How do we respond to the "sex abuse scandal"?

[vera_dicere]

I find it perplexing that people actually consider leaving or not joining the Church based on the very public downfall of a few of its members. If you don’t want to be Catholic, fine, but if you don’t want to be Catholic because a few of its Priests committed grevious sins, then the fault isn’t the CHurch’s, its yours. I mean, it’d be like being born in Berlin and not wanting to be German because of, well… you know…?

With that said, as a Church I think we need to be very honest. Yes, there are Priests who have committed these sins, yes, children have been harmed. I understand the concept of forgiveness and some of these Priests could have repented privately and the Bishops let them continue. However, when a sin is a private sin, repent in private, if a sin is public, repent in public, and if one is truly sorry for their actions, then they will do what they can to appease those they harmed. If you murder someone, and go to confession, yes, in teh eyes of the Lord you are forgiven, but that’s not the end of it, you can’t just go home and continue like nothing happened. If your’e truly sorry, you must take responsibility for your actions. You’d go to the cop shop and turn yourself in and face whatever punishment awaits.

The other thing, as others have mentioned, the Church is always going to be attacked more than any other insitutition. We are the Bride of Christ, its not really the CHurch they’re attacking, it’s Him. There are plenty (if not more) paedophiles in the teaching profession, but you don’t dump the sins of a few on the doorsteps of the many.

But I think we need to be tread carefully, yes, if it is proven beyond any doubt that a Priest has sinned in this matter, turn him over to the civil authorities and excommunicate him. However, I know of priests who were completely innocent and someone who didn’t like them decided to spread that paedophile lie about them, its very destructive, and even if its disproven, people will still be weary.

There was a case a while ago down here, when someone accused a priest of molesting them, it was in all the papers, the Bishops and Cardinal went into damage control, the CHurch was getting horrific press. The poor chap was forced to resign as a priest and essentially booted out.

A few months later it was discovered that the priest had not molested this guy. The person making the claims was an adult, saying he had been abused at the Catholic school this priest taught at. Turns out, the guy had never been to the school, his cousin had, and his cousin had told him about this priest being really strict, but fair. So, this guy decided to make a quick buck or get his 15 minutes or whatever went through his twisted skull.

And once the truth was out, it was in a tiny little few sentances in the back sections of the paper, not a sniff on the radio or news. Nothing.

Just a Priest who’s life was destoryed by lies.

These accusations need to be dealt with by the proper authorities, the accused priest should have name suppression, just like any child molester or rapist accused, only when it is proven that they are guilty should their name be released. Even the fact they are a priest needs to be hidden until the guilt has been determined.

Long and short of it, respond with calm and clairty, point out that there are just as many, if not more paedophiles in the teaching profession, that if such abuses have happened, they shoudl not be covered up, but that the justice system guarentees a fair trial to all, and that innocent until proven guilty still applies to the most horrific of offenders.

Pray for unity and strenght in the Church. Yes, it is shameful that some priests do these awful things, but it is not your shame to bare. And one certainly shouldn’t leave, or refuse joining the CHurch because of the actions of a few.

 

[Benadam]

I find it perplexing that people actually consider leaving or not joining the Church based on the very public downfall of a few of its members. If you don’t want to be Catholic, fine, but if you don’t want to be Catholic because a few of its Priests committed grevious sins, then the fault isn’t the CHurch’s, its yours. I mean, it’d be like being born in Berlin and not wanting to be German because of, well… you know…?

With that said, as a Church I think we need to be very honest. Yes, there are Priests who have committed these sins, yes, children have been harmed. I understand the concept of forgiveness and some of these Priests could have repented privately and the Bishops let them continue. However, when a sin is a private sin, repent in private, if a sin is public, repent in public, and if one is truly sorry for their actions, then they will do what they can to appease those they harmed. If you murder someone, and go to confession, yes, in teh eyes of the Lord you are forgiven, but that’s not the end of it, you can’t just go home and continue like nothing happened. If your’e truly sorry, you must take responsibility for your actions. You’d go to the cop shop and turn yourself in and face whatever punishment awaits.

The other thing, as others have mentioned, the Church is always going to be attacked more than any other insitutition. We are the Bride of Christ, its not really the CHurch they’re attacking, it’s Him. There are plenty (if not more) paedophiles in the teaching profession, but you don’t dump the sins of a few on the doorsteps of the many.

But I think we need to be tread carefully, yes, if it is proven beyond any doubt that a Priest has sinned in this matter, turn him over to the civil authorities and excommunicate him. However, I know of priests who were completely innocent and someone who didn’t like them decided to spread that paedophile lie about them, its very destructive, and even if its disproven, people will still be weary.

There was a case a while ago down here, when someone accused a priest of molesting them, it was in all the papers, the Bishops and Cardinal went into damage control, the CHurch was getting horrific press. The poor chap was forced to resign as a priest and essentially booted out.

A few months later it was discovered that the priest had not molested this guy. The person making the claims was an adult, saying he had been abused at the Catholic school this priest taught at. Turns out, the guy had never been to the school, his cousin had, and his cousin had told him about this priest being really strict, but fair. So, this guy decided to make a quick buck or get his 15 minutes or whatever went through his twisted skull.

And once the truth was out, it was in a tiny little few sentances in the back sections of the paper, not a sniff on the radio or news. Nothing.

Just a Priest who’s life was destoryed by lies.

These accusations need to be dealt with by the proper authorities, the accused priest should have name suppression, just like any child molester or rapist accused, only when it is proven that they are guilty should their name be released. Even the fact they are a priest needs to be hidden until the guilt has been determined.

Long and short of it, respond with calm and clairty, point out that there are just as many, if not more paedophiles in the teaching profession, that if such abuses have happened, they shoudl not be covered up, but that the justice system guarentees a fair trial to all, and that innocent until proven guilty still applies to the most horrific of offenders.

Pray for unity and strenght in the Church. Yes, it is shameful that some priests do these awful things, but it is not your shame to bare. And one certainly shouldn’t leave, or refuse joining the CHurch because of the actions of a few.

Very fine points. The secular wind bent the reeds during the 60’s and 70’s and effected who could enter seminaries, who could become ordained and what a proper view of human sexuality should be. How men with such grave disorders could enter and then be ordained and every detail that contributed to that needs to be changed or diciplined and standardized at a higher elevation.

I pray that poor Priest takes this most valuable opportunity to forgive because the power added to prayer for forgiveness of such will heal the bonds damaged by his fallen colleagues.

I can’t agree with one part though.I don’t think we should remind people about all the good priests if they want to discuss the ones who failed us. I think we need to discuss the faults with them without changing the subject. If they change the subject to something biased then we should gently Let them know what they said isn’t fair and why.

Sometimes allowing this will cause them to bring up the good priests

 

[mmarg77]

Honestly and respectfully.

People will ask how I can condone this and I’ll say I don’t and I’ll try not to make lame excuses like, “they’re only human” or point out the same problems other denominations have experienced as well… All humans are expected to respect the vulnerable and protect them. But I won’t desert The Church because of poor management.

It seems to me that we (society) always have handled child abuse in a hush-hush way and/or with denial - even when it happens within our families.

Societies will not accept this any longer and they even expect us to apologize and make reparation for other types of injuries in the past. We cannot make up for past abuse of any type.

I’ll share my sadness - for the abused person and the abuser - pray for everyone and trust in The Lord

The Bishops in the past did move the accused Priest around expecting that the Priest could outrun his past and change his ways. I believe the Bishops know that now, and will handle these incidents differently in the future.

I cannot imagine how money serves to heal anyone involved. The abused need validation and The Church needs to acknowledge it’s failure to effectively help all of those involved. I pray that there will be healing for all.

 

[PassingThru]

That the Church is singled out is proper to our role in the world. Whether the attack is because we are viewed as arrogant for claiming that role or because more is expected because that role is silently accepted, it’s the way we should expect to be treated as occupants of the moral high ground.

I’m dissapointed that this problem wasn’t handled as an opportunity to teach the human family how to heal from such deep shamefull wounds by example. It isn’t scandalous because it happened it’s scandalous because it became a dirty little secret just like it does in all families that suffer from this kind of abuse.

I handle it by being scandalized properly as a member of the family that suffers it. Non-catholics then sense the discomfort of having put their nose where it shouldn’t have been. It’s improper for non-catholics to be more scandalized by this than catholics.

I can’t be anything but ashamed and that prevents me from ever feeling defensive. I am not defending the faith by defending the Church on this matter. I let my non-catholic friends see the shame and the sense of loss that my Church failed my expectations, and let them know that I’m thankfull they expect more from the Church and that I wish I could apologize on the Church’s behalf for not living up to that.

As a non-Catholic, this is the best response I have heard yet. As usual, most comments in threads on this topic are truly sad excuses that, if used by anyone other than your Catholic Church, you would find wholly insufficient. Regardless, Benadam has hit it exactly right. For the life of me, I can not figure out why it is not the Catholic laity themselves that are mad as he!! and marching with pitchforks to prosecute the priests and the bishops/cardinals/administration that helped to keep this all a secret. But, it is not the case. Most every Catholic I hear from (in person as well) sounds like most on here… Worried about the “poor Church”, not really that interested at all in cleaning up the ranks. It is incredibly odd, and infuriating at the same time. If I heard from a Benadam each time I heard a “hand wringer”, I think most of my angst would pass.

 

[tweetymom]

Honestly and respectfully.

People will ask how I can condone this and I’ll say I don’t and I’ll try not to make lame excuses like, “they’re only human” or point out the same problems other denominations have experienced as well… All humans are expected to respect the vulnerable and protect them. But I won’t desert The Church because of poor management.

It seems to me that we (society) always have handled child abuse in a hush-hush way and/or with denial - even when it happens within our families.

Societies will not accept this any longer and they even expect us to apologize and make reparation for other types of injuries in the past. We cannot make up for past abuse of any type.

I’ll share my sadness - for the abused person and the abuser - pray for everyone and trust in The Lord

The Bishops in the past did move the accused Priest around expecting that the Priest could outrun his past and change his ways. I believe the Bishops know that now, and will handle these incidents differently in the future.

I cannot imagine how money serves to heal anyone involved. The abused need validation and The Church needs to acknowledge it’s failure to effectively help all of those involved. I pray that there will be healing for all.

Money cannot erase what the abused goes thru everyday of their lives.OOPs spelled wrong

 

[tweetymom]

As a non-Catholic, this is the best response I have heard yet. As usual, most comments in threads on this topic are truly sad excuses that, if used by anyone other than your Catholic Church, you would find wholly insufficient. Regardless, Benadam has hit it exactly right. For the life of me, I can not figure out why it is not the Catholic laity themselves that are mad as he!! and marching with pitchforks to prosecute the priests and the bishops/cardinals/administration that helped to keep this all a secret. But, it is not the case. Most every Catholic I hear from (in person as well) sounds like most on here… Worried about the “poor Church”, not really that interested at all in cleaning up the ranks. It is incredibly odd, and infuriating at the same time. If I heard from a Benadam each time I heard a “hand wringer”, I think most of my angst would pass.

 

[ccolley]

While I am in NO way attempting to justify these priests or their actions, there are a few things we have to keep in mind with this situation.

ANYTIME there is a scandal in the Catholic church, you can bet your bottom dollar that the media is going to blow it WAY out of proportion, paint all priests with the same brush, and villify the church as much as possible. Is it any coincidence that this is happening at the same time as the healthcare bill? The church is pretty outspoken against it due to it’s pro-abortion statements.

My husband and I both work for the local school district. I can assure you (as much as this makes me positively SICK) that these kinds of abuses are everywhere. Protestant churches (I knew one molester personally, and the child as well), schools (rampant, and occurs almost every day), day cares, and just on the streets. In any place where there are children, there are going to be predators. Parents HAVE to be vigilant. The thing is, you only really hear about these abuses in the church. Why? Because the Catholic church is so anti-cultural. We preach modesty, temperance, abstinance, and life. These are all things the current culture finds disgusting, and they are looking for any failure to point and say “look! They are no better!”

I’d also like to add that given the media coverage of this, up against other instances of teachers or protestant pastors found in the same sin, I’d be willing to bet top dollar that the abuses done by Catholic priests are far more rare than other demographics. The Catholic church is just big, and therefore a prime target. I know when it happened at my old church, the pastors and board just covered it up so no one had to know and it wasn’t reported as a church offense.

I am not justifying the disgusting actions of these priests. I am not seeking to defend those who protected any of them. They should be called out, and disciplined harshly. There are just no words for the crime they committed against those so innocent and helpless. I am hoping we as a church will learn and move on.

The Catholic Church is a city on a hill, and all of the faults will be exposed by a world seeking to bring us down.

I too am a convert, (we’ve been catholic the same amount of time to be honest. I will be 3 years catholic this easter) and I can tell you that while the news saddens me, I am not shaken. I proudly belong to a church who follows Christ, and is made up of broken people. I will pray for the priests, pray for the victims and their families, and pray for the church that this will make us stronger, and more able to recognize when these things are going on so we can stop it.

Beautiful post! Well said!
CC
[SIGN]I love my Papal Papa! [/SIGN]

 

[Benadam]

As a non-Catholic, this is the best response I have heard yet. As usual, most comments in threads on this topic are truly sad excuses that, if used by anyone other than your Catholic Church, you would find wholly insufficient. Regardless, Benadam has hit it exactly right. For the life of me, I can not figure out why it is not the Catholic laity themselves that are mad as he!! and marching with pitchforks to prosecute the priests and the bishops/cardinals/administration that helped to keep this all a secret. But, it is not the case. Most every Catholic I hear from (in person as well) sounds like most on here… Worried about the “poor Church”, not really that interested at all in cleaning up the ranks. It is incredibly odd, and infuriating at the same time. If I heard from a Benadam each time I heard a “hand wringer”, I think most of my angst would pass.

On one level we don’t want to throw our garbage out in the street for all to see but on another level healing begins when we are able to say yeah, this is Bantha poodoo! I’m glad to be a source of relief for you and thanks for owning the buried and denied anger in your catholic friends.

I respect the Priesthood and I refrain from ever talking negatively about A Priest unless I have to for some good that must be done. Anyone who understands the kind of damage to the soul this causes, as a father, all I can say is it would be good to put him in jail if this happened to my son because I’m sure I would track him down and have a father to father heart to heart with him.

 

[Shadark]

Benadam, you don’t have to be a Catholic to feel shamed over this; I certainly do and I’m not Catholic. Sexual abuse by the religious clergy happens across all flavours of Christianity. When it happens in one, it affects us all. It’s happened in the Anglican, Baptist, Protestant and ‘Happy Clapper’ communities. But I think the real problem here is that people are more worried about the image of the church and bringing these ‘priests’ to justice.

What about the victims?

Who is supporting them? Who is giving them comfort for the horror they have been through? Do people understand that molestation by a priest not only destroys their lives, but also their relationship with God? What do you think a child is going to perceive having being violated in the House of the Lord? By a person who is supposed to keep them safe, protected and in sanctuary from evil. It destroys them physically, mentally and spiritually. I cannot begin to understand how someone who has been sexually abused deals with this. But the obvious coping mechanism that comes to mind would be to abandon their religion in order to forget it happened. Out of sight, out of mind. Barriers are now thrown up against their faith in God. To the victims, God failed them in their time of need, when they needed help, and can you blame them for thinking this. It is very similar to the situation where a child has been sexually abused by a member of their own family. When the things go wrong in our lives, we can always count on our family to be there for us; but the abused cannot perceive that sanctuary for it failed them long ago. For someone abused by the clergy, they can no longer perceive any sanctuary offered by God. That’s some heavy abandonment to deal with. It would require an especially strong person to be able to re-connect with God and put aside the violation a priest of His church once committed upon them.

It does no good to sit around and despair about your Church’s image and for the well being of all the priests out there. The well being of the victims should be what church and community concentrates on. I don’t know what the best course of action is in helping these poor people, but there has to be more than just expressing remorse over it. Despite the bad press and history, the Church is a force of good on this earth and should start acting the part a lot more than it has.

 

[tweetymom]

Benadam, you don’t have to be a Catholic to feel shamed over this; I certainly do and I’m not Catholic. Sexual abuse by the religious clergy happens across all flavours of Christianity. When it happens in one, it affects us all. It’s happened in the Anglican, Baptist, Protestant and ‘Happy Clapper’ communities. But I think the real problem here is that people are more worried about the image of the church and bringing these ‘priests’ to justice.

What about the victims?

Who is supporting them? Who is giving them comfort for the horror they have been through? Do people understand that molestation by a priest not only destroys their lives, but also their relationship with God? What do you think a child is going to perceive having being violated in the House of the Lord? By a person who is supposed to keep them safe, protected and in sanctuary from evil. It destroys them physically, mentally and spiritually. I cannot begin to understand how someone who has been sexually abused deals with this. But the obvious coping mechanism that comes to mind would be to abandon their religion in order to forget it happened. Out of sight, out of mind. Barriers are now thrown up against their faith in God. To the victims, God failed them in their time of need, when they needed help, and can you blame them for thinking this. It is very similar to the situation where a child has been sexually abused by a member of their own family. When the things go wrong in our lives, we can always count on our family to be there for us; but the abused cannot perceive that sanctuary for it failed them long ago. For someone abused by the clergy, they can no longer perceive any sanctuary offered by God. That’s some heavy abandonment to deal with. It would require an especially strong person to be able to re-connect with God and put aside the violation a priest of His church once committed upon them.

It does no good to sit around and despair about your Church’s image and for the well being of all the priests out there. The well being of the victims should be what church and community concentrates on. I don’t know what the best course of action is in helping these poor people, but there has to be more than just expressing remorse over it. Despite the bad press and history, the Church is a force of good on this earth and should start acting the part a lot more than it has.

 

[portarica]

While I am in NO way attempting to justify these priests or their actions, there are a few things we have to keep in mind with this situation.

ANYTIME there is a scandal in the Catholic church, you can bet your bottom dollar that the media is going to blow it WAY out of proportion, paint all priests with the same brush, and villify the church as much as possible. Is it any coincidence that this is happening at the same time as the healthcare bill? The church is pretty outspoken against it due to it’s pro-abortion statements.

My husband and I both work for the local school district. I can assure you (as much as this makes me positively SICK) that these kinds of abuses are everywhere. Protestant churches (I knew one molester personally, and the child as well), schools (rampant, and occurs almost every day), day cares, and just on the streets. In any place where there are children, there are going to be predators. Parents HAVE to be vigilant. The thing is, you only really hear about these abuses in the church. Why? Because the Catholic church is so anti-cultural. We preach modesty, temperance, abstinance, and life. These are all things the current culture finds disgusting, and they are looking for any failure to point and say “look! They are no better!”

I’d also like to add that given the media coverage of this, up against other instances of teachers or protestant pastors found in the same sin, I’d be willing to bet top dollar that the abuses done by Catholic priests are far more rare than other demographics. The Catholic church is just big, and therefore a prime target. I know when it happened at my old church, the pastors and board just covered it up so no one had to know and it wasn’t reported as a church offense.

I am not justifying the disgusting actions of these priests. I am not seeking to defend those who protected any of them. They should be called out, and disciplined harshly. There are just no words for the crime they committed against those so innocent and helpless. I am hoping we as a church will learn and move on.

The Catholic Church is a city on a hill, and all of the faults will be exposed by a world seeking to bring us down.

I too am a convert, (we’ve been catholic the same amount of time to be honest. I will be 3 years catholic this easter) and I can tell you that while the news saddens me, I am not shaken. I proudly belong to a church who follows Christ, and is made up of broken people. I will pray for the priests, pray for the victims and their families, and pray for the church that this will make us stronger, and more able to recognize when these things are going on so we can stop it.

Why are we somehow proud to be the “best of the molesters” . We should be courageous, clean up the mess by apologizing to all the victims and their mothers and then get rid of all the priests and clergy who abused kids or allowed abuse to spread b y their sins of omission.

The Catholic church needs to be leaders in solving this problem, remember the church will prevail, there is no need to be worried about protecting status or reputations , its time to fess up, clean up the mess and go on with the work of Jesus.

Peace

 

[Ralph4454]

While I agree with those who say “lets clean up our mess and get rid of the abusers”, can we please stop pointing fingers to what “others” are doing? abusers are abusers regardless of what their title is. I believe, we, (CC) made a huge mistake by ignoring it this long. Accusing others of doing it won’t fix the problem. Put these preists in jail, and let’s be greatful for the rest of them that are standing there taking punches for what they did not do.
“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:6-8

 

[Benadam]

Benadam, you don’t have to be a Catholic to feel shamed over this; I certainly do and I’m not Catholic. Sexual abuse by the religious clergy happens across all flavours of Christianity. When it happens in one, it affects us all. It’s happened in the Anglican, Baptist, Protestant and ‘Happy Clapper’ communities. But I think the real problem here is that people are more worried about the image of the church and bringing these ‘priests’ to justice.

What about the victims?

Who is supporting them? Who is giving them comfort for the horror they have been through? Do people understand that molestation by a priest not only destroys their lives, but also their relationship with God? What do you think a child is going to perceive having being violated in the House of the Lord? By a person who is supposed to keep them safe, protected and in sanctuary from evil. It destroys them physically, mentally and spiritually. I cannot begin to understand how someone who has been sexually abused deals with this. But the obvious coping mechanism that comes to mind would be to abandon their religion in order to forget it happened. Out of sight, out of mind. Barriers are now thrown up against their faith in God. To the victims, God failed them in their time of need, when they needed help, and can you blame them for thinking this. It is very similar to the situation where a child has been sexually abused by a member of their own family. When the things go wrong in our lives, we can always count on our family to be there for us; but the abused cannot perceive that sanctuary for it failed them long ago. For someone abused by the clergy, they can no longer perceive any sanctuary offered by God. That’s some heavy abandonment to deal with. It would require an especially strong person to be able to re-connect with God and put aside the violation a priest of His church once committed upon them.

It does no good to sit around and despair about your Church’s image and for the well being of all the priests out there. The well being of the victims should be what church and community concentrates on. I don’t know what the best course of action is in helping these poor people, but there has to be more than just expressing remorse over it. Despite the bad press and history, the Church is a force of good on this earth and should start acting the part a lot more than it has.

Thank you Shadark. I think you are right about preserving an image held as the primary concern. In fact I know that is true. That the policy was to cover up to prevent the bad behavior of a few from staining the image of the whole. This is usually the best for the laity. But not this kind of abuse. This abuse and cover up means the clergy, bishop included lack a vision of the soul or lack love for souls. Either way that act demonstrates they are not fit to lead souls.
Part of the problem too is the lack of freedom that a clear conscience offers a leader in the face of intense scrutiny. Some abusive priests were shuffled because their Bishop’s feared for their own image in the face of an investigation.
Victims of these Priests deserve to see a new face on the Church.

 

[markomalley]

I converted to the Catholic faith from Protestantism in 2007. I am coming up on my 3rd anniversary. I am proud of this Church and have never looked back. I can respond to atheist and Protestant objections, but this one is stumping me. How is this happening? What do we say? We have to face this squarely; we can not just deny the underlying truth. I also realize that many in the media and government will use this to attack the faith generally and Catholicism in particular. We need to develop a rational and organized response. What can those of us in the pews and trenches do? I know, we can pray the rosary and have special Masses - we should - but how do we get the moral high ground again? It will take decades, I fear. When we condenm abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, gay marriage, or homosexual practice, the response is “don’t talk to me about my life and how people should live when your priests are abusing children!” I am concerned we are facing the biggest threat since the Reformation. I don’t believe for a minute that Pope Benedict was involved or neglectful, but I’m afraid his reputation is damaged (falsely) and that ultimately his health may be threatened by this battle. Some will attack him with this for the rest of his papacy. I pray for the victims and even for those priests who did this and are willing to repent. I admit, I pray for God’s wrath on those priests who don’t repent and on those who use this as an excuse to attack the Church. I am angry and hurting at this same time about all of this!

We have been encouraged as follows:

I now invite all of you to devote your Friday penances, for a period of one year, between now and Easter 2011, to this intention. I ask you to offer up your fasting, your prayer, your reading of Scripture and your works of mercy in order to obtain the grace of healing and renewal for the Church in (fill in the blank). I encourage you to discover anew the sacrament of Reconciliation and to avail yourselves more frequently of the transforming power of its grace.

Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organize periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part. Through intense prayer before the real presence of the Lord, you can make reparation for the sins of abuse that have done so much harm, at the same time imploring the grace of renewed strength and a deeper sense of mission on the part of all bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful.
​

If we all took on the above challenge, not just for the Church in Ireland, Germany, etc., but for the Church in the whole world, I could only imagine what the result would be.

If you want something tangible that you can do…the above are very tangible acts that will have tremendous benefit.

 

[Moro_Rock]

Eleven of the Apostles were faithful to Christ. One betrayed Him.
The good Priests and Religious greatly out-number the bad apples.
But they have been put on the defensive because of their evil colleagues
We need to let our Priests and Religious know how much we value them
by supporting them verbally, financially practically and spiritually.
:knight1::nun1:

 

[Whitacre_Girl]

Why are we somehow proud to be the “best of the molesters” . We should be courageous, clean up the mess by apologizing to all the victims and their mothers and then get rid of all the priests and clergy who abused kids or allowed abuse to spread b y their sins of omission.

The Catholic church needs to be leaders in solving this problem, remember the church will prevail, there is no need to be worried about protecting status or reputations , its time to fess up, clean up the mess and go on with the work of Jesus.

Peace

I apologize. I didn’t mean my post to say that “well, at least we aren’t the WORST.”

I am saying that in our minds, and the minds of the general public, the Catholic church is seen as the worst offender, when this simply is not true. We can’t go around believing what the MSM would have us believe: that the catholic church is just a bunch of child molesters. We need to know that such things are devastating, and need to be dealt with, but we shouldn’t lose heart based on the findings of the MSM.

We need to clean up, move on, and learn from the mistakes.

 

[Whitacre_Girl]

Money cannot erase what the abused goes thru everyday of their lives.OOPs spelled wrong

“Through” is spelled wrong,

 

[portarica]

We have been encouraged as follows:

I now invite all of you to devote your Friday penances, for a period of one year, between now and Easter 2011, to this intention. I ask you to offer up your fasting, your prayer, your reading of Scripture and your works of mercy in order to obtain the grace of healing and renewal for the Church in (fill in the blank). I encourage you to discover anew the sacrament of Reconciliation and to avail yourselves more frequently of the transforming power of its grace.

Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organize periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part. Through intense prayer before the real presence of the Lord, you can make reparation for the sins of abuse that have done so much harm, at the same time imploring the grace of renewed strength and a deeper sense of mission on the part of all bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful.
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If we all took on the above challenge, not just for the Church in Ireland, Germany, etc., but for the Church in the whole world, I could only imagine what the result would be.

If you want something tangible that you can do…the above are very tangible acts that will have tremendous benefit.

It doesn’t appear that there is much direct attack on the Church, it isn’t like people are saying that the teachings of Jesus led to abuse. In fact it is the opposite of attacking the Church, people are voicing their displeasure and distaste for the actions of those that abused kids and those that enabled more abuse to go on.

If the priests who abused were following Jesus they wouldn’t have abused,and likewise those that covered up and/or are still covering up are not following Christ.

We must separate those that condoned abuse or directly abused from the church. This should not only be done figuratively, but also in a literal sense. There is no place in our Church for those that abused or deceived the congregation about abuse. The church should be a safe haven for the flock, not a sanctuary for those that have allowed perversion to find a home within the repository of our faith.

And there is a responsibility for the congregation to not condone the actions of those that have condoned abuse. The standards that we as catholics should use in judging the behavior of those holding leadership positions in our church , should be the standards set out by Jesus. Not whatever the laws are in Massachusetts or Dublin or for that matter, the temporal laws of the Vatican state.

Jesus wasn’t primarily about worshiping Him, He was about taking care of the least, we show our faith in Him by how well we head His teachings and by how well we follow His example.

Please pray that the people who have the wherewith to solve the problems of abuse in our church receive the courage to do what Jesus taught.

Peace

 

[MyzTek]

With Honesty!!

On my knees.

And with loud and unceasing demands that the entire hierarchy of the Church eliminate any and every policy of secrecy in any and every matter not involving the confessional.

IMHO: There is no reason for the Church organizations at any level to keep secrets. Secrets lead to distrust, suspicion, and (as we are seeing today) vastly greater scandal than ever would have occurred if the problem had been confronted head-on, immediately, and publicly.

peace,
MyzTek

 

[tweetymom]

It doesn’t appear that there is much direct attack on the Church, it isn’t like people are saying that the teachings of Jesus led to abuse. In fact it is the opposite of attacking the Church, people are voicing their displeasure and distaste for the actions of those that abused kids and those that enabled more abuse to go on.

If the priests who abused were following Jesus they wouldn’t have abused,and likewise those that covered up and/or are still covering up are not following Christ.

We must separate those that condoned abuse or directly abused from the church. This should not only be done figuratively, but also in a literal sense. There is no place in our Church for those that abused or deceived the congregation about abuse. The church should be a safe haven for the flock, not a sanctuary for those that have allowed perversion to find a home within the repository of our faith.

And there is a responsibility for the congregation to not condone the actions of those that have condoned abuse. The standards that we as catholics should use in judging the behavior of those holding leadership positions in our church , should be the standards set out by Jesus. Not whatever the laws are in Massachusetts or Dublin or for that matter, the temporal laws of the Vatican state.

Jesus wasn’t primarily about worshiping Him, He was about taking care of the least, we show our faith in Him by how well we head His teachings and by how well we follow His example.

Please pray that the people who have the wherewith to solve the problems of abuse in our church receive the courage to do what Jesus taught.

Peace

Very well put and an excellent post. God Bless