How do we kill the 'Pedophile Priest' impression promoted by the media?

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Lost_Wanderer

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To be honest, I’m getting very, very, VERY… irritated by the media’s constant ‘Pedo Priests’ jokes in every single strand of popular media I run into when they talk about the Catholic Church.

Is there a way we can kill this trend? Sometimes I wanna go as far to replace it with the ‘Pedo Public School Teacher’ image.

In addition, I’m also looking for ways to debunk the accusation that the Vatican has corrupt leaders. I’m getting sick of overdramatic people who think they’re being gagged by the ‘tyrranical Benedict’ and all that. :mad:
 
I may be suggesting things you already thought of or are already doing, but:

Calmly and politely remind them that more biological fathers and uncles commit acts of abuse than priests do, then ask them if they are in the practice of assuming all family members are paedophiles without checking their facts. Then agree with them that it is especially terrible when a person abuses his position as priest in this way, and remind him that the Church does not condone or tolerate it at all. If you can turn that into a catch-phrase or buzz words then so much the better, it will be more approachable for the media friendly audience who buy this rubbish.

It’s all we can do - it won’t make the misconception go away, because the world likes its stereotypes too much, but it will help to unravel it for the individuals you speak to.

As for the people obsessed with conspiracies about egomaniacal authority figures, remember that this is a manifestation of people’s desire to believe in something bigger than they are - demonstrate by the way you live your life that the Catholic faith is a force for good in the world and their desire may lead them to give up their former belief in the Church’s malevolence and embrace the Church instead. Hard as it is, losing your temper with them will only confirm what they already believe.

God bless,
 
I heard a great homily recently where the Priest pointed at the stained glass windows in the old church that predated the Civil War. He talked about how those windows make perfect sense from inside the building and tell great stories of our faith. Then he talked about how confusing they can be from the outside of the church. I think this is a good comparison as to how misunderstood the church is by many non-Catholics. The main problem is ignorance…they have no idea what we believe or why we believe it, but they do remember the pedophile priest problems that were all over the news. I also wish I knew of a way to fix this problem. I do know that if you bring a friend to mass with you and explain what each thing means, then you will start to see them become more understanding and intrigued in Catholicism.
 
Crepusculum said:
I may be suggesting things you already thought of or are already doing, but:

Calmly and politely remind them that more biological fathers and uncles commit acts of abuse than priests do, then ask them if they are in the practice of assuming all family members are paedophiles without checking their facts. Then agree with them that it is especially terrible when a person abuses his position as priest in this way, and remind him that the Church does not condone or tolerate it at all. If you can turn that into a catch-phrase or buzz words then so much the better, it will be more approachable for the media friendly audience who buy this rubbish.

It’s all we can do - it won’t make the misconception go away, because the world likes its stereotypes too much, but it will help to unravel it for the individuals you speak to.
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To be honest I really wanna do something big, or at least be a part of it. And if there’s one thing big on my mind right now, it’s killing a public stereotype and replacing it with one that is so true, it’d be like the previous stereotype never existed.

You make an interesting point when you mentioned asking people if they ever assumed all family members are pedophiles. As a person possessing lethal skill with cynicism, I can use that.
Crepusculum said:
As for the people obsessed with conspiracies about egomaniacal authority figures, remember that this is a manifestation of people’s desire to believe in something bigger than they are - demonstrate by the way you live your life that the Catholic faith is a force for good in the world and their desire may lead them to give up their former belief in the Church’s malevolence and embrace the Church instead. Hard as it is, losing your temper with them will only confirm what they already believe.

God bless,
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As much as it pains me to admit… you’re right. Compassion and kindness is often a more favorable method. Unfortunately, that’s something I’m just not built for. I’m not exactly a good example of a Mr. Nice Catholic. My tendency to be pessimistic and in-your-face when it comes to dealing with annoying anti-Catholics is almost subconscious. Maybe I should reserve my somewhat insensitive and cynical plan for now…

Still… I feel like I just can’t sit here…
 
I understand where you are coming from, awhile back there was a protestant church where several high ranking people including the pastor were caught molesting children and the media ACTUALLY reported it, we almost fell off of our chairs because they actually mentioned someone other than a Priest, of course, it did not get as much media as if it would have been a Catholic priest…

The media hates the Catholic church and any reason to defame her is fair game to them and it seems they are having a field day with it, but Jesus did promise that the gates of hell would not prevail and they will have to answer for their actions.

Why not write a letter to the station manager, editor or who ever is in charge, also write to the companies whose comercials sponser the media and tell them you will boycott their product for sponsoring such garbage.

God Bless.
 
One thing that I really wish people would understand the most is this:
It is not the celibate Priest who have this problem, it is those who did not remain celibate who did those horrendous things. I get sick and tired of people saying that if Priests didn’t have to be celibate that we wouldn’t have this problem. That is wrong thinking!!!
It was the wolves in sheep’s clothing that did this, not our Shepherd’s. I still trust Catholic Priest more than any other group of men and always will, the celibate one’s are Holy Men of God who preach and teach Jesus and I thank God for them.
 
Lost Wanderer,
I think that the crisis itself deserves more of our attention, than the MSM’s reporting of it. It will take many years of good priests to overcome their bad reputation. I wonder, which came first: priests and bishops disregarding Church teaching on sexuality in both private lives and in the pulpit, or the MSM losing respect for priests and bishops?

I think there was a report at last fall’s USCCB’s meeting that Catholic priests commit these offenses at the same rate as the rest of the population. I seem to remember that the bishop of Omaha, among others, was quite relieved at this. The bishop of Steubenville thought there should be higher standards, though. As Catholics, we believe that there is no salvation outside the Church; therefore, the abusive priests whose victims fled the Church, are responsible for the loss of many souls, including the descendants of victims. This is why abusive priests are so much more damaging to people than other child abusers.

Please read the pope’s remarks on this subject, from his visit in April. thanks.
 
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