Catholic Church officials 'obsessively' hid child sex abuse

[lemonbeam]

By Andras Gergely and Antonella Ciancio REUTERS NEWS AGENCY

DUBLIN | Roman Catholic archbishops in Dublin obsessively covered up widespread sexual abuse of children by priests until the mid-1990s, a report commissioned by the Irish government said Thursday.

One priest admitted abusing more than 100 children. Another said he had abused children every two weeks for more than 25 years, it said.

All archbishops in charge over the 1975-2004 period covered by the inquiry were aware of some complaints and the archdiocese was preoccupied with protecting the reputation of the church over and above protecting children’s welfare, the report said.

It said the church was “obsessively” concerned with secrecy and operated a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” about abuse.

“Unfortunately, it may be that the very prominent role the church has played in Irish life is the very reason why abuses by a minority of its members were allowed to go unchecked,” it said.

Read more: washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/27/catholic-church-officials-obsessively-hid-child-se/

 

[pnewton]

This time, unlike the Boston scandals of the same time period, report that the state officials were also involved, although that was not the way the headline read. Covering one’s backside is a human trait, not a Catholic one.

 

[redrosetea]

This same sort of thing was done in all faiths from what I have read…Does it make it right…?

Of course not…

I am sure there were many good priests that knew absolutely nothing about this happening

I have heard Fr Groeschel say more than once he had no idea of the abuse that took place here, and he is a psychologist

We need to be very careful not to make the church look terrible because of what some in power chose to do

The church has always stood at the fore front of social justice, and even during those dark days it was a fraction of people involved in this

It is being taken care of as it should be, but lets not turn our back on the good the church has always accomplished, because some men were not faithful to their calling

 

[jay29]

This just might be the death knell for the Church in Ireland. Reading the report is just sickening. Apparently, the firestorm is pretty heavy over there. Those accused who are still in ministry should be removed immediately.

 

[Guyonthestreet]

This just might be the death knell for the Church in Ireland. Reading the report is just sickening. Apparently, the firestorm is pretty heavy over there. Those accused who are still in ministry should be removed immediately.

I was listening to an Irish priest who believes that is the case. He also commented that in a few years from now, most priests in Ireland will be from foreign parts.

The seminaries in Ireland are being descimated - the youth have been tainted by the scandals and want nothing to do with the catholic institution.

He reckons a generation from now 99% of the priests active in Ireland will have come from abroad.

That’s assuming parishes simply dont fold, which he also thought was a very real possibility.

Unbelievably sad for a small country that provided priests for the world since the beginning of modern time.

But the church only has its self to blame.

 

[Crumpy]

Well, this is part of the story. In the U.S., there have been zero-tolerance policies around for a few years. What was the status in Ireland of such approaches?

Here, we’ve seen de-frocking and public humiliation of alleged perpetrators. What is the legal framework in Ireland? Do they have a statue of limitations? (There is a valid purpose to that.)

How much can the Irish dioceses and orders pay in damages? Going bankrupt would be the logical end of the Church there, if the decimation of the ranks of priests didn’t do it.

It seems that there should be “days of reparation” and stuff like that, it seems. The fact that it is a government investigation that brings all the daylight to this is the most upsetting. What? Are the priests emigrating someplace?

It seems that there is little Benedict XVI can do there locally, but he will have a big and perhaps controversial role there from his office in Rome.

The Bishops in Ireland will surely be twisting in the wind for years, as perhaps they should, who knows? Will the government there deny them passports to even leave the country?

 

[jay29]

All I can say is Satan is having a field day in Ireland, reaping what he sowed. He’s whooping it up now. He’s laughing like hell at us.

The only cure is to get Catholicism back to being very strict like it was as my +grandmother used to point out. This new age modernity has been quite the down fall of the Catholic Church if you ask me.

 

[everblooming]

The Catholic Church has lost it’s credibility. All of us who belong need to stop minimalizing and rationalizing the cover-ups. Bad apples can get into leadership positions in any religious organization, but the magnitude of abuse and the system that provided opportunites for repeated abuse is a unique experience. Hopefully, this will be a catalyst for much needed CHANGE.

I would love to see the Pro Life movement change direction and focus on protecting children in our Catholic programs and on getting justice for adults who were abused. My heart goes out not just for the victims of abuse, but for all the people who tried to stop it and who were shunned. We need to make sure this never happens again. Until we fix the morale problems within our own church, I don’t think we should be preaching morality to pregnant women outside of our church. We need to get our credibility back and this is going to take some time, brutal honesty, and reflection.

“Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.”
Lord Acton, English Historian

 

[bill_Karabinus]

I must first thank God that I am a Catholic and thank the Church for her presence in my life. In all of my fifty years I have seen and heard of many terrible things that humankind has done and yes this has been one of the worst but we must understand that this was done by people acting out of their own warped sense of need. I say “need” and believe it applies to all the aspects of this situation and those similar to it throughout history both inside the Church and out, we cannot the blame the Church for the acts of these people and we certainly cannot blame ourselves as Catholics. This type of behavior and the need to hide it goes on in every country and in every walk of life, in families, in state and government run institutions and yes, even in our Churches. We though as morally obligated men and women of faith must stand up for the rights of all individuals by speaking out when we learn of abuses of any kind, hiding them for whatever reason will only make matters worse in the end as we have seen here. We must first pray for all the victims of abuse and then we must take a stand in returning our Church to its place of honor by returning to our strict Catholic values, by reporting problems of any nature and by leading as an example to others. Only in this way can we stop this horrible behavior from hurting others in the future.

 

[FiberZilla]

The Catholic Church has lost it’s credibility. All of us who belong need to stop minimalizing and rationalizing the cover-ups. Bad apples can get into leadership positions in any religious organization, but the magnitude of abuse and the system that provided opportunites for repeated abuse is a unique experience. Hopefully, this will be a catalyst for much needed CHANGE.

I would love to see the Pro Life movement change direction and focus on protecting children in our Catholic programs and on getting justice for adults who were abused. My heart goes out not just for the victims of abuse, but for all the people who tried to stop it and who were shunned. We need to make sure this never happens again. Until we fix the morale problems within our own church, I don’t think we should be preaching morality to pregnant women outside of our church. We need to get our credibility back and this is going to take some time, brutal honesty, and reflection.

“Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.”
Lord Acton, English Historian

Obviously for whatever reasons, there have been many in the priesthood over the years who are or were unfit for the celibate life. A lot of these guys were propably socially backward during the teen years, no girlfriends, maybe even harboring homosexual feelings. The priesthood seemed like a good place to get away from it all especially if the young man came from a religious upbringing. With no acceptable outlet for their sexuality, and no accountability in the system, children became an easy target. It’s really a shame that the good priests out there who have served honorably have taken an image hit because of these sick criminal predators.

 

[pnewton]

This just might be the death knell for the Church in Ireland.

The Catholic Church has lost it’s credibility.

I would love to see the Pro Life movement change direction and focus on protecting children in our Catholic programs and on getting justice for adults who were abused.

Absolutely not! Never!

The Church of Jesus Christ must never cede any territory, geographical or moral, to the Great Adversary that is the author of this mess. What we must not is perpetuate the same error of concerning ourselves with our credibility. Scarring children is not a worse sin than murdering them. Abortion is a front that must never, and will never, be turned into bargaining chip to placate those who seek the demise of the Holy Church of God.

Let us remember that instead of worrying how we will be judged,

I Corinthians 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Those that chose to judge the whole of the God’s flock by the actions of the wolves must not lead us to a diminished resolve to fight sin and strive for holiness.

 

[everblooming]

PNewton, I find it ironic that you would be so judgemental of my opinion and use quotes from the Bible about not judging others to do so. I am not the Great Adversary. May I suggest that you use all this passion towards rooting out the evil within our church instead of condeming preganant women outside of our church. That would take courage. You seem like someone who is courageous, you are just blind.

 

[redrosetea]

One crime or sin never excuses another…to abandon the unborn would be a great sin

We have to work harder on everthing

 

[pnewton]

May I suggest that you use all this passion towards rooting out the evil within our church instead of condeming preganant women outside of our church. That would take courage. You seem like someone who is courageous, you are just blind.

No, I am a Catholic. I am not blind. My faith is rooted in reason. The Church does not condemn pregnant women. A courageous woman who is pregnant will not opt for a murder of convenience. It is a mortal sin. It is sin that condemns when it is justified instead of confessed. This whole introduction of abortion in this conversation is what is illogical. It presents a false dichotomy that will never exist. Both the sin of abusing children and of murdering them is wrong.

 

[everblooming]

Getting back to the subject . . . Pnewton, are you doing anything to root out evil within our church?

 

[pnewton]

Getting back to the subject . . . Pnewton, are you doing anything to root out evil within our church?

I was unaware I was the subject.

The answer is “yes.” (BTW)

 

[Irish_Becca]

I believe that the Church should get rid of ANY AND ALL of those involved in abuse and cover-up. It should be very public, too. Child molestation is despicable and while we should forgive, we know that people who partake in these perversions do not “get better.” Once you have made the decision to hurt a child like that, you have crossed a line. You no longer are capable of leading a flock. Only after these perverts are booted out will some of the many who have turned away from the Church come back. Perhaps then we will have more vocations.

 

[everblooming]

The point I was making is that as Catholics we need to look in the mirror and at the problems within the leadership of our Church. The point I was making is that since we already have advocacy groups organzied, it would make sense if the focus of the Pro Life movement was on rooting out evil within our church and changing the secret atmosphere of the Catholic Church that was the environment that this abuse flourished. We need to regain our credibility.

Try to look at it another way. Imagine if you had a neighbor who was completely disheveled with weeds overflowing in his front yard. Now imagine that neighbor yelling to everyone on his front porch that they need to clean up their homes. Would anyone listen to your neighbor? Probably not. That is what the Pro Life movement looks like with all the scandals going on.

And Pnewton, try not to take things personally. It’s not about you, it’s about saving our Church.

 

[StrawberryJam]

The point I was making is that as Catholics we need to look in the mirror and at the problems within the leadership of our Church. The point I was making is that since we already have advocacy groups organzied, it would make sense if the focus of the Pro Life movement was on rooting out evil within our church and changing the secret atmosphere of the Catholic Church that was the environment that this abuse flourished. We need to regain our credibility.

Try to look at it another way. Imagine if you had a neighbor who was completely disheveled with weeds overflowing in his front yard. Now imagine that neighbor yelling to everyone on his front porch that they need to clean up their homes. Would anyone listen to your neighbor? Probably not. That is what the Pro Life movement looks like with all the scandals going on.

And Pnewton, try not to take things personally. It’s not about you, it’s about saving our Church.

I like the weeds analogy, but the bible makes the weeds and wheat grow together by God’s will, and desire.

For what reason? God does not have to give any reasons for why he would allow such a thing, but in the bible we clearly see not much is past God in terms of gross sinning in his people along the way.

The bible does deal with passages that warn what will happen to those you describe in positions of authority that miss the mark.

And, if it consolues anyone to know that great.

 

[redrosetea]

Well with a proper Bishop doing his job it shouldn’t be necessary for the prolife movement to do anything other than protect the unborn

I suspect this will never happen again because there are all kinds of safeguards in place that were never used before…