It's like the Holocaust, no really

[kinvore.livejournal.com]

Wow. Pope Benedict's personal preacher Raniero Cantalamessa created a firestorm by comparing the scrutiny and pressure the Catholic Church has been experiencing lately in their molestation scandals to the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."

This just further illustrates why the Roman Catholic Church will never take real steps to stop abuse. They aren't concerned with the children that are getting raped, they're only concerned with their own reputation. They see themselves as being wrongfully attacked, and never does it enter their minds that their actions (and lack thereof) contributed to what they are enduring now.

I hope the pressure never lets up but sooner or later the mainstream media will give up on it, only to flare up again down the road after more children have been raped, and the cycle will repeat again.

Pope Benedict, the only way this is going to end is if you take real steps towards stopping abuse. First of all stop protecting priests who molest children and treat it like the horrific sin (and crime) that it is. Throw them out of the Church and/or turn them in to law enforcement.

To help prevent this from happening as much you're going to have to allow priests to marry. Stop making excuses, stop covering up, and make a real effort to end this abuse.

Comments

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

To help prevent this from happening as much you're going to have to allow priests to marry.

Unrelated, unconnected.

Pope Benedict, the only way this is going to end is if you take real steps towards stopping abuse.

He is.

This just further illustrates why the Roman Catholic Church will never take real steps to stop abuse.

No it doesn't.

Hallelujah.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

The self-destructive stubbornness of the Catholic Church would've probably been even amusing, had it not involved such horrible crimes against defenseless children. Instead, it can only fill me with helpless rage.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

gunslnger comment: check.

Contains mere talking points: check.

Unsupported by facts: check.

All in place. The world won't end today.

[qnetter]

"To help prevent this from happening as much you're going to have to allow priests to marry. "

Unrelated, unconnected.

Not in the least unrelated. Providing guys with unformed and damaged sexuality a respected career path that will shelter them from the "why aren't they connecting with women (or men)" questions while keeping them in contact with children is basically a "pedophiles line up here" invitation.

"Pope Benedict, the only way this is going to end is if you take real steps towards stopping abuse."

He is.

And those are...? Shuffling them to a distant town helps how?

Priest marry all the time.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The Vatican is actually quite powerless in stopping priests from marrying. They'd like people to think that they control their flock as well as Peter controlled the flock of Jesus, but their lack of control shows them to be the worthless power structure that they are. The only true authority they have is in convincing Californians to defraud people of their civil rights, and at that they needed the assistance of their compatriots from the Great Salt Lake.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Given that the Church has known this was going on since the 1960s I have no sympathy for the priests being butthurt.

[sealwhiskers.livejournal.com]

No it doesn't.

Actually, by comparing the discomfort of the investigation of the church and it losing face over the pedophilia cases, to antisemitism, the pope is sending a strong signal that had these investigations of the church, by forces from outside the church not taken place, few to no steps would have been taken to stop the abuse. What the pope is signaling clear as day, in his populist and cheap rhetoric tries, is that he regrets the degradation of the church far more than the abuse its servants have taken part of.

You can say it doesn't until you turn blue, but the pope flaunts his primary motives by the way he phrases matters, which basic rhetoric analysis can reveal.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Not quite. Denying priests the opportunity to express healthy desires makes the priesthood a magnet for pedophiles regardless of the gender they target. Because in theory, priests are celibate, so there's no way that it would affect *them*.

[sgiffy.livejournal.com]

On the other hand creating a strong us-vs-them environment is great for maintaining membership in a cult. ;)

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

"Unrelated, unconnected."

How so?

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

No he isn't.

Yes it does.

See how easy it is?

[dukexmachismo.livejournal.com]

When they came for the child molesters, I said nothing because...

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

This may be a shock, but providing a man with a sexual partner of the opposite sex his own age will not stop him from molesting children of his own sex.

To say that it will is a gross misunderstanding of sexuality. You might as well say men won't be gay if they met the right women. Everything we've learned about child predators say that they don't do it because they can't get laid.

Re: Hallelujah.

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

Crimes against children, encouraging the spread of AIDS in Africa, encouraging anti-homosexual bias everywhere they can...

...yeah. It's terrible for the victims that this is how it has to happen, but the Church deserves all the shit it's getting. I've been enraged with it ever since it came out that one of the brothers (like male nuns) at my high school was a known sex offender who just got shuffled to New England. It's a conspiracy to cover up criminal activity. The confessional should not shield these people.

Re: Priest marry all the time.

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

Peter had some control issues of his own. A teacher of mine suggested that the early Christian church (as opposed to Gnostics or any of the other splinter sects) was defined by a conflict between Peter's Jews-Only Christianity, and Paul's Convert-The-Gentiles Christianity. The fact that Paul ended up being the mouthpiece of Christian doctrine in the Catholic catechism just means that he won, not that people were unified behind him.

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

See how easy it is?

No, I don't.

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

This just further illustrates why the Roman Catholic Church will never take real steps to stop abuse. They aren't concerned with the children that are getting raped, they're only concerned with their own reputation. They see themselves as being wrongfully attacked, and never does it enter their minds that their actions (and lack thereof) contributed to what they are enduring now.

Yeah, the Church has a huge persecution complex. There's a Catholic League that operates like the press office of North Korea. They're mouthpieces for the regime.

Somebody argued today that Benedict is immune from prosecution because he's the head of a state (the Vatican). True, but seriously, what the fuck? Is that your real concern here, protecting the Pope, instead of fixing the issue?

The hierarchy of the Church desperately needs to be shaken up. It's clear that the current hierarchy is too invested in the lies to treat these issues fairly.

[thies.livejournal.com]

How can the mediators to god be in the wrong? It's impossible!

oh snap

[thies.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's the priests who walked away butthurt...

[thies.livejournal.com]

But it's impossible for the worlds greatest country and biggest economy to suddenly end up in a depression over some unpaid mortgages. The Jews did this.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

But what it may inhibit is a sheltered and unimpaired worldwide child molestation ring that is sanctioned under the premise of a religion. Let's face it. It isn't so much the behavior that is being put in check by marriage as it is the opportunity for child molesters to gather and have the protection of the Catholic Church

Re: Priest marry all the time.

[dukexmachismo.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much the conclusion I came to, back when I thought biblical scholarship was a good use of my time.

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

My favorite objection to Catholic splinter groups (yes, I have a favorite objection to Catholic splinter groups):
Empty Seat Catholics believe the Pope was wrong to approve the reforms of Vatican II.
One of the reforms of Vatican II was to render the Pope not 100%, all-the-time infallible.
So Empty Seat Catholics believe that the Pope was wrong to decide that he was fallible.

WTF EMPTY SEAT CATHOLICS

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the Catholic church says child molestation is worse than wanting to get married.

Molesters don't join the priesthood because they want to molest children. They do it because they're sick and they want to purge themselves of their sin.

Same reason why people get shot at anti-violence events.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

"Molesters don't join the priesthood because they want to molest children. They do it because they're sick and they want to purge themselves of their sin."

That makes the Church even more guilty than ever. If that is the case and the Church accepts that, then it is complicit in the crime by allowing the molesters access to the children. A priest is required to leave the Church in order to get married. The same is not true of a priest that molests children