How has the Pennsylvania scandal affected you personally?

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In answer to the title question, the Pennsylvania revelations have 1) filled me with a deep sense of sadness over the extent of depravity in our Church (yes, it’s “only” a single-digit percentage, but 0.00001% is too much); 2) given me a sense of gratitude over the fact that reports of this kind of depravity are unheard of in our diocese; and, 3) given me a slight sense of suspicion, wondering if there may by things going on in our diocese that are being covered up, like all the other stuff has been covered up.

So far, the only thing I’m actually doing, in a material sense, is to make the following my sign-off in any discussion touching Catholic matters:

#CleansetheTemple
 
To quote Bob Dylan: “Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters”.😁
 
Another question: in regards to tithing, aren’t we complicit when the Church pays out sex-abuse lawsuits? Someone mentioned this to me today, and I had no response.
 
I don’t see how you can compare seeking justice now to a witch hunt. They are not even in the same universe.
 
It has made me sad. I feel for all the priests who are innocent–they must feel like everyone is suspicious of them.

It has also made me realize just how much of a pull sexual temptation can have on people. I wonder why some people are so susceptible to it, while others are not bothered by temptations to illicit sex acts. Is it something in the brain? Were these priests abused themselves as children or teens? Is this the kind of sin that once you give in, it becomes easier and easier to give in?

I think we have to constantly be on our guard against Satan and all his wiles. He obviously attacked these priests where they were weakest, and he will do the same to us. I confess that I tend to be rather cavalier–“Oh, I’ll never fall for that–I’m so over that sin!” How foolish of me. I think a lot of those priest probably said the same thing.

And then once the sin was committed, I’ll bet Satan told them that they hadn’t sinned at all.

So very sad. The Body of Christ has been wounded, and all of us feel that pain.

I wonder what will happen. Pope Benedict predicted that the Church will be smaller–is that what’s going to happen? A smaller church would make it easier to oversee priests and others in positions that bring them into contact with children and teenagers.
 
Ridgerunner said:
I’m willing to believe that the great majority of child abusers and homosexuals who abuse young men were abused as children. In fact, some of the John Jay survey information strongly suggests it’s true. But I don’t think saying “they’re not right in the head” is sufficient. Ted Bundy and Timothy McVeigh weren’t right in the head either.

But, as I said, if I had the power and dispelled JPII from my head, I would hang every single one of them, crazy or not.
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It might only be a minority, or even a small minority, but that’s still someone.

I also don’t mean they’re safe. I mean they may not be morally culpable. I mean if there was a situation where you really did have no choice but to enact the death penalty, if you knew the whole story it might actually make you more grieved than angry to have to do it.

If my memory serves correctly, Ted Bundy had a normal upbringing, but was a psychopath. He didn’t come equipped with an emotional conscience. That doesn’t mean he was not capable of understanding what he was doing or was unable to control himself. It only means he didn’t care. (Talk about making the hair on the back of your neck stand up.)

So…don’t dispel Pope St. John Paul II from your head. He was a great saint who had seen atrocities we can’t dream of, but he didn’t become violent or bitter. With the help of Our Lady’s influence, he stayed faithful to the Gospel and to the hard way of following the Lord.
 
Shakuhachi said:
The same cannot be said for the bishops who shelter d the predators.
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I think of them more like the mothers and grandmothers and other relatives who covered for pedophiles. I don’t know how that happens. Denial? It doesn’t surprise me that if some had their own mothers do this that a bishop would do it. Very grievously sad, but not a surprise, because once you know how frail humans are, you know how frail humans are. I do know some simply cannot accept the truth about what happened. I do know from reading files that some bishops were given a false sense of hope for amendment from people in the mental health field. (But by the bank analogy, I don’t think that lets them off. It only explains how on earth an otherwise sensible and caring person could do such a thing…)
 
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Romans 12:19

‘For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”’

No matter what you do, you’ll never extract satisfactory justice. God will deal with that.

We must focus on caring for the victims, safeguarding society, and reforming the Seminary.
 
Absolutely. That is what we are trying to do. So why the witch hunt reference? And inquisition?
 
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Stunning findings on report of Catholic Church abuse: Pa. priests molested more than 1,000 children World News
Honestly sometimes I think the Church needs to bring back the Inquisition. Even if only a fraction of these are true, we do know there were multiple coverups through several echelons of the Church Heirachy around the world. That is disgusting and pathetic. If this was a secular company it would be liquidated and reorganized. Hand waving investigations and saying “that was years ago” just doesn’t cut it. The pedophiles and sexual predators need to be purged straight out of the clergy. And I don’t…
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That’s what some people want.
 
I personally knew several of the priests mentioned. One was my pastor when I was a child, two were on staff at my high school, one was the pastor at our neighboring parish, etc. I know that the Church is made up of sinners, because EVERYONE is a sinner. Nothing can shake my faith in the Catholic Church. However, I am concerned and saddened by what this is doing to nominal Catholics…there is such resentment, and I am afraid that those weak in faith will lose it all together. I am heartbroken for the wonderful, holy priests in our diocese - one talked about how uncomfortable he is now wearing his collar in public. And, unfortunately, I can only describe the behavior of my Protestant friends as “gloating”. Right now, I am praying for the protection and healing of the Church (especially to St. Joseph) and for peace for the victims. I am also praying for the repentance of the living perpetrators, and for the souls of those who have died. I hold fast to my favorite Bible verse John 21:22 “…You follow Me.” The situation is a MESS, but all I can do is continue to follow HIm, and for me that means in His Church.
 
It is indeed hard to know when people are serious or just using rhetorical hyperbole. In fact, on a forum such as this, it is impossible.
 
Yeah, absolutely. I used the Inquisition rhetorically, but what I refer to is some form of actual investigation that identifies and removes sexual predators and their enablers from the church. Not some mouthed reform that is not followed up on. And I realize that it is hard if not impossible to do before abuse is committed and that many priests have been falsely accused. But it is a fact that abusive priests and their enablers have existed in the church for decades on end. It is a fact that many of these were known about by superiors or peers. And it is a fact that nothing was really done about it. And then we get told all these great reforms that were made and STILL we have clergy covering for pedophiles and sexual predators. Going on about “only 2%” or whatever is bogus. There is a pattern of enabling across the world and across all levels of the hierarchy. This is a systemic problem and it needs to be addressed.
 
I’d like to know too, why people react to scandals by wanting to leave the Church, because in my case I don’t feel motivated to leave the Church at all. I never did. Where would I go? Jesus is here. I’m here because I want to be with Him.

I don’t stay in the Church because of what some priest does and I’m not going to leave it over what some priest does.

The Church to me is not a bunch of bishops running dioceses under a Pope, it is the combination of Church Militant, Church Penitent, and Church Triumphant, which includes vast, vast numbers of both saints and people in the cheap seats. This is what I was taught. When I would complain about “The Church”, my mother would say things like, “You know ‘The Church’ is you and me and all the other people who go to Mass. WE are ‘The Church’.”
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I’d like to know too, why people react to scandals by wanting to leave the Church, because in my case I don’t feel motivated to leave the Church at all. I never did. Where would I go? Jesus is here. I’m here because I want to be with Him.

I don’t stay in the Church because of what some priest does and I’m not going to leave it over what some priest does.
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I agree Tis-Bearself.

This is where Jesus is. If you leave, you are leaving our Lord.
In my protestant days, we would change churches and move around based on the pastor, what he was saying and how good his sermons were. I came back to the Catholic Church because I came to realize this is where God is, this is where Christ is. I didn’t come back to the Catholic church because of the greatness or lack thereof of the priests. As you said, where is there to go?
 
PetraG said:
If my memory serves correctly, Ted Bundy had a normal upbringing,
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Are you kidding? Ted Bundy came from a dysfunctional family. His mother bore him out of wedlock at a time when that was still considered a disgrace, and she told conflicting stories about who his father was - apparently the guy on the birth certificate was not his real dad. He was raised by his grandparents as their own kid in order to hide the fact that he was illegitimate. His grandfather beat his wife and his daughter and abused dogs and cats. His grandmother had depression and was treated with ECT. Eventually Bundy found out that his alleged “sister” was actually his mom, which was traumatizing, and then his mom reclaimed him and took him to live with her and her new husband Mr. Bundy, whom Ted didn’t like.

Now he might have been a psychopath on top of all that, but it wasn’t exactly a “Leave it to Beaver” childhood.
 
When I was in RCIA 16 years ago my own diocese was being rocked by the priest/child sex abuse scandal. Every morning it seemed the paper had a new scandalous story to report. I had a lot to contemplate and was given every opportunity not to go through with the confirmation process. Never-the-less, I was confirmed Catholic at the next Easter Vigil. Shortly after that my diocese became the first in the US to file bankruptcy.

I’ve been through this all before.

Now that I’m Catholic and serve within the Church I’ve gone through a background check and have had my fingerprints taken. Every three years I have to through compliance training or sign an attestation that I
understand it. It’s a hassle and kind of embarrassing, but I put up with it because I love the Church.

Bottom line, we simply look out for our kids.

Today was kind of a hassle. I work with an atheist and a fallen away Catholic. He’s been digging into me lately about this. He had a schoolmate who was abused by a notorious child molester priest in our diocese who was exalted by the Church at the time as someone who should be emulated. His schoolmate ended up shooting himself and his mother. Really, the greatest sadness I feel today is for those children who were abused. I try not to dwell on it. I’m a hopeful, forward thinking person but today was just depressing.
 
catholic1seeks said:
Why do such sexual abuse scandals in the Church, and their related coverup, propel Catholics to leave the Church? I don’t mean those who are directly involved. I just mean the typical Catholic — the ordinary Catholic who is scandalized by the news.

Can someone explain?
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I think it tests the faith to a person to the core. If you have trust in the authority of priests, it may shake your faith and feel betrayed. But if you go for God and realize they’re human and make human mistakes, it becomes easier to understand that the priest or even the pope can sin. It doesn’t mean they cannot become saints, but they are also not free from sin, including the decision to act on that sin.

For some people, it is an excuse. For some people, they were going to leave the church anyways.

But for some devout Catholics, it may lead to distrust of the church and its magisterial authority. It definitely makes it harder to believe in Papal infallibility when they themselves may have been guilty of shifting priests from parish to parish (this almost makes / should make the individual a co-conspirator). I think having the authority also means you have the responsibility to be above reproach and admit when one of your members (deacon, priest, bishop, cardinal, pope) commits a wrong.
 
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