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

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

The evidence I place is the obvious, which has been recognized by everybody except, apparently, you. That's how this thread got started in the first place. Your continued reference to "studies" has gotten the support of nobody because they are obviously meaningless and manufactured. However, the truth has gained worldwide attention.

As I have said before, it takes years for these abuse cases to come forward. Despite your attempts at marginalizing the damage done to these victims, the damage is very real.

I know nothing is going to prevent you from continuing to be a minion of this criminal child molestation ring. That is why I am writing to the United Nations and calling for them to open a tribunal at the Hague against the Vatican to enact the changes that the Church has been unable to make.

Hopefully, making changes that do not attract pedophiles to the protection of the Church is one of them.

[ex-restless.livejournal.com]

I love how you make baseless accusations such as my attempts to marginalize the damage to victims. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. It's sad that your personal vendetta has so obstructed your perspective that you can't even look at the truth, nor can you even cite a single study to support your baseless claims.

Until you are able to back up your claims, your comments will continue to be both unhelpful to the situation at large, and utterly worthless. Your personal vendetta makes you incapable of offering any positive contribution to this serious problem, and unfortunately makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution. Again, shame on you.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

And your staunch denial of the problem makes you incapable of moving to a real solution. May you burn in any hell there may be with your perverted buddies whom you hold so dear.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

Figuratively speaking of course

[ex-restless.livejournal.com]

Again, you've made an accusation that holds no bearing in the fact. Far from denying the problem, I consistently address it head on. I just so happen to realize based on the evidence that what you are proposing, the elimination of the discipline of priestly celibacy, would not in any way serve as a solution or part of a solution to the real problem. It is because I recognize the egregious nature of the problem that I actually care about solutions, instead of simply imposing my own agenda onto the Church under the guise of caring about children, which is what you appear to be doing. If it were otherwise, you would honestly consider the fact that sexual abuse is a problem that afflicts non-celibate clergy, as well as other non-celibate professions dealing with children, in as great or even greater percentages than are found in the celibate priesthood. As the Episcopal Bishop of Chicago said in 2002, "We would be naïve and dishonest were we to say this is a Roman Catholic problem and has nothing to do with us because we have married and female priests in our church. Sin and abusive behavior know no ecclesial or other boundaries." Protestant leaders recognize that celibacy is not a cause, statistics verify it, yet you continue to deny it. You are clearly the one in denial. I pray you are delivered from this present hell which is enslaving your mind.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

Nice try. Was he possibly referring to a priest that molested 200 children like Father Laurence Murphy did? Is that all you have? An anecdotal quote?

[ex-restless.livejournal.com]

Just today from that bastion of Catholic defense, Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/id/236096).

Once again, I ask you to support your claims with statistical evidence that shows that married clergy commit sexual abuse at lower percentages than celibate priests, or that in general married persons working with children are less frequent sexual offenders than celibate priests. I won't hold my breath, because you're making baseless claims that can't be factually supported, but I've asked enough times now that you can at least have the decency to admit you were wrong.

And the Scandal Marches On

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

(http://pics.livejournal.com/stewstewstewdio/pic/0004a2k7/) 
The linked story that you posted is more of the tired deflection that the Vatican tries to use.  Sex abuse outside the Catholic Church is not harbored, shielded, hidden and under-reported like the incidents within the Church.  The article you linked to was written per capita.   This doesn't take into account the evil of the serial rapist.   I can only guess that the study your are talking about is the same one that the  pope was referring to in the Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0405/p01s01-ussc.html).  This has a survey embedded by the Christian Ministry Resource that polled churches in the US only.

The data actually supports my position that women and couples in the clergy are less likely to be involved in sex abuse than celibate priests.  The survey cites that it is volunteers that were found to be more likely to be reported for the abuses than the clergy in the Protestant churches.  Also, the abuses in the survey were found to occur once in these Protestant churches instead of serially, like the Catholic institutions as has been reported by the New York Times.  Since sex abuse outside the clergy is just a diversion from the subject at hand, I won't delve into that with this comment.  Be aware, this survey was self-reported by the churches, so I'm not going to vouch for its accuracy.

Yes, I am outraged.  Anyone who claims to have a soul should be.  I am not the only one (http://www.priestsrapeboys.com/).  How sad it is that the faithful, some incredibly poor, should naively contribute their donations to have them be used as hush money for the parents of victims raped by priests and to have the Vatican mob pay their consiglieri to wash their hands of these crimes.  Pontius Pilate would be proud of the Vatican.