Posted on 03/22/2010 6:21:30 AM PDT by Gamecock
Pope Benedict's weekend apology to Ireland went further than any other papal statement on child-sex abuse by priests, but still fell too short for many victims of the scandals shaking the Catholic Church across Europe.
Following are details of some of the major abuse scandals in various countries:
SWITZERLAND: The Swiss Catholic Church is investigating allegations of abuse by clergy. The Diocese of Chur, in eastern Switzerland, said Saturday it was investigating about 10 complaints. The abbot of a monastery in the diocese said at least three of the 77 monks at Einsiedeln had committed acts of abuse since he took up office in December 2001, but no legal action had been taken.
NETHERLANDS: More than 200 Catholics have reported abuse after Radio Netherlands Worldwide and newspaper NRC Handelsblad revealed that three priests from the Salesian order abused pupils decades ago at a boarding school. The church there has set up an independent inquiry headed by a Protestant politician.
GERMANY: A Jesuit high school in Berlin reported cases of sexual abuse there in January, starting a series of revelations at other Catholic boarding schools and non-religious schools.
- The Regensburg diocese admitted physical and sexual abuse cases at a boarding school for its famous Domspatzen (cathedral sparrows) boys choir. Its director, Pope Benedict's brother, Rev. Georg Ratzinger, admitted to slapping boys to discipline them but denied knowledge of sexual abuse. The ensuing wave of abuse charges from previously silent victims has since reached about 250.
IRELAND: In April 2002, Bishop Brendan Comiskey of Ferns resigned over his handling of charges against a priest who committed suicide in 1999 while facing 66 charges of abuse.
- May 2009 - The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse issued a five-volume report that took nine years to compile. It said priests beat and raped children during decades of abuse in Catholic-run institutions.
- Nov. 2009 - The Murphy report, a government-commissioned inquiry into abuse in Dublin from 1975 to 2004 said church authorities covered up widespread cases of child sexual abuse until the mid-1990s.
- Dec. 2009 - After meeting two Irish church leaders, Pope Benedict said he shared the "outrage, betrayal and shame" over the scandal in Ireland.
- Feb. 2010 - Benedict held crisis talks with 24 Irish bishops at the Vatican. The bishops promised him they were committed to cooperating with authorities. Four bishops have offered their resignations and the pope has so far accepted one.
UNITED STATES: June 2002 - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed on a new policy that would forbid pedophile priests from ever again acting as clerics - but not necessarily expel them from the priesthood.
BRITAIN: July 2000 - London Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor acknowledged making a mistake in a previous post in the 1980s by allowing a pedophile priest to continue working. The priest was jailed in 1997 for abusing nine boys over a 20-year period.
AUSTRIA: July 2004 - Austrian News magazine Profil ran pictures of priests kissing and groping seminarians at a Catholic seminary in the St. Poelten diocese.
AUSTRALIA: July 2008 - On a visit to Australia, Pope Benedict apologized for sexual abuse by clergy. At that time there had been 107 convictions for sexual abuse in the church there.
MEXICO: March 2009 - Pope Benedict ordered an inquiry into the Legionaries of Christ priestly order whose founder was discovered to be a sexual molester. In 2006, the pope told the founder, Father Marcial Maciel, to retire to a life of "prayer and penitence". Maciel died in 2008. His order acknowledged in 2009 that he had fathered at least one child with a mistress.
CANADA: Oct. 2009 - Bishop Raymond Lahey of Antigonish, N.S., was charged with possession and importation of child pornography. Earlier that year, he had overseen a $13-million settlement with clerical abuse victims in the Antigonish diocese in a case dating back to 1950.
There is a hell.
Believe it or not.
Some thoughts:
1) You fail here by violating two basic logical principles - "Correlation does not equal causation" and making a sweeping generalization. The existence of the doctrine of the priest as "alter Christus" does not necessarily translate to feelings of entitlement to gratification of any sort. Likewise, it is logically inconsistent to paint priests with such a broad brush.
2) Although there are a few men who choose celibacy as a "cover" (and admittedly, there have been seminaries that have done a poor job in screening them out), most of the candidates for priesthood are willing to sacrifice having a wife and children for the sake of the Kingdom.
nothing changes.
What do you wish to change? The seminaries screen as well as is humanly possible, the perpetrators have been removed from ministry. Even if they are canonically defrocked, they are still ontologically priests.
Re: Crimen Sollicitationis
Given that that document that you linked to is in English, and not in Latin, I have a sneaking suspicion that it's a fabrication.
Even if it were not a fabrication, are you certain that it is still in force under the 1983 Code of Canon Law?
The difference is that teachers wind up in prison.
Historically Priests move to another parish.
Trying to justify priests behavior by hiding behind teachers is just pathetic.
Why would I not believe it?
The biggest scandal was the pro-abortion endorsements by groups that call themselves Catholic.
Do tell.
How fitting . . . SOOOOOOOOOOO IMPRESSIVE . . .
and habitual . . . evidently compulsively habitual . . .
A Papist wholesale distorting/lying about my perspective on the critters.
Kind of like Papists distorting reality about the abuses by Papists priests.
Is it something in the ‘holy’ water or in the wafers?
Standard MO Quixy
Deflect
Make counter accusations
Deny
Repeat as needed.
I need to add one:
Counter-Attack
Deflect
Make counter accusations
Deny
Repeat as needed.
INDEED. SOMEWHAT LIKE THE DEMON MANIPULATED GLOBALISTS AND CONGRESS CRITTERS.
May God have mercy on all who Love Him in coming traumas.
1996 - October 23: On "The Charlie Rose Show" on the Public Broadcasting System, Mikhail Gorbachev states: "We are part of the Cosmos. Cosmos is my God. Nature is my God....The future society will be a totally new civilization which will synthesize the experience of Socialism and Capitalism...."
Above from:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2130557/posts?page=81#81
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“...most of the candidates for priesthood are willing to sacrifice having a wife and children for the sake of the Kingdom”
Thank you for pointing this out.
To say that the “celibate priesthood—is a situation ripe for sin and tragedy”, or to insinuate that it attracts men who are somehow suspect is truly smearing all good and worthy priests, and, —as you have correctly said, “it is logically inconsistent to paint priests with such a broad brush.”
Crimen Sollicitationis was written by Cardinal Ottaviani in 1962. As of 2001, it is no longer in effect, being replaced by Pope John Paul II's Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela.
Exactly.
Your description of the Catholic attitude towards Protestants is also correct; I remember when I was growing up that Catholics thought that Protestants were wrong theologically, but not that they (individually or as a group) were evil incarnate or supported evil.
I live in the South now, and I've gotten used to things like a van strategically parked in front of our Cathedral with Bible verses and "Rome is the Whore of Babylon" painted on it. The van's occupants come in and scatter offensive leaflets in the pews from time to time.
I guess I should be used to it by now, but I'm still saddened by this.
Kind of like Papists distorting reality about the abuses by Papists priests.
Is it something in the ‘holy’ water or in the wafers?
Well, now, Gamecock, is this what you were looking for when you pinged Quix?
ABSOLUTELY INDEED.
I’d think it more fitting to address that to the original distorting Papist.
No. It’s fitting for you to be responsible for what you say.
This may come a shock to most, if not all Roman Catholics,
BUT I, as a Reformed Christian, consider my dispensational FRiend Quix a dear Christian brother.
While we disagree on on several issues, he believes in salvation by faith alone through Christ alone.
Not the Catholic scheme of works+faith=salvation
No trouble with that, at all.
Am consistently a LOT MORE, ENORMOUSLY MORE RESPONSIBLE AND ACCURATE
than the Papists in their diatribes and assaults on me.
Kindly Try and clean your own house up first before such cheeky exhortations about my responsibilities.
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