Child abuse claims sweep Catholic Church in Europe

[Swede]

DUBLIN – It often starts as a voice in the wilderness, but can swell into an entire nation's demand for truth. From Ireland to Germany, Europe's many victims of child abuse in the Roman Catholic church are finally breaking social taboos and confronting the clergy to face its demons.

Ireland was the first in Europe to confront the church's worldwide custom of shielding pedophile priests from the law and public scandal. Now that legacy of suppressed childhood horror is being confronted in other parts of the Continent — nowhere more poignantly than in Germany, the homeland of Pope Benedict XVI.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100313/ap_on_re_eu/eu_europe_church_abuse

[donco6]

1. But hey! Let's kick a little girl out of school 'cuz her parents are LESBIANS!

Ewwww! Lesbians!

:sarcasm:

[ohheckyeah]

2. I honestly don't understand how

anyone can still go to a Catholic church.

[laconicsax]

3. They're ok with it.

If they weren't, they wouldn't go.

[DaveinJapan]

5. I don't know if "okay with it" is exactly what's happening.

The people I've talked to, most of them anyway, seem to be in a perpetual state of denial. They strive to minimize the extent of it ("well it's just a handful of evil priests and there are MILLIONS of good Catholics out there doing good things!"), explain away their financial complicity ("we make our donations to the local parish only, we don't support those higher up", "maybe some of my money has gone right to the Vatican. But, a lot of my money has gone to humanitarian aid, New Orleans relief, aid to abused women, aid to the poor, feeding the hungry in my own community, etc."), and justify the morality of staying by invoking God or Jesus ("we will keep our trust in Jesus, even if the Bishop or even the Pope are criminals").

Any mental, moral gymnastics they can possibly do to justify staying a part of and contributing to such a sinister organization.

But the honest truth is, they've been brainwashed into fearing the consequences of leaving THAT particular church (eternal hellfire). I feel sorry for the rank and file churchgoers, though I can't condone their actions.

[laconicsax]

8. I don't feel sorry for them.

Willful ignorance, either through denial or compartmentalization, gets no sympathy from me.

[ohheckyeah]

10. willfull ignorance is a good description.

How could anyone purposely expose their children to such perversion?

[laconicsax]

4. I'm sick of seeing this called "abuse." It's child rape. Calling it abuse marginalizes its severity.

[Canuckistanian]

6. This is HUGH in Europe right now

Our CBC is all over this story, even if the US media is not.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/15/europe-vatican-priest.html

[RainDog]

7. It is a huge story

And I hope it will have financial repercussions.

I started following it over the weekend.

Vatican admits it did nothing to punish abusers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7921117&mesg_id=7921117

Church Failed to Inform Police and made children swear to silence.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7915213&mesg_id=7915213

Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal (video)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=442817&mesg_id=442817

[laconicsax]

9. Yet it sinks...

Oops! Did I just kick this thread? Oh well.

[MadBadger]

11. Reminds me of the South Park Episode

[Zomby Woof]

12. Time to put the pope at the end of a rope