Pedophilia In The Church

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Jamie5 said:
Well thank God, no pun intended, America and most people disagree with you. My neighbors are married, have 3 children, and just happen to be gay. And they happen to be great parents and friends thank you very much.
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Yes indeed. The two gay guys down the hall from me love my kids, are super-nice to them, and I’m totally comfortable with them hanging around my kids.

Same with my uncle and his partner of 30 years.

Really, ChunkMonk, gay people aren’t the threat you think they are.
 
Rau, yes,
Priests and laity involved in the historic sex abide in my Diocese are being prosecuted for crime going all the way back to the 1960s.
As your quote says.

Is it a good law, most certainly. Justice is required on both sides of the cases
 
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Roseeurekacross said:
Rau, Priests and laity involved in the historic sex abide in my Diocese are being prosecuted for crime going all the way back to the 1960s.
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Criminal and Civil Statute of Limitations are distinct. The former for these types of crimes doesn’t exist in Australia.
 
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We lost that when one of our Priests used the confessionals to rape children.

Rights of children and vulnerable come before rights of people seen going in and out of the new confessional rooms. If a person wants to remain anonymous , how is he or she going to get in and out of the confessional boxes, and the Church without being seen by others waiting?

Your point is invalid in that respect.
 
Our diocese requires training for all who work with minors and vulnerable adults. There must be two adults in a classroom situation and the door must either be open or have a window so that anyone can see into the room. In my city (US) if there have been any cases of priests abusing anyone or being involved in internet porn, it has surely been handled quietly because we’ve not heard anything about it. On the other hand, the newspaper often reports cases involving teachers, coaches, band directors, protestant youth ministers, scout leaders, etc. I think this is a world wide problem, and, since the church is part of that world, it stands to reason that there will be some people in the church who might be involved in such things. But to say that the church and her priests are the leading culprits is very wrong.
 
Roseeurekacross said:
Is it a good law, most certainly
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The great legal minds of the country must have missed it until 2015. Perhaps it is good - but it is not obviously good. It makes civil suits possible that otherwise were not; it increases the chance of a favourable settlement. It increases the chances of some unjust outcomes against defendants. [Note also the reduced burden of proof in civil matters.]

Better still would be an encouragement (how achieved I do not know) to have victims/victims parents take accusations promptly to the police.
 
Believe me they are being taken to task in the Criminal court. Risdale just got more time . There are two religious, one now in WA and one in NSW just starting the process of their trials. Then there is Pell.

But of what you are saying, what do you say is the statuate of limitations criminally on these cases.
 
Yes, and there are representatives expected to step forward for the Diocese in question. For mine, our Bishop is the one to be civilly sued for settlement for all these crimes of the past.

The victims and survivors require justice and healing.

But you do know , legally any incident must be reported now.
 
It’s kind of hard to really discuss all this until those still in the legal system have the cases finalised. The Bishop continues to update us on his role as the civil rep as things proceed.

Of course, the findings of the Royal Commission might change things again. They are due in December.
 
Roseeurekacross said:
Rights of children and vulnerable come before rights of people seen going in and out of the new confessional rooms. If a person wants to remain anonymous , how is he or she going to get in and out of the confessional boxes, and the Church without being seen by others waiting?
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I can cope with being seen in the Church and entering/leaving the confessional box. Not with being seen in the confessional. I’d go somewhere else if that were the practice.

The confessionals in my church place the priest in an independent room from the penitent, with a small window between the two rooms with a strong grill. Physical contact between the priest and penitent is impossible. Each room is accessed only by a separate door into the Church. I am unclear what risk this arrangement (the only kind I’ve ever seen) actually permits that a glass door or similar would prevent. Is the concern that a child might be encouraged to enter the Priest’s room?
 
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There is no such thing as a gay marriage.

And I can’t help but note how much you defend all of these friends of yours, but they haven’t said one word about you. Sounds like a lot these friendships are a 1-way street, Jamie.
 
Everyone has a choice, but in my Diocese , which is huge, you wont get confessional boxes. By order of it’s Bishop.

As far as the other two Diocese in Victoria, no idea what they do.

People can’t hear , and people don’t gawk in and watch. They are too busy examining their own conscious. For their tun.

And it also has advantages. People see others in line and in the room and think, best I go sit in line too.

Even Divine Mercy Sunday where people confess for the first time in years, or stuff they weren’t game too before, we have up to 4 Priests , and all in the open.

Unfortunately the argument that physical contact won’t happen in the Old style boxs doesn’t really fly. Because truly evil Priests n my Diocese had worked that little problem out. It only prevents honest people from doing evil.

Otherwise we would still have the boxes.
 
Roseeurekacross said:
But of what you are saying, what do you say is the statuate of limitations criminally on these cases
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AFAIK, none. But criminal cases have a higher burden of proof so prosecutors (or police) ought be prudent in deciding to prosecute a multi-decade old case reliant on witness testimony, let alone from childhood. The current environment no doubt places pressure on prosecutors and especially politicians. Consider this euphemistically expressed warm and fuzzy statement of the obvious from NSW’s chief legal officer: “There should be no use-by date for justice for survivors of child abuse.” Apparently, we must conclude that allowing prosecutions / civil suits [who knows exactly what she is talking about], no matter the timespan, always means better justice. :roll_eyes:
 
Yep here too, several rows of pews. It’s a curious line system the parishioners have going.

You have prob guessed by now the Diocese I am in. We have had severely drastic measures taken by our Bishop,

It’s a very real, living thing . There are survivors, their families and those whom these people saw as their Priests interacting daily.
 
It could be said , that Cardinal Pell has become a product of the current environment. But we shall see. I pray , as does everyone, Justice is served , fast.

One would think if he was guilty, he, like these others, would have entered a guilty plea. And not damaged the Church further.
 
It’s the only form allowed by order my Bishop.

He is running a very tight ship, he has too. If we are to be salvaged as a Diocese, Parish, Church, community. And if we are to feel we can run the gauntlet and come to Mass.

My Bishop is a living Saint.
 
My understanding is some of the eastern rites have a setup where the priest and penitent are visible to others, but not expected to be overheard. So it’s not completely forbidden to have a setup where there is visibility, so long as privacy is preserved.
 
Rau said:
The confessionals in my church place the priest in an independent room from the penitent, with a small window between the two rooms with a strong grill. Physical contact between the priest and penitent is impossible. Each room is accessed only by a separate door into the Church. I am unclear what risk this arrangement (the only kind I’ve ever seen) actually permits that a glass door or similar would prevent. Is the concern that a child might be encouraged to enter the Priest’s room?
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It is the same in my parish. The priest and penitent are completely separated in these standard confessionals. The only way for either to have physical access to the other would be to exit the confessional, walk to the other door, open it and go in. And that would be observed by all the other people in line and in the church.

If it’s safety that is wanted, I can’t see why every parish didn’t retain those sorts of confessionals.
 
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