Inside Germany's Catholic Sexual Abuse Scandal

[FiberZilla]

New this week:
02/08/10
Sad and sickening news out of Germany.

I am having a hard time believing that all of these men are naturally predatory on children. It’s fast becoming my belief that with no acceptable sexual outlet and all sexuality for them is immoral, due to the restrictions of celibacy, sex with kids is seen as just another form of “wrong”.

Does anyone think this will even make it to the American news outlets? Last year it was Ireland and we heard almost nothing. Are we becoming that numb to it?

spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,676497,00.html

 

[ConfusedTim]

This is awful news and i pray for the victims. I dont know what else we can do to help them? Money will never make up for the suffering they have endured.

We all must accept that the priesthood has (from the time of Judas) and always will have an element of people who are guided by satan rather than Jesus. We will NEVER eliminate this until the whole world changes.

The good news is that the gates of hell will not overcome Jesus’s church and despite satans’ best efforts many people are still attracted to the church in throughout the world including the US.

I also think the original poster has to look into his heart about the motives for posting this article. It almost felt to me to be a sense of glee at the sins committed by some.

 

[FiberZilla]

This is awful news and i pray for the victims. I dont know what else we can do to help them? Money will never make up for the suffering they have endured.

We all must accept that the priesthood has (from the time of Judas) and always will have an element of people who are guided by satan rather than Jesus. We will NEVER eliminate this until the whole world changes.

The good news is that the gates of hell will not overcome Jesus’s church and despite satans’ best efforts many people are still attracted to the church in throughout the world including the US.

I also think the original poster has to look into his heart about the motives for posting this article. It almost felt to me to be a sense of glee at the sins committed by some.

Overseas news outlets seem to be more willing to report this. Last year when the scandal in Ireland came to light, it went virtually unreported in the American media. There is never a sense of glee when something like this is discovered, only anger and sadness. Even more sad is the fact that there is no longer any sense of shock.

 

[rep140]

This is not news, it is someone expressing their feelings. The person writing this had an axe to grind and is jumping on this as a way to grind it. Der Spiegel should try reporting
rather than letting a writer use the paper as a forum for venting.

 

[FiberZilla]

This is not news, it is someone expressing their feelings. The person writing this had an axe to grind and is jumping on this as a way to grind it. Der Spiegel should try reporting
rather than letting a writer use the paper as a forum for venting.

Are you saying that this is not true?

 

[rep140]

Are you saying that this is not true?

I don’t know if it is true or not, but the tone of the article suggests that the author is no friend of the Church. When bias shows through an article I have to question it.

 

[FiberZilla]

Are you saying that this is not true?

I don’t know if it is true or not, but the tone of the article suggests that the author is no friend of the Church. When bias shows through an article I have to question it.

Okay… I just saw that there was another thread in this forum related to this story.
Of course all stories should be checked out, particularly when it comes to abuse.
People often come out in droves looking to get into the pockets of the church.
But sadly, this one looks legit.

 

[EverFaithful]

Motivation for posting? Sense of glee?? How about a sense of outrage for the steamroller of predatory child abuse that the church has swept under the rug for so many years? They moved these broken priests around and hid their actions so they could continue to devastate the lives of other children. We are told to look the other way, that’s all in the past, just as we are told to forget about other Catholic indiscretions like the Inquisition.

My heart goes out to the offending priests - they are struggling with sin as we all are. However, action is necessary to correct this continuing travesty. How can we, as Christians, sit by and ignore the rampant abuse and devastation of CHILDREN? Many of these children grow up and become preditors themselves. The system needs to change. Satan himself could not have devised a better plan for inviting sin into the church than to impose celibacy upon priests.

 

[AnotherVoice]

My heart goes out to all of the dedicated priests and religious who have vowed celibacy, lived holy lives, helped thousands of young people grow in the faith and now are painted with the same dirty broad brush that the few guilty ones have brought upon the church.

Now would be the time to support those who have been true; which would be the vast majority.

 

[whatevergirl]

My heart goes out to all of the dedicated priests and religious who have vowed celibacy, lived holy lives, helped thousands of young people grow in the faith and now are painted with the same dirty broad brush that the few guilty ones have brought upon the church.

Now would be the time to support those who have been true; which would be the vast majority.

*You read my mind! I thought this at lunch today, how many good, holy, wonderful priests there are in the Church…how many have personally touched my life and that of my family…and are probably under scrutiny, because of the bad actions of a few. Few being a relative term, it seems like these stories are never ending. I wish it weren’t even a few…but, we must pray for the fallen, and for those who have not fallen and who are trying to serve as good examples for us. *

 

[joeflow]

New this week:
02/08/10

I am having a hard time believing that all of these men are naturally predatory on children. It’s fast becoming my belief that with no acceptable sexual outlet and all sexuality for them is immoral, due to the restrictions of celibacy, sex with kids is seen as just another form of “wrong”.

Are public school teachers bound to a vow of celibacy as well? Because they seem to get in trouble for this kind of thing a lot as well.

I’m sure it has nothing to do with perverts being drawn to occupations that are highly trusted and surrounded by children.

 

[EverFaithful]

My heart goes out to all of the dedicated priests and religious who have vowed celibacy, lived holy lives, helped thousands of young people grow in the faith and now are painted with the same dirty broad brush that the few guilty ones have brought upon the church.

Now would be the time to support those who have been true; which would be the vast majority.

Indeed. So why continue the celibacy requirement? Certainly, it could be optional.

Yes, we do hear of pedophilia with teachers now and then, but nothing to this magnitude. Protestant ministers have the much of the same sort of access (though Catholic schools do add to the issue) yet they do not seem to have problems to the same degree.

 

[whatevergirl]

Indeed. So why continue the celibacy requirement? Certainly, it could be optional.

Yes, we do hear of pedophilia with teachers now and then, but nothing to this magnitude. Protestant ministers have the much of the same sort of access (though Catholic schools do add to the issue) yet they do not seem to have problems to the same degree.

*How would have lifting celibacy as a requirement have prevented what’s already happened? (if celibacy was not a requirement back in the 50’s, 60’s, etc when this all happened)

Again, the theory that some have is that by men being ‘‘forced’’ to remain celibate…they will gravitate towards doing something perverse with kids? That doesn’t seem plausible. No…if I were to remain celibate, I wouldn’t turn to children. Someone who turns to abusing children…doesn’t do so because they are celibate. They do so because they are ill. These men, I have a theory, went into the priesthood for completely the wrong reasons…and not necessarily to hurt kids, but I think to hide from others the truth about their sexual orientation and psychological problems. Just my take. *

 

[Binary]

Indeed. So why continue the celibacy requirement? Certainly, it could be optional.

Yes, we do hear of pedophilia with teachers now and then, but nothing to this magnitude. Protestant ministers have the much of the same sort of access (though Catholic schools do add to the issue) yet they do not seem to have problems to the same degree.

How long would you have to be abstinent before you wanted to sexually abuse children?

Same question for FiberZilla.

 

[dixieagle]

Motivation for posting? Sense of glee?? How about a sense of outrage for the steamroller of predatory child abuse that the church has swept under the rug for so many years? They moved these broken priests around and hid their actions so they could continue to devastate the lives of other children. We are told to look the other way, that’s all in the past, just as we are told to forget about other Catholic indiscretions like the Inquisition.

My heart goes out to the offending priests - they are struggling with sin as we all are. However, action is necessary to correct this continuing travesty. How can we, as Christians, sit by and ignore the rampant abuse and devastation of CHILDREN? Many of these children grow up and become preditors themselves. The system needs to change. Satan himself could not have devised a better plan for inviting sin into the church than to impose celibacy upon priests.

While some victims of clerical abuse have been pre-adolescents, a greater number of them have been teenagers, meaning the offenders were ephebophiles, rather than pedophiles. I wonder if men with that inclination would be likely to marry, anyway? (Child predators often do.)

I don’t think that celibacy, in and of itself, is the culprit here; I believe, however, that the cover of celibacy has permitted men with deviant inclinations to hide in the priesthood, which provided an acceptable and respected option for single men. Inadequate screening (sometimes by those with similar inclinations, I am afraid) let deviants slip through the cracks. High school seminaries, now much rarer, sometimes stunted psychosexual development, contributing to the problem. The obstinate refusal to acknowledge and deal with abusive priests, and the shameful cover-ups, compounded the problem until it reached epic proportions.

This is my take on things, after much reading and thought.

 

[Nordar]

Are you saying that this is not true?

Well one thing that jumped out to me and just sounded strange. The girl had to watch the Priest in the confessional M and when she tried to get away she was beaten by nuns?.

What where the nuns in the confessional with her ? did they know what the Priest was doing, sorry just does not ring true with me!

 

[Nordar]

*How would have lifting celibacy as a requirement have prevented what’s already happened? (if celibacy was not a requirement back in the 50’s, 60’s, etc when this all happened)

Again, the theory that some have is that by men being ‘‘forced’’ to remain celibate…they will gravitate towards doing something perverse with kids? That doesn’t seem plausible. No…if I were to remain celibate, I wouldn’t turn to children. Someone who turns to abusing children…doesn’t do so because they are celibate. They do so because they are ill. These men, I have a theory, went into the priesthood for completely the wrong reasons…and not necessarily to hurt kids, but I think to hide from others the truth about their sexual orientation and psychological problems. Just my take. *

yep!

 

[dixieagle]

*How would have lifting celibacy as a requirement have prevented what’s already happened? (if celibacy was not a requirement back in the 50’s, 60’s, etc when this all happened)

Again, the theory that some have is that by men being ‘‘forced’’ to remain celibate…they will gravitate towards doing something perverse with kids? That doesn’t seem plausible. No…if I were to remain celibate, I wouldn’t turn to children. Someone who turns to abusing children…doesn’t do so because they are celibate. They do so because they are ill. These men, I have a theory, went into the priesthood for completely the wrong reasons…and not necessarily to hurt kids, but I think to hide from others the truth about their sexual orientation and psychological problems. Just my take. *

I think this is absolutely dead-on. Unfortunately, the arrogance and appalling wrongheadedness of some members of the hierarchy compounded the problem.

 

[whatevergirl]

I think this is absolutely dead-on. Unfortunately, the arrogance and appalling wrongheadedness of some members of the hierarchy compounded the problem.

That too. Correct me if I’m wrong dixie…didn’t Pope Benedict come out with something last year or the year prior…that he would like more stringent psychological testing for men exploring the priesthood? I could have sworn I read that.

 

[unafraid]

Someone mentioned Judas. Are not priests like apostles in the sense of their intimate contact with the holiness of Christ? These sexual scandals bring to the fore the old question of whether Judas was acting on his free will, or was he ,in fact, a man preordained to live out his nefarious fate. These pedophile priests could not inflict more harm on the Church if they were born apostates of Hell, acting out a predetermined role in some malignant plot. This thing is mysterious to me. My reason cannot come to terms with it. An evil stain marks the holy vestments because of these heinous crimes, contaminating the very image of trust and fidelity within the faith: The collar itself. I refuse to believe this to be merely a coincidental gathering of evil, perverted clergymen populating the church in an era simultaneously, and at random. A sinister force is at work here.