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87 Comments
- tomboy501, on 10/12/2007, -9/+46FTA: Disgusted by the failure to take their complaints seriously, the victims wrote to Pope Benedict in March 2006 demanding more serious action.
Further pressure led to disciplinary measures: Fr Cantini was banned from hearing confession or celebrating Mass for five years, "and every day for one year he must recite Psalm 51" - the one that begins, "Have mercy upon me, O God ... Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity." The victims say they regard the disciplinary measures "with astonishment and pain".
The Catholic Church makes me sick. This is how they handle these things at the highest levels. No wonder incidents of priests and sexual abuse are so widespread...an epidemic disease. Half the time, no one cares and there are zero consequences. - nixonrichard, on 10/12/2007, -4/+37Convincing minors to have sex with you isn't exactly uncommon. What I don't get is why these people always feel the need to settle the issue within the church. Go to a police station, tell them what happened, and have the guy arrested. If you have no legal leg to stand on, maybe a 5 year ban from the church IS an appropriate punishment. When you suddenly have a "revelation" that you were abused 30 years earlier, you can't expect much. It sounds like the guy is/was an *****, but how can you fairly convict a guy for sexual crimes he committed decades ago when there is no evidence?
- dshPls, on 10/12/2007, -6/+23Does the sex of the molested child even matter?
- InfinitySnatch, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Catholics don't believe that the Pope is infallible in day to day actions. He's only supposedly infallible when making a declaration concerning a change in Catholic Doctrine from the throne of St. Peter. Something that has only happened a few times in the last 2000 years.
It's a common misconception, like people getting androids and cyborgs confused. - sigintop, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16As a catholic I feel my leaders are abusing their positions and trust. I think it's time for a new age to occur in the Church (a Vatican 3 if you will). One where the entire organization is open and democratic. No more secret rituals to pick leaders or only the selection of men as church leaders. The role of women has been an issue that's been overlooked and mistreated.
We're not living in the dark ages anymore. The people will follow even through the changes. The people and the church will be stronger for it. The greatest threat to the church isn't Harry Potter, Dan Brown, pop culture, or Kevin Smith; it's its own members. The cancer's spreading. - Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Yeah, crap like this is widespread, it's not, unfortunately, limited to the US catholic church.
- Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Many here are missing the point.
The point isn't that there are pervert priests; of course there are, just like there are pervert dentists or pervert policemen. The point here is that the catholic church seems to have a consistent pattern of failing to deal with pervert priests when they're discovered. - littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14I'm no big fan of The Catholic Church and there are no excuses whatsoever for these crimes.
That said, you'd think they'd get a clue about requiring their leadership not to marry. - ronaldst, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12That option didn't do well in the 20th century.
- RSnote, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11@ nixonrichard
The evidence of the reports and letters can be used in a trial. And since it was ongoing abuse, the last incident resets the statutory limit (6 years) for bringing a claim. Also how would you explain the now grown adults knowing intimate details about the priest? Juries have convicted child abusers for far less then that.
Why would you condemn the victims for coming out so late when it was clearly very traumatizing for them? Only decade’s later do they fully understand what happened to them as minors was wrong, can you really blame them for being ashamed? - mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Yeah, usually the stuff that happens badly always makes the front page, all the good stuff rarely shows up.
- mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Some priests are good, some are bad. They are the same as people. Some can tempt, lie, kill or do the worst things imaginable to anyone. However some can be also heroic, inspiring and do the most amazing things to anyone.
- g30ph, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I guess it makes them seem less hypocritical about their stance on gays if they are molesting girls. They may be perverts but at least they aren't GAY perverts. God said molest Eve, not Steve?
Yeah this is all very bad taste I know. - TemplarCrosland, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12@ scratt
Ok I believe that was a little harsh. I admit I am coming to the defense of the Church because I am Roman Catholic, no I am not a younging (22) and no I am not some ignorant hick who has not heard of Darwin's "Origin of Species" (I have a BA in Medieval History). A lot of people have this odd notion that the Holy See has some sort of omnipotent power's over the church and is like a monarch. This is true and it is false, but in the end these matters do not make it to the Pope. This is a failure on the part of The Diocese's Bishop. And unfortunately this is not confined to just Catholics, there are many Protestant preachers who are in jail for the same thing. (Conclusion: we should all be Orthodox. /sarcasm.
I agree the Priest should be defrocked and thrown into a dark dank cell for a very long time. But to blame this on the Catholic Church as a whole is just silly. You now know why I am defending the Church (not to be confused with the priest), so why are you attacking it. I may be wrong but it sounds like you are claiming the atheist card a little to hard. Perhaps you think it is hip and cool to be an atheist, but from the way you anounce it it seems to me that you are just begging attention. I respect atheists greatly, and in a way admire them that they think rationale is all that is needed to understand the meaning of life, love, etc.
But please do not state that any Religion is evil or rooted in hell, or led by Satan. It is demeaning and just shows what a small mind you have, or just how attention starved you are. - Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8In the future if you're going to post crap, be funny.
Oh, and try to keep it under 10 lines. - geekee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Amazing... You never read anything good things about the Catholic Church. "
If you get your news from Digg, what do you expect.
"In an Easter message pinned to church bulletin boards around the country, Zimbabwe's Roman Catholic bishops called on President Robert Mugabe to leave office or face "open revolt" from those suffering under his government."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/04/08/zimbabwe.easter.ap/index.html - dshPls, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I know it was just a joke, but theres a stigma that because it's not gay rape, it's better.
- Maslow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So much for those vows of celibacy. Expecting men to live without sexual gratification is impossible yet the Catholic church still demands it. Instead they coddle, hide and transfer sexual predators. Insanity.
- altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The only reason you don't see this kind of thing about Protestant Priests is because there is no unified protestant church to bash. They get busted just as often.
- Dominatus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Im not religious by any means but I thought I'd do some research on this whole Hitler Youth stuff:
"Following his 14th birthday in 1941, he joined the Hitler Youth, membership in which was legally required from March 25, 1939.[7] His joining was exceptionally late. According to National Catholic Reporter correspondent and biographer John Allen, Ratzinger was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend meetings."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_of_Pope_Benedict_XVI
Why can't people just stop spreading ***** everywhere they go? - siszam, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Yeah, because in the history of the world no atheist ever molested a child or did anything immoral or illegal.
- Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I should probably end all my posts with a "I'm a rabid, libertarian, atheist, but at least I can read" disclaimer.
- orientis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You seriously think quoting a Catholic writer from Wikipedia is any kind of authority whatsoever?
Go do some real research - by which I mean not just looking it up on a wiki - and maybe you'll start to gain some insight into the sick world of this bastard Ratzinger.
Why do people always have to spread *****? - timbellomo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7you obviously have some kind of misconception about the doctrine of infallibility
EDIT: infinity beat me to it - siszam, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Hate speech and bigotry are so cool on digg.
- Alekc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Unfortunately nothing new under the sky :(
Church always had "some" problems in admitting it's errors :/ - WildBil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The depiction of the Priesthood in Southpark is right on target.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5This guy helped protect evil men
The metaphor of the shepherd and his flock is so appropriate. It shows how little respect religion has for human dignity. Stay stupid sheep; you're easier to control that way.
The Catholic Church has a white elephant in the Vatican called pedophilia, as thousands of children are raped by its priests, and how does the Pope address the corruption in his own Church?
He ignores it and tries to hide it - sweeping it under the rug with millions of dollars and shuffling priests from one parish to another.
He appointed a cardinal notorious for hiding wayward priests to a cushy Italian post.
Cardinal Law given ceremonial posting in Rome
Vatican, May. 27, 2004 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned as Archbishop of Boston in the face of a sex-abuse scandal there, has been appointed by Pope John Paul II (bio - news) as Archpriest of the Roman basilica of St. Mary Major.
The appointment of Cardinal Law to a largely ceremonial position in Rome resolves questions about the future of the 72-year-old American prelate. Since his resignation in December 2002, the cardinal has been serving as the chaplain for a small convent outside Washington, DC. Since Cardinal Law is still well short of the ordinary retirement age of bishops (75), and apparently in good health, there had been some speculation that he would receive a new post in the Roman Curia.
As Archpriest of St. Mary Major, the cardinal will preside over major ceremonies at one of the four great basilicas of Rome. (The others are St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul Outside the Wall.) The post is ordinarily filled by a prelate who has passed retirement age.
Cardinal Law will succeed Cardinal Carlo Furno, who has resigned as archpriest at the age of 82. Cardinal Furno had held the position since 1997, after concluding a career in Vatican diplomacy.
Cardinal Law remains a member of several different congregations of the Roman Curia: the Congregations for Bishops, the Clergy, Divine Worship, Evangelization, Religious, Life, the Eastern Churches, and Catholic Education; he is also a member of the Pontifical Councils for the Family and for Culture. He remains eligible to vote in a papal election.
And the Pope uses the same pathetic distraction methods that Bush does - attack gays as a threat to society.
This man is no Saint, he has done way more harm than good with his power - leatherscot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3They even have treatment centers for these people - Called Servants of the Paraclete or "Our Lady of Victory"
I used to work in one of these places - you wouldnt believe what went on! - Khemikl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Abandon religion, the beta is crap, full of flaws, the code is garbled, doesn't do what it promised and the people who wrote it hear voices.
- Vic333, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3By not turning him into the authorities, isn't the Pope himself committing a crime?
- Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@amoirae: OK, I'll assume you're not a native English speaker, and spell it out: I'm not defending, excusing or minimizing anything. I actually said that the real problem is that the _catholic church seems to have a consistent pattern of failing to deal with pervert priests_.
Put another way, I'm saying that the catholic church has repeatedly failed to deal with molesting priests. I am blaming the catholic church for not removing & reporting perverse priests. - orientis, on 10/12/2007, -10/+12A former member of the Hitler Youth is currently the head of one of the largest Christian sects in the world.
Sounds like a bad joke, huh?
P.S Catholicism is one the most soul-destroying religions on the planet. Guilt, shame, confession, redemption. Vicious cycle.
Edit: Oh, forgot birth control and AIDS in Africa. So many sins to lay at the feet of the Catholic church. - spudnic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Post a link genius.
- leatherscot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They have a WHOLE ORGANIZATION to deal with their own perverts and addicts
Check it out http://www.theservants.org/servants.htm
This organization has huge amounts of cash at its disposal to treat, and cover up incidents.
There are centers in the UK and US - The one in the UK - they own almost an entire village in Gloucestershire called Brownshill - Yage2006, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Put him on a rope.
- dagooh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2IMPEACH THE POPE!!!11!
- viviwanu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3These women should be flattered. Priests are picky predators, they normally go for luscious pretty young boys. For anyone who doesn't wish to be sexually violated by God's servants, the solution is simple; STAY OUT OF THE CHURCH!
- Dustin00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank you god!
- mmortal03, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And one more android/cyborg specificity/semantic issue, and hopefully this is informative, neither dogma NOR DOCTRINE can change, in how most people interpret "change", in the Catholic Church. Doctrine as a whole can be further developed (new doctrines can be added), but prior doctrines cannot be subtracted or reversed. If you think that something was a doctrine in the Church and it was subtracted from or removed, then it wasn't actually a doctrine, it was a tradition. I know this sounds fishy, but when making claims about the Catholic Church flip flopping and the like, it is important to have a basic knowledge of how to properly interpret things.
So, pedantically speaking, doctrine when referred to as a whole, does "change" in one sense of the word, though only in the sense of ADDING TO or DEVELOPING it. It would be more accurate, instead of saying that a doctrine cannot "change", to say that doctrine as a whole cannot be "reversed" or "subtracted from" and that individual doctrines also not being "reversed", "removed", or "subtracted from".
A post on a Catholic forum that I have read made this clear:
"Doctrinal development brings a clearer and more precise meaning to what has always been held; whereas doctrinal evolution (which was condemned by Pop Pius X), changes what has always been believed. "
What defines "what has always been held"?
In the case of "doctrinal development" a "change" (an addition) does technically occur, but the basic underlying belief is not altered.
So, the Catholic Church can't "reverse" or "subtract" from a doctrine, but can only clarify it. - ronaldst, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Perverts disguised as priests are still perverts. Kill'em all.
- TemplarCrosland, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@bridbeun
The comment above was meant for both you and scratt. Scratt I know you did not claim to be an atheist. - Battleloser, on 10/12/2007, -8/+9Am I the only person who thinks this pope stinks like a politician?
- sandrino, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2As someone who had Catholicism inflicted on him as a child, I am not surprised at all by the reaction of this pope. The Catholic church should be held responsible for all the horrors it has inflicted on humanity, from the Spanish Inquisition to the molestation of children by priests. They should be forced to pay reparations to all their victims, sell all the gold and art in the Vatican and Catholic churches around the world, turn them into museums and use the profits to take care of their victims.
Remember that pope Benedict headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (AKA the Holy Office of the Inquisition) until he was made pope. This guy is no progressive thinker. He will defend the church from any criticism, no matter how true or accurate, no matter the cost in human suffering. - berwiki, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4@littlebylittle
i've been saying that for years. people who don't want to have sex of any kind are strange in my opinion. let priests get married!!
that being said, why the hell do these stories keep magically coming out?? this happened 30 years ago, and didnt come out when this was shocking news a few years ago?? i hate to say it, but it seems like a bunch of crap to me.
(ps: the thing about getting married goes way back to when the church building itself was property kept in the name of the priest. When he died, sometimes their children would decide to sell the church, so the catholic religion created this rule out of nowhere so they stopped losing churches everytime someone died) - cnldelta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I wouldn't want to be a 10 year old in the next Diocese he gets transferred to.
- KuntaKinte, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2i miss the old pope, he was loved and followed by young and old, this pope hates muslims, complains yet doesn't do anything positive except wear his damn hat like he was some sort of god, and is already starting to annoy me.
- amoirae, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2So? Should that excuse or minimize it? NO, it should not.
- MusicMagi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sick psychopaths bearing the mask of the cloth...
I hope everyone who commits these crimes and those who cover them up or do little about them all burn in the hell they believe in and worse. - mojibyrd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And what about the cover up in politics in regards to sexual misconduct and/or pedophilia that is occurring, one must ask the question why oh why is all of this happening....perhaps the criminals that run the country just have the way's and means to cover this up....but the 'average' creep who commits these crimes is prosecuted to the max, as they should be....about time these creep's are also held accountable for their actions.
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