly. They released data showing that they had identified about 4,400 abusive U.S. priests. They had a reform agenda, it seemed, and promised new vigilance in protecting children rather than clerics. In the months that followed, the sexual abuse crisis receded as national news, though civil litigation and criminal prosecutions continued to make occasional headlines.

But did the church really learn its lesson? Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, is currently preparing to assume the presidency of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose annual meeting begins Monday in Baltimore. His new position would make George highly visible when Pope Benedict XVI arrives on his first trip to the U.S. next spring, which is fitting because George was a valuable ally of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when the cardinals' conclave chose him to be pope in 2005.

The problem is that George shows little indication of having internalized the lessons of the scandal. He displays a stunning insensitivity to the church's failures. And twice since the 2002 conference in Dallas that adopted the youth protection charter, George has flouted the church's supposed zero-tolerance attitude in his handling of abusive priests

[shrinkermd]

What is truly amazing about this article is that not once does it mention homosexuals, homosexuality, Gay or any other reference to the actual problem. In 1209 words and with a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of 12, one would anticipate some such reference.

Regardless of opinions or policies in this matter, the real problem is the reluctance to accept that this as a crime committed by homosexuals. Until this occurs, the whole point of the problem is missed.

"Pedophile Priests" is not descriptive of the problem. It seems to be a way to indicate that homosexuality is normal but sodomizing boys is abnormal. A wasted effort at best and tragically misleading at worst.

[Dustbunny]

The problem is that the church only allows unmarried men to become Priests.

If the Church would allow Priests to marry, more men who are not homosexual would go into the Priesthood.

[ChocChipCookie]

4400 is an amazing number!!! That's an enormous amount. Averaged out, that's 88 per state!!! Are all those priests currently active or is that the cumulative known total?

[ricks_place]

The problem is NOT that the Church only allows unmarried men to become Priests. The problem is homosexual infiltration of the Church.

Government has a vastly bigger problem with government teacher abuse of children, 2,500 per year! The abuse is covered up through confidential employee records.

[the invisib1e hand]

The problem is that the church only allows unmarried men to become Priests. If the Church would allow Priests to marry, more men who are not homosexual would go into the Priesthood.

Can't believe the Church never thought of this! How stupid of them! How obvious!

[rightwingfop]

Are you just dismissing the fact that little girls were molested as well?

Little girls are molested by adult men daily in this country...does that mean we have a heterosexual problem? You certainly cannot ignore the numbers of little boys who have been molested by female teachers(most of them married ladies).....or does that not fit your agenda?

Pedophiles, whether molesting boy or girl children, are sexually twisted individuals who seek out professions which give them access to children. Period.

[SuziQ]

OK, I can understand the anger about the Cardinal not doing anything about Fr. McCormack; he should have been removed from having any contact with the kids after the first accusation, and been fully investigated. But the hoohah about the Cardinal having Fr. Martin as a houseguest is just silly. The man was convicted and given a suspended sentence. In other words, according to the court, he paid for his crime, which was committed before becoming a priest. Does this mean he should be shunned by the Cardinal? Doesn't sound too very 'pastoral' to me. If he's not dealing with children, why should his presence there be any problem at all?

The two cases are not at all the same.

[the invisib1e hand]

Government has a vastly bigger problem with government teacher abuse of children, 2,500 per year! The abuse is covered up through confidential employee records.

If someone were to really do the objective number-crunching, it would be instructive to see just what the ratio of child abuse is among the general population vs. public school employees, and the general poplulation vs. the priesthood. Simply becuase the number of priests, as a percentage of the poplulation, is so miniscule, and the number of victims (per parish, and as a percentage of the overall population) is also so miniscule, there is good reason to conclude intuitively that pedophilia among clergy is a near statistical zero; even if it is a completely overarching moral failure.

But these are truths that will never be echoed. Judgment begins with the house of God. And if it can barely survive, how will it go for those outside?

[mike182d]

If the Church would allow Priests to marry, more men who are not homosexual would go into the Priesthood.

I've recommended the same thing to the Public School system. If only they would let married people become teachers, there wouldn't be such a widespread problem with sexual abuse.

Silly public schools and their archaic rule of celibacy.

[mike182d]

What the article also fails to mention is that the vast majority of cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church occured 20, 30 and even 40 years ago.

The instances of abuse over the course of the past 40 years has gone down, drastically, thanks to efforts by the Church.

[SuziQ]

4400 is an amazing number!!! That's an enormous amount. Averaged out, that's 88 per state!!! Are all those priests currently active or is that the cumulative known total?

If I'm not mistaken, that's the total reported over almost 50 years. It's a very small percentage of the total of priests who have served the Church and God's people faithfully during that time frame.

[hinckley buzzard]

There are both. I worked for some time with a woman who had been systematically abused sexually for close to two years by a priest head of a catholic girl’s school. The diocese struck a big financial deal and a confidentiality agreement, and re-asigned the priest, who is still in business elsewhere today. Beyond cases like that though, it is true that upward of 60% of substantiated sexual abuse allegations against priests have been filed by boys, at or beyond puberty. That’s homosexual exploitation, not pedophilia.

[G Larry]

....allow Priests to marry....

Oh, great!
Then we could have dating Priests, divorced Priests, philandering Priests, what a solution!

Tell me again how we could get the homosexual Priests out of the Priesthood?

[SuziQ]

Pedophiles, whether molesting boy or girl children, are sexually twisted individuals who seek out professions which give them access to children. Period.

Your statement is true, except that the majority of the cases of abuse in the Church had to do with priests and pre-teen and teenage boys. It was not pedophilia in the classic sense; it was mostly homosexual in nature.

[hinckley buzzard]

There is the same prevalence of married protestant preacher-perpetrators as there is “celibate” priest perps. The basic issue is fidelity to vows, not celibacy.

[raygunfan]

and how many non priest gays would stop molesting boys if they got married????

[org.whodat]

The problem is homosexual infiltration of the Church.

Which came first the chicken are the egg. LOL

[shrinkermd]

The priests in question have not been accused of molesting little girls; the priests in question have been accused of molesting boys. Actually, not molesting (what actually does that mean to t he average person?) but, usually, sodomizing boys.

Conflating boys being sodomized with girls being molested is a mistake. The overwhelming problem with “pedophile priests” is their homosexual orientation and their preference for boys over adults. Indeed, a common, but not universal, observation is that many homosexual men have boys, especially thin and good looking boys, as their idealized love object.

[netmilsmom]

Where have you been? Good to see you!!!!!!!!!!

[txzman]

Paul cautioned about men who cannot stay celibate, not getting married. The Catholic Church carried this to the extreme.

They should go back to making this a priest’s choice, as did Paul in the Bible. Otherwise they are doomed to continuous failure, as has been the case since this order was implemented.