Is There Any Soul Searching In The Church As To Why So Many Priest Abuse Children?

[democracy1st]

Run time: 06:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaQGlKoxUNM   Posted on YouTube: March 16, 2010 By YouTube Member: MoxNewsDotCom Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: March 16, 2010 By DU Member: democracy1st Views on DU: 1198

 
MUNICH — The priest at the center of a German sexual-abuse scandal that has embroiled Pope Benedict XVI continued working with children for more than 30 years, even though a German court convicted him of molesting boys.

The priest, Peter Hullermann, who had previously been identified only by the first letter of his last name, was suspended from his duties only on Monday. That was three days after the church acknowledged that the pope, then Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, had responded to early accusations of molestation by allowing the priest to move to Munich for therapy in 1980.

Hundreds of victims have come forward in recent months in Germany with accounts of sexual abuse from decades past. But no case has captured the attention of the nation like that of Father Hullermann, not only because of the involvement of the future pope, but also because of the impunity that allowed a child molester to continue to work with altar boys and girls for decades after his conviction.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/world/europe/16church.html


The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church by John L. Allen

http://www.amazon.com/Future-Church-Trends-Revolutionizing-Catholic/dp/0385520387/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268728924&sr=8-1

[old mark]

1. I think there is genuine fear of financial loss and loss of membership, but

I have yet to see evidence of real anguish at the pain and suffering of generations of children caused by their "guardians". I see a lot of legal defense moves, a lot of publicity but no moral outrage at the perpetrators or the enablers.

mark

[jberryhill]

2. There is surprise that they would be held accountable by civil authorities

That's probably about it.

[damyank913]

3. How can the paltry rules of men disturb you when your that close to god?

I wonder if they still grant indulgences.

[ColesCountyDem]

4. There is a great deal of it at the diocesean level, especially in the USA.

At the top, maybe not so much....

:shrug:

[supernova]

5. I think if we dig deeper

we might find that, without legal and obvious restraints, the natural inclination would be for people to abuse positions of authority. In that sense, the CC might not be unique. Maybe on a wider societal level, we are all afraid of finding the full extent of that.

[ColesCountyDem]

7. Correct.

The problem wasn't ( and isn't ) unique to the RCC. It also happened in schools, juvenile facilities, etc., and the response pattern was very much the same .

:thumbsup:

[Glorfindel]

6. No soul-searching required

Matthew 24:28 (New Revised Standard ) "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."

[AtheistCrusader]

8. Not to defend the church or anything but.

Isn't the victimization rate similar to other categories of adults in care/authority positions over children? Such as teachers?

I limit my criticism of the church to their propensity to cover up, and shuffle off the offender to a new location. "why so many" doesn't seem like a fair question to me, barring some new tally of total offenders that I am not aware of.

[democracy1st]

11. More Than 100 Sex Abuse Cases In German Catholic Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKUP8BXiB80

thanks for commenting AtheistCrusader

[liberal N proud]

9. There's a problem? I don't see no problem

We don't see any evidence that the cars accelerate on their own.

Denial is a wonderful tool to delay any court actions.

:sarcasm:

[Mike K]

10. I find this issue rather puzzling.

My older brother and I attended Catholic school and Prep (high school) in the 1940s and 50s. I never heard of any priests engaging in sexual practices of any kind. I didn't serve Mass but my brother did and if he knew about anything like that I surely would have heard about it. I did know one priest who was a boozer and drank sacramental wine by the quart, but he was a really nice old guy who often laughed at confessions and never scolded.

There were two Franciscan Brothers at St. Francis Xavier, in Brooklyn, who were sadistic bastards (one of whom left me with a ringing in my left ear for years), but not in any overtly sexual way.

So I'm wondering if all the homosexuality in the Catholic Church is a more recent phenomenon. Because I never even heard about it back then and if I did I would not have believed it. The only thing I can think of is my brother and I were known heathens and fuckups and if there were any pedophiles in the Cloth they steered clear of us.