Weren't all Bishops and The Arch Bishops and The Pope priests once?

[Maraya1969]

Pretty much the only people who are not bothered by child molesters are other child molesters.

[hedgehog]

1. They all are still priests. I think you've hit on one source of the problem -

the clergy, especially the older members, are socialized/brain washed to consider themselves above and apart from the laity. They are holier than anyone else,so your automatic reaction if a priest is caught in sin is that he must have been tempted. The victim thus becomes the tempter. Also, if you are brainwashed that all sex is bad, it's hard for you to understand that there is a difference between sex between consenting adults and sex between a powerful adult and a child or teenager.


You've also been brainwashed that the Church is the hierarchy, that the Church and thus the hierarchy is perfect, that any criticism of the hierarchy is criticism of all Christianity , etc, etc. Your first duty is to protect the reputation of the Church, not innocents. You also must protect the priests from the laity.

I'm not defending these people, just explaining them.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. Please don't generalize. Not all priests are like that. Nor is the laity...

all 'brainwashed'

The church is a human institution and run by humans and some are good and some are bad. The bad ones need to go. Now.

I know many fine Catholic men and women, lay people and ordained and NONE of them condone what's happened.

[hedgehog]

8. The laity used to be brainwashed - that's why so many parents went

to the bishop instead of to the police for so many years.

I think the term "brain washing" is appropriate for the older generation. It used to be that if a boy had any interest in the priesthood, they would be swept off to junior seminary for high school. This was an all male establishment. College was replaced with a residential seminary where the only women were the cooks and cleaners. In many cases, the seminarians weren't allowed home for holidays or the summer. Frequently, visits were limited and letters were censored. The students were not allowed to be alone with a female, even if she was a mother or sister! Typically, every aspect of the day was scheduled and supervised, with frequent confession required. The system reinforced a contempt for women and a general feeling of superiority over anyone who wasn't a priest. At the extreme, "Father" usurped the position of patriarch within the family.

So, you had a generation of men whose training could be mistaken for induction to a cult. The amazing thing is not that a few went bad, but that so many turned out to be good men!

The training was reformed after Vatican II, and in many places candidates went through a psychiatric exam. The problem was, the men who were promoted as bishops were those who did the Vatican rag. Bishops were chosen for their ability to balance a spread sheet rather than to live and preach the Gospel.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-james-martin-sj/how-could-it-happen-traci_b_514965.html

[glinda]

3. I think Priests sometimes become pedophiles because of three reasons:

1) Some are to begin with
2) They are sexually dysfunctional by repressing having sex
3) Every service and major prayer is all focused on "him, he or male figure in adoration and love" so the obsession and sexual focus becomes all inclusive and focused at "male".

[Deep13]

7. I think that they think becoming celibate, they or god will control the impulses.

Then they get in and find a culture that actively promotes pederasty.

[Deep13]

4. Yes, they are all priests still. Part of the job description. nt

[Maraya1969]

5. So how do we know that the Pope has not molested boys?

[Deep13]

6. We don't. nt