A more rational perspective regarding Catholic Priest sexual abuse

[irishpatrick]

jfpblog.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/some-rational-perspective-regarding-catholic-priests-sexual-abuse/

…In all of this, the Church needs to have complete transparency about the abuse, and the victims need to receive direct help and love. Yet, the Church must also look at the period of the 60s and 70s and try to determine exactly what caused such horrors to happen. It is critical that while the Church helps the victims, it must also work to make sure this does not happen again and that can only occur if the Church ascertains the root causes. There are many areas for the Church to investigate, including the nature of our culture in the 60s and 70s–which were some of the worst years this nation has ever produced to date, though we seem to be challenging that in today’s culture.

What was there about the 60s and 70s (remember Priests are men who come from the culture) that helped to fuel this mess? What were the weaknesses of the Church during the 60s and 70s that helped fuel this mess (celibacy has nothing to do with those horrors, children and minors are more frequently abused by married family members)?

Most of the abuse we see being revealed across the many nations are likely going to show us that the peaks there were also in the 60s and 70s. There is something that happened in the west during those years that proved to be a most amazing attack on the Roman Catholic Church. What that was specifically is critical to determine–perhaps the Church already knows.

In the end, this situation has caused a horrific and lasting stain to be placed on the Church and many Catholics have had their faith tested. However, we must keep in mind that it was 30 years ago that the abuse peaked, abuse today is incredibly low, and even at its peak the abuse was done by four-percent or less of the Priesthood in this nation. It is important to note that even at the peak of abuses, 96 out of every 100 Priests did NOT abuse, and today that has fallen to levels hardly discernible.

A point to consider is one that falls into the spiritual realm. If you were a spiritual enemy of the Church, would you attack the people in the pews, or would you attack the Church from the inside? There is hardly a more painful reality than to know your own Church has been attacked from the inside by hundreds of trojan-horse Priests who have preyed on innocent people. What better way can you think of to try to tear down the Church then to attack Priests and entice them into such incredible and horrific sins?

None of this excuses the reality of the pain all of this has caused the victims and none of this changes the reality that the Church has many years to go and many steps to take in order to rebuild itself.

Yet, perhaps we can take all of these points and try to have a more calm and rational perspective on this horrific mess.

 

[Bassman60]

Last night on Currents, the news show on our local Catholic television station, they had an interview with Fr. Thomas Brundage. Fr. Brundage was the judicial vicar who presided over the canonical criminal case of Fr. Lawrance Murphy. He wrote an article that would be of interest to anyone who wants to know about this case. Here is the link:

catholicanchor.org/wordpress/?p=601

Personally, I want to see every priest, or non-priest, who is guilty of child abuse to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I also want to see anyone guilty of coverups to be prosecuted in an appropriate manner and to certainly answer for these coverups, especially if they are leaders in the Catholic Church. But, I do not want innocent men to be prosecuted for crimes they did not commit!

Child abuse is horrible! But that is no excuse to slander innocent men. Let us fight false accusations with the truth, both as a necessity and as an example.

 

[Seno_Ryan]

I agree let us fight this horror with truth. The Church has many more years to go to recover from this horror. The Church will survive as it did with the Reformation.

 

[irishpatrick]

I agree let us fight this horror with truth. The Church has many more years to go to recover from this horror. The Church will survive as it did with the Reformation.

The Church deserves the hits, and the victims deserve compassion and love. Yet, the world should know the reality here and since the Church seems unwilling to be its own PR machine, lay Catholics should step-up and help. IMO.

The truth shall set you free? Than lets get the truth out.

jfpblog.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/some-rational-perspective-regarding-catholic-priests-sexual-abuse/

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

The Church deserves the hits, and the victims deserve compassion and love. Yet, the world should know the reality here and since the Church seems unwilling to be its own PR machine, lay Catholics should step-up and help.

I think you neglect to understand that the on-going scandal is because the Church was protective of PR instead of children and young adults. The abuse happened.

It continued to occur and it was covered up by clerics more interested in appearances than protecting the victims. So, right now I think the Church should not respond at all to attacks, even false ones.

This whole scandal could have been contained long ago.

 

[irishpatrick]

I think you neglect to understand that the on-going scandal is because the Church was protective of PR instead of children and young adults. The abuse happened.

It continued to occur and it was covered up by clerics more interested in appearances than protecting the victims. So, right now I think the Church should not respond at all to attacks, even false ones.

This whole scandal could have been contained long ago.

I disagree. What people perceived as hiding the abuses was–in most cases–simply Bishops listening to mental health professionals and they were attempting to protect the privacy of the victims and their families. In many ways the Church was correct, yet on the surface it looks like they were trying to hide the abuse, when in fact they were not in nearly all cases.

 

[Crusader13]

I disagree. What people perceived as hiding the abuses was–in most cases–simply Bishops listening to mental health professionals and they were attempting to protect the privacy of the victims and their families. In many ways the Church was correct, yet on the surface it looks like they were trying to hide the abuse, when in fact they were not in nearly all cases.

That might be true on certain levels, but I can’t imagine a mental health professional advising the church to simply shuffle around the pedophile priests, while still allowing them contact with children. It doesn’t matter how much time has elapsed or what the culture of the 60’s and 70’s was like; after all the dust has settled those priests who committed the atrocities should answer for their crimes.

The corrupt priests and any other catholic clergy who either directly or indirectly assisted in covering up the truth should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I’m all for truth and getting the facts straight in this situation, for example; if one report is stating that hundreds of children were abused by a particular priest when in reality the number is in the teens, then yes definitely correct the error. Yet when reading some of these articles that are meant to shed light on the abuse scandals, there seems to be a sense of “well its bad, but not that bad” feel to it.

That is what people are getting and that feeling continues to be the biggest downfall for the church. Self-preservation is a common reaction from people who are doing something they shouldn’t be doing, so it’s no wonder why so much of this abuse has remained hidden for so many years. This abuse, all though evil and unbearable, will not destroy God’s Church, yet it seems like so many of the catholic clergy have taken it upon themselves to do what they feel is expedient in defending the Catholic Church and probably their own reputations.

It’s time for those people to be brought to justice and their crimes be revealed.

 

[irishpatrick]

That might be true on certain levels, but I can’t imagine a mental health professional advising the church to simply shuffle around the pedophile priests, while still allowing them contact with children. It doesn’t matter how much time has elapsed or what the culture of the 60’s and 70’s was like; after all the dust has settled those priests who committed the atrocities should answer for their crimes.

The corrupt priests and any other catholic clergy who either directly or indirectly assisted in covering up the truth should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I’m all for truth and getting the facts straight in this situation, for example; if one report is stating that hundreds of children were abused by a particular priest when in reality the number is in the teens, then yes definitely correct the error. Yet when reading some of these articles that are meant to shed light on the abuse scandals, there seems to be a sense of “well its bad, but not that bad” feel to it.

That is what people are getting and that feeling continues to be the biggest downfall for the church. Self-preservation is a common reaction from people who are doing something they shouldn’t be doing, so it’s no wonder why so much of this abuse has remained hidden for so many years. This abuse, all though evil and unbearable, will not destroy God’s Church, yet it seems like so many of the catholic clergy have taken it upon themselves to do what they feel is expedient in defending the Catholic Church and probably their own reputations.

It’s time for those people to be brought to justice and their crimes be revealed.

It is a fact that in many of the cases the MHP stated the Priest could return ministry. The biggest downfall is the abuse, not the mis-perception of a cover-up, which simply did not exist in big percentages…

It amazes me how people want to find a way to attack the Church no matter what. Now, the abuse is secondary, it is the so-called cover-up that is the real crime…utter nonsense. As I explained, in most cases the Church was not seeking to cover-up anything, they were trying to protect the privacy of the victims and their families.

Your view is akin to saying the murder is not the bad thing, it was that neighbor who did not speak-up…now he was the real criminal.

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

I disagree. What people perceived as hiding the abuses was–in most cases–simply Bishops listening to mental health professionals and they were attempting to protect the privacy of the victims and their families.

That’s a convenient excuse but inaccurate. Sometimes there is an affirmative duty to report felonies – most folks who watch kids or who have a law license have such a duty. In the vast majority of cases, the known felonious abuse was not reported to authorities – which is in itself a criminal act.

And such lack of reporting allowed the abuse to continue. But it saved many dioceses from bad PR.

 

[Crusader13]

It is a fact that in many of the cases the MHP stated the Priest could return ministry. The biggest downfall is the abuse, not the mis-perception of a cover-up, which simply did not exist in big percentages…

It amazes me how people want to find a way to attack the Church no matter what. Now, the abuse is secondary, it is the so-called cover-up that is the real crime…utter nonsense. As I explained, in most cases the Church was not seeking to cover-up anything, they were trying to protect the privacy of the victims and their families.

Your view is akin to saying the murder is not the bad thing, it was that neighbor who did not speak-up…now he was the real criminal.

I’m not attacking the church and I was in no way trying to imply that the greater crime is the cover up and not the abuse. I was simply pointing out that those who chose not to report it or took extra steps to insure that the abuse remained private should have to answer for they’ve done as well. Am I saying that they are just as bad as the pedophile priests, no… Yet many defenders of the church are giving reasons as to why such things were never reported, or why priests were moved around within the church and not simply thrown out and handed over to law enforcement and they expect people to accept those reasons as legitimate and understanding answers.

Is there ever a good reason why one should not report the sexual abuse of a child??? And is there a good reason why said abuser is still allowed to remain in his position and still allowed contact with children??? I think people are getting upset because they don’t like to hear well intentioned catholic clergy defend the nondefendable. When you try to explain away how a pedophile priest slipped through the cracks based on a technicality or how they “thought” simply moving that priest from one parish to another would fix the problem, is a very hurtful slap in the face.

 

[irishpatrick]

I’m not attacking the church and I was in no way trying to imply that the greater crime is the cover up and not the abuse. I was simply pointing out that those who chose not to report it or took extra steps to insure that the abuse remained private should have to answer for they’ve done as well. Am I saying that they are just as bad as the pedophile priests, no… Yet many defenders of the church are giving reasons as to why such things were never reported, or why priests were moved around within the church and not simply thrown out and handed over to law enforcement and they expect people to accept those reasons as legitimate and understanding answers.

Is there ever a good reason why one should not report the sexual abuse of a child??? And is there a good reason why said abuser is still allowed to remain in his position and still allowed contact with children??? I think people are getting upset because they don’t like to hear well intentioned catholic clergy defend the nondefendable. When you try to explain away how a pedophile priest slipped through the cracks based on a technicality or how they “thought” simply moving that priest from one parish to another would fix the problem, is a very hurtful slap in the face.

It is easy in 2010 to say what people in the 60s, 70s and early 80s should have done (30-40 years ago). Yet our view of things is far different today, then it was then. Abuse of any kind is never acceptable, not any kind. Yet, in those days the opinion of mental health professionals were very highly considered, and when Priests were said to be healed, then they were said to be healed. Today, after many more years of experience and knowledge, we know much more…not so back then.

So, when Priests were moved, it was at the time something that was considered the proper thing to do.

It was also a much, much, much more private world then. One only has to think about how many gays remained in the closet to understand how different things were then. People would have all sorts of personal issues that they would never let anyone know about because they feared repercusions from friends and family and even neighbors. Again, today, speaking of our personal issues has become almost a quasi-sacrament in this all too touchy-feely culture…yet it was not so back then–the opposite actually.

So, when abuse was kept quiet and unreported, that was simply the way things were done back then. It was kept quiet for dignity of the victims, and for their families and neighbots–that is just simply the truth and applying today’s social standards to the 60s and 70s simply does not do any good at all.

 

[irishpatrick]

That’s a convenient excuse but inaccurate. Sometimes there is an affirmative duty to report felonies – most folks who watch kids or who have a law license have such a duty. In the vast majority of cases, the known felonious abuse was not reported to authorities – which is in itself a criminal act.

And such lack of reporting allowed the abuse to continue. But it saved many dioceses from bad PR.

Read post #11,

 

[Lutheranteach]

I called for it before, and I’ll do so again. The solution is this:

• The Catholic Church should give up trying to investigate itself. Instead, it should hire a law firm specializing in investigations. This firm needs to have no ties to the Vatican and be provided an unlimited budget.
• The investigators should be given a simple directive: Find the truth about child abuse and molestation in the church.
• The investigators need access to ALL records and must be given the power to subpoena both materials (including personal correspondence) and testimony from anyone, including the pope, inside the Catholic Church.
• When anyone within the church is found to have credible abuse or molestation accusations against him, investigators should turn over any and all materials to proper secular authorities for further investigation and prosecution, NO MATTER THEIR TITLE
• The investigators should issue a public report of their findings along with recommendations for the Vatican to prevent further abuses.

There are two more things I would call on the Holy See to do, but I suspect it would be reluctant: It should create an impeachment process to remove the pope should it be found he is guilty of covering up crimes. And it should suspend eliminate the statute of limitations when it comes to canon law and child abuse.
These things would be costly and perhaps painful, but only such independent investigation can restore the confidence the church has lost and bring back credibility.

 

[irishpatrick]

I called for it before, and I’ll do so again. The solution is this:

• The Catholic Church should give up trying to investigate itself. Instead, it should hire a law firm specializing in investigations. This firm needs to have no ties to the Vatican and be provided an unlimited budget.
• The investigators should be given a simple directive: Find the truth about child abuse and molestation in the church.
• The investigators need access to ALL records and must be given the power to subpoena both materials (including personal correspondence) and testimony from anyone, including the pope, inside the Catholic Church.
• When anyone within the church is found to have credible abuse or molestation accusations against him, investigators should turn over any and all materials to proper secular authorities for further investigation and prosecution, NO MATTER THEIR TITLE
• The investigators should issue a public report of their findings along with recommendations for the Vatican to prevent further abuses.

There are two more things I would call on the Holy See to do, but I suspect it would be reluctant: It should create an impeachment process to remove the pope should it be found he is guilty of covering up crimes. And it should suspend eliminate the statute of limitations when it comes to canon law and child abuse.
These things would be costly and perhaps painful, but only such independent investigation can restore the confidence the church has lost and bring back credibility.

I vote for none of the above.

 

[Lutheranteach]

Read post #11,

School teachers fall under this as well. I MUST report any suspected child abuse or neglect immediately. It’s been that way for many teaches since 1974

 

[Lutheranteach]

I vote for none of the above.

Than be prepared for the Church’s moral credibility to be a thing of the past — and worse.

 

[irishpatrick]

School teachers fall under this as well. I MUST report any suspected child abuse or neglect immediately. It’s been that way for many teaches since 1974

Not so for other institutions and it takes years for most institutions to actually begin reporting.

 

[irishpatrick]

Than be prepared for the Church’s moral credibility to be a thing of the past — and worse.

Nonsense. It will take time, but in ten years the Church and faith will be flourishing.

 

[Corki]

I vote for none of the above.

I also say “none of the above”!!!

Of course from the non-Catholic’s perspective, it’s a good plan since to follow that course of action is to systematically dismantle the Hierarchy as an authoritative body.

None of those are good ideas for the Church or for Catholics.

 

[irishpatrick]

I also say “none of the above”!!!

Of course from the non-Catholic’s perspective, it’s a good plan since to follow that course of action is to systematically dismantle the Hierarchy as an authoritative body.

None of those are good ideas for the Church or for Catholics.

I agree 100%.