After watching this movie really questioning

[WJeffrey]

In Massachusetts today, a future Priest needs to go through 10 hours of Psychiatric testing and a full FBI Criminal Background check before an application to the Seminary will even be reviewed.

Evil may have happened in the past, and as humans, it is impossible to change the past. However, I don’t know how much more can be done to see that it never happens again. 10 hours of Psychiatric testing before an application is opened is probably more Psychiatric testing than some of the prisoner’s at Gitmo have received.

 

[phil19034]

I am a convert to the church just as of this Easter Vigil. My husband, who did not convert, just had me watch Spotlight. Needless to say I am very disheartened. My town was named as a place that had abuse scandals. But not only my town but many, many other places. Thousands upon thousands of cases . I joined the Catholic Church because I have come to believe that it is he church that Christ founded. Do you have any advice for me? If this is the church that Christ founded how can these cover ups still happen? Pope Francis seems to have a good grip on this but is that enough? Any further reading you would recommend would be so very appreciated. My husband has been very supportive of my spiritual journey but I feel like this has really brought a lot of issues to light. I am starting to doubt my decision now. How can I raise my daughter in a church that has such a large cover up of these issues from the top down? Very upsetting.

The current Achbishop of Boston, Sean Cardinal O’Mally recommends that Catholics watch this movie.

 

[Della]

The current Achbishop of Boston, Sean Cardinal O’Mally recommends that Catholics watch this movie.

And it’s fine that he make that recommendation, but no one has to do it, thanks be. There are many movies I have never seen and will never see. I don’t go to movies to be lectured about morality or have my nose rubbed in messes I never created. I go to be entertained. My exception was “The Passion of the Christ,” which while a great film is not something I wish to view again and again, and which my dh never wants to see again. I’m looking forward to seeing the new “Jungle Book.” I hear it’s entertaining and well made–my two biggest criteria met in one film–which is, for me, a cause of innocent merriment.

 

[phil19034]

To the OP, there is a video here on YouTube that I heard yesterday on Relevant Radio.

youtube.com/watch?v=YB7VHZGVakM

The Diocese of Brooklyn talks about the sex abuse scandal and they talk a little bit about the Spotlight movie.

I recommend watching or listening this video

They start getting into the Spotlight stuff around minute 9:30 (but it’s good to start at 8:00, after introductions are over if you don’t watch/listen to the whole thing)

God Bless

 

[anon67074017]

The sex abuse scandal does not represent the Church. The Church views sexual abuse as a sin.

 

[pablope]

I am a convert to the church just as of this Easter Vigil. My husband, who did not convert, just had me watch Spotlight. Needless to say I am very disheartened. My town was named as a place that had abuse scandals. But not only my town but many, many other places. Thousands upon thousands of cases . I joined the Catholic Church because I have come to believe that it is he church that Christ founded. Do you have any advice for me? If this is the church that Christ founded how can these cover ups still happen? Pope Francis seems to have a good grip on this but is that enough? Any further reading you would recommend would be so very appreciated. My husband has been very supportive of my spiritual journey but I feel like this has really brought a lot of issues to light. I am starting to doubt my decision now. How can I raise my daughter in a church that has such a large cover up of these issues from the top down? Very upsetting.

Have you seen these reports, please share them with your husband, and ask him if he feels outraged to?

theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/15/damning-report-reveals-church-of-england-failure-to-act-on-abuse

Damning report reveals Church of England’s failure to act on abuse

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/church-of-england-figures-ignored-sadistic-abuse-of-15-year-old-boy-by-senior-priest-for-40-years-a6932641.html

adventyouthmedia.org/seventh-day-adventist-church-studies-523-sexual-abuse-cases/

Seventh-day Adventist Church Studies 523 Sexual Abuse Cases

Just google, non catholic sex abuses, and a ton come up, such as:

religionnews.com/2013/09/26/billy-grahams-grandson-evangelicals-worse-catholic-church-sex-abuse/

shoebat.com/2014/05/06/sexual-abuse-protestant-churches-catholic/

There Is More Sexual Abuse In The Protestant Churches Than Catholic

The report by Kathryn Joyce, Article from Prospect.org is an eye opener to the extend of the sexual abuse epidemic in many Protestant Churches and schools. By this article, we do not want to undermine Catholic abuses by Catholic priests whom we feel should also be burned at the stake, but its time to fess up, and before we pull the plank out of the eye in our Catholic brothers, Protestants should first see the plank in their eye. The following is the full report:

 

[pablope]

I am a convert to the church just as of this Easter Vigil. My husband, who did not convert, just had me watch Spotlight. Needless to say I am very disheartened. My town was named as a place that had abuse scandals. But not only my town but many, many other places. Thousands upon thousands of cases . I joined the Catholic Church because I have come to believe that it is he church that Christ founded. Do you have any advice for me? If this is the church that Christ founded how can these cover ups still happen? Pope Francis seems to have a good grip on this but is that enough? Any further reading you would recommend would be so very appreciated. My husband has been very supportive of my spiritual journey but I feel like this has really brought a lot of issues to light. I am starting to doubt my decision now. How can I raise my daughter in a church that has such a large cover up of these issues from the top down? Very upsetting.

Yes, it is very upsetting…but here is a catholic response (others can provide other sources):

ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=13360

ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/tom-doyle-addresses-priest-sex-abuse-survivors

 

[rabbysmom]

Thank you very much for all the responses. I should clarify that my husband, while supportive, does have some issues with the church obviously. However, he didn’t stop me from joining the church and bringing our daughter with me. We have a healthy banter back and forth about a lot of items. I knew about the film and after he saw it on a plane trip he said I should watch it. I could have declined to watch it but felt I should. I know you have to take the bad with the good.
I know that I was led to the church for a reason. After letting it sink in a for a couple of days I feel better. I prayed the rosary this morning and felt a real sense of peace and comfort. That usually is the case, but more so this morning. While all of this is troubling to think about I will press on and keep my eyes on Him.

 

[Randy_Carson]

Thank you very much for all the responses. I should clarify that my husband, while supportive, does have some issues with the church obviously. However, he didn’t stop me from joining the church and bringing our daughter with me. We have a healthy banter back and forth about a lot of items. I knew about the film and after he saw it on a plane trip he said I should watch it. I could have declined to watch it but felt I should. I know you have to take the bad with the good.
I know that I was led to the church for a reason. After letting it sink in a for a couple of days I feel better. I prayed the rosary this morning and felt a real sense of peace and comfort. That usually is the case, but more so this morning. While all of this is troubling to think about I will press on and keep my eyes on Him.

 

[Della]

Thank you very much for all the responses. I should clarify that my husband, while supportive, does have some issues with the church obviously. However, he didn’t stop me from joining the church and bringing our daughter with me. We have a healthy banter back and forth about a lot of items. I knew about the film and after he saw it on a plane trip he said I should watch it. I could have declined to watch it but felt I should. I know you have to take the bad with the good.
I know that I was led to the church for a reason. After letting it sink in a for a couple of days I feel better. I prayed the rosary this morning and felt a real sense of peace and comfort. That usually is the case, but more so this morning. While all of this is troubling to think about I will press on and keep my eyes on Him.

All of us, on the first shock of learning that someone or some institution we love isn’t perfect–like when we realize our parents aren’t perfect–can go through a bit of anxiety and soul-searching. It helps us mature to see the world as it is, people as they are, and yet know that God is in control even when it doesn’t seem that way, doesn’t it? Human history is rife with failings by people who ought to have known better. But it’s also filled with saints who quietly work behind the scenes, recognized by no one but God. I like to remind myself of them when I hear of some failing by a religious. People are going to sin because we are all poor sinners. All we can do is try to minimize anyone’s ability to take advantage of the vulnerable, pray, and be faithful ourselves, as I see it.

 

[adamhovey1988]

The pastoral advice I’ve heard is that we as Catholics should not disregard this movie, but be properly outraged at the sins committed.

The Church has the fullness of truth. Jesus promised that. But Jesus did not promise a perfect Church. Judas betrayed our Lord. Peter denied him. I find the following parables helpful.

Jesus is speaking of our current times, not of the times after the Parousia [well, the harvest and pulling in of the net is Judgment, but before the harvest and before the net is pulled in is our current times]. Evil men and weak men will be in the church, and men in the church will do evil deeds. They are not immune from sin. Do not feel like you have to defend actual evils that men have done, such as this. The crimes committed and their covering up was undoubtedly wrong.

My former pastor apologised for it and condemned it. I think he was quite correct in condemning it.

 

[clem456]

I am a convert to the church just as of this Easter Vigil. My husband, who did not convert, just had me watch Spotlight. Needless to say I am very disheartened. My town was named as a place that had abuse scandals. But not only my town but many, many other places. Thousands upon thousands of cases . I joined the Catholic Church because I have come to believe that it is he church that Christ founded. Do you have any advice for me? If this is the church that Christ founded how can these cover ups still happen? Pope Francis seems to have a good grip on this but is that enough? Any further reading you would recommend would be so very appreciated. My husband has been very supportive of my spiritual journey but I feel like this has really brought a lot of issues to light. I am starting to doubt my decision now. How can I raise my daughter in a church that has such a large cover up of these issues from the top down? Very upsetting.

There is no excuse for evil ever.
And you must keep things in perspective.
The reality is, the Church is under a microscope looking for each and every fault. And that is fine, we should be held to the highest standards.
But the full reality of this is, a child is 100 times more likely to be molested by a teacher than by a priest. So this is not something that is somehow peculiar to the Catholic Church.
As far as raising your daughter, you should be prudent in your decisions. But you should -not- be more afraid of a priest than anyone else. Or even less so.
The greater likelihood is that the rottenness that is public education (not individual teachers) will corrupt a child.

 

[clem456]

That’s not true.

I’m in the media and I’ve seen many editors, publishers, and reporters–including myself–pass up many, many chances where we could have portrayed “people of faith” in a negative light.

To make a blanket statement like that is very unfair and baseless.
Are you a member of the media?
If not, how do you know how many times we have “passed up” the chance to do so?

And it’s not the only reason “the whole pedophile priest thing” made the news. It’s not even the main reason, or a small reason.

These horrible crimes validly made the news because of how vast the cover up was/is, how poorly the crimes were dealt with, the crimes are linked with a person’s faith and supposed salvation (both the perpetrators and the victims), the Catholic church is a powerful, wealthy, worldwide and vocal institution in the world…and, because priests are not only supposed to be a trusted authority to children, they have vows to God not to have sex–unlike the other vocations you mention.

Those five factors, among many more, are what these crimes it even more shocking than usual…and therefore, even more newsworthy to report.

.

Much credit to you for being an honest journalist.
My wife was in journalism for 15 years and there is a heavy tendency to bludgeon people and institutions of faith. This is not so much true at a local newspaper kind of level, but at regional and national news level, it is undeniable.

It is shocking and evil when trusted people like priests abuse others. But, as a demonstration of bias, how many stories do you see hammering the NEA for the abuse that teachers perpetrate?
The bias against people and institutions of faith is undeniable. It shows that the journalist cares not for the child, but for a point of view. If the journalist cared for the child, we would see well rounded honest journalism that exposed all abuses, not just the ones that satisfy certain journalistic appetites.

When my wife went through journalism school, the atmosphere created by professors and the like was clearly hostile to faith institutions. The students were indoctrinated that way. And if you were one of the small minority who was known to be a practising Christian, you simply did not get a job of any note. My wife at first fit in well with this, then as she changed with family and maturity, she parted ways with some of the extremists in the news room, she landed on the “S list”.

 

[SyroMalankara]

Clem,

Is it religious institutions or institutions in general? It seems today’s focus is dismantling yesterday’s (many times flawed) structures by focusing on it’s scandals - whereas, in the past, the scandals were brushed under the rug and only the positive was highlighted

 

[steve_b]

I am a convert to the church just as of this Easter Vigil. My husband, who did not convert, just had me watch Spotlight. Needless to say I am very disheartened.

From Caine murdering Able, down to Judas, down to priests and bishops in our day who fall way short of God’s plans, I’m with you…it’s disheartening.

OTOH,

• imagine what priests hear in confessions coming from the laity?
• Now think of all the stuff going on in society that doesn’t even see the confessional. Those who don’t even believe in the sacraments let alone the sacrament of reconciliation. The numbers are staggering and their sins are atrocious.

Is it any wonder that Jesus said the following

Mt 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few

IOW everyone else goes to… hell because of what they did and died in that state.

While it is a few priests who sin that way, and a few bishops who cover things up, ANY number is too many. The Blessed Mother told the children at Fatima, more souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than any other sin.

ncregister.com/site/article/sharing-fatimas-message-anew

Just look at the culture today around the world and particularly the U.S. You can’t turn on TV without pagan Hollywood sholving their sex agenda down our throats. Not to mention all the other avenues and vehicles of sin society has developed

Look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and Catholic teaching on morals. It’s been solid for 2000 years.
r:

My town was named as a place that had abuse scandals. But not only my town but many, many other places. Thousands upon thousands of cases . I joined the Catholic Church because I have come to believe that it is he church that Christ founded. Do you have any advice for me? If this is the church that Christ founded how can these cover ups still happen? Pope Francis seems to have a good grip on this but is that enough? Any further reading you would recommend would be so very appreciated. My husband has been very supportive of my spiritual journey but I feel like this has really brought a lot of issues to light. I am starting to doubt my decision now. How can I raise my daughter in a church that has such a large cover up of these issues from the top down? Very upsetting.

Don’t let THOSE who do terrible things and or cover up such sins and the sinner, destroy YOUR faith… Jesus promised to protect His Church. Don’t lose faith

And don’t think for one second that other faiths aren’t dealing with their own issues here as well. reformation.com/

While from 2003, I’m sure there are up to date figures.

I don’t do that to throw rocks. It’s to make another point. Protestants don’t believe in their pastors being celibate. They think our issues are a result of celibacy. This is NOT a celibacy issue and those cases from that link show that…

 

[WJeffrey]

That’s not true.

I’m in the media and I’ve seen many editors, publishers, and reporters–including myself–pass up many, many chances where we could have portrayed “people of faith” in a negative light.

To make a blanket statement like that is very unfair and baseless.
Are you a member of the media?
If not, how do you know how many times we have “passed up” the chance to do so?

And it’s not the only reason “the whole pedophile priest thing” made the news. It’s not even the main reason, or a small reason.

These horrible crimes validly made the news because of how vast the cover up was/is, how poorly the crimes were dealt with, the crimes are linked with a person’s faith and supposed salvation (both the perpetrators and the victims), the Catholic church is a powerful, wealthy, worldwide and vocal institution in the world…and, because priests are not only supposed to be a trusted authority to children, they have vows to God not to have sex–unlike the other vocations you mention.

Those five factors, among many more, are what these crimes it even more shocking than usual…and therefore, even more newsworthy to report.

.

As a member of the media, don’t you think you might be too close to the situation to be objective. I think consumers of media are in a far better position to judge media bias. Most people employed by media conglomerates like NBC or CNN probably believe that they are paragons of objectivity. Any consumer with a third grade education can tell you they are feeding you a liberal perspective. The odds of a Christian being portrayed in an objective manner are remote.

I’m sure that Rachel Maddow and Wolf Blitzer believe they are very fair. Perhaps you think they are. I don’t know. Joe Sixpack knows that the Priest is going to be made to look foolish, bigoted or lecherous.

I live in Massachusetts, and I can tell you that objectivity is nonexistent at the Boston Globe. It only has gotten worse since John Henry purchased the Newspaper.

 

[phil19034]

No.

The issue isn’t whether a report you see is fair or not or biased or not. That’s something different.

The poster wrote: “the media will never pass up a chance to portray people of faith in a negative light.”

But how does a consumer know if a media outlet has *“passed up a chance to portray people of faith in a negative light” *unless they are in the newsroom meetings each morning, hearing the discussions going on and hearing how the stories are chosen that day, hearing how the editors and writers discuss the information and facts found and what they mean and how the story should be presented and how it is edited?

You are talking about stories you see. I’m talking about the negative stories or interviews you don’t see because we chose not to publish/air them.

The poster wrote that the media will never pass up the chance…
But I’m here to tell you that I can think of at least ten times that I “passed up the chance”…and ten more times I saw other reporters/editors do so as well.

So what the poster wrote is not true. My colleagues and I are living proof of it.

.

Thanks for you insight.

Question: why is that? Are those stories turned down because they are not interesting enough? Or you can’t verify the source? Both? Or something else entirely?

I’m assuming the answer is both, but I remember many anti-media conspiracy stories my Political Science professors would provide in my “Who Governs?” and “Campaign Finance” classes back in college.

 

[Bradski]

How can I raise my daughter in a church that has such a large cover up of these issues from the top down? Very upsetting.

You tell her that your church, just like any organisation, is full of normal people with the same hopes and fears and problems and doubts as any other group of people.

And some of those people, just by the law of averages, will be evil. That they will take advantage of the young and vulnerable. And some people, as in any organisation, will try to excuse it. Will try to pretend it didn’t happen. Will make excuses. Will blame others.

Shine a light on it, bring it out into the open, express your own horror, insist that there is retribution and demand that there are protocols put in place so that it should never happen again. Shame those who make those excuses. Explain this to your daughter when she’s old enough to understand.

Then take her to mass. Maybe her dad will come along now and then and make it a family ocassion. There’s more to religion than believing in God.

 

[Randy_Carson]

You tell her that your church, just like any organisation, is full of normal people with the same hopes and fears and problems and doubts as any other group of people.

And some of those people, just by the law of averages, will be evil. That they will take advantage of the young and vulnerable. And some people, as in any organisation, will try to excuse it. Will try to pretend it didn’t happen. Will make excuses. Will blame others.

Shine a light on it, bring it out into the open, express your own horror, insist that there is retribution and demand that there are protocols put in place so that it should never happen again. Shame those who make those excuses. Explain this to your daughter when she’s old enough to understand.

Then take her to mass. Maybe her dad will come along now and then and make it a family ocassion. There’s more to religion than believing in God.

Nicely said, Bradski.

Thank you.

 

[clem456]

(Thanks for your thanks

There are many, many reasons and a combination of variables that convince an editor to green light a story to be published or not.
The reasons you mention are two of them. Spotlight shows how they held the story for quite a while until someone high up could verify the information they had to be factual.
Also…most decent publications will try to be balanced in their reporting, so if they cannot get quotes illustrating both sides of the story, it will not run unless/until they can.
Or, if there is no new fact or development in a story it won’t run* just *to put someone in a negative light.
Other factors that come into play are timing, the other stories that day, what photos are available to use, how compelling the interviews are, etc, etc…

Lost Sheep wrote:

But a newspaper–if it’s an upstanding one–is not going to write a story on an “alleged” criminal, *only *to be negative about people of faith. Many people IN the media business ARE people of faith! The majority are, I’d say.

If a person has been legally charged or is being officially investigated or there is much evidence against them, etc, then the story has the potential to be looked at…

.

In this particular subject matter, why do you believe the NEA is not under intense scrutiny by the press for sexual abuse by teachers?
Teachers are trusted with the instruction and safety of children for more hours than their parents in many cases. I would think they would be held to a high standard.