Pope hits out at criticism of Church over sexual abuse

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Dwyer

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In his interview with Corriere della Sera published on Wednesday, Pope Francis said: "The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution to have acted with transparency and responsibility.
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“No-one else has done more. Yet the Church is the only one to have been attacked.”
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He also questioned the focus of the debate, saying: “The statistics on the phenomenon of violence against children are shocking, but they also clearly show that the great majority of abuses are carried out in family or neighbourhood environments.”
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bbc.com/news/world-europe-26448075

I think the Pope’s criticism of the Media is justified.

Physical abuse and the sexual violence against children and young adults is rampant in the United States.

It occurs in other religions as well; in public schools, on college campuses and the U.S. Military.

But I’ve noticed that only the Catholic Church receives the intense scrutiny of the American Media.

And most of the other venues where repeat sexual violence occurs receive little, and more often than not, no scrutiny from the Media.

I don’t know what justifies the Media’s silence or near silence about sexual abuse, physical violence, and even death with regard to the following news stories.

We have a right to be informed.

And not to rely on the British press for information about the United States. :o

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America’s child death shame
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** (This story has been around for several years now; haven’t heard about it?):

bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15288865
One in five American women is sexually assaulted or raped during their time at college and university, according to the White House. Now some survivors are demanding change.
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bbc.com/news/magazine-26263171
 
I think it is true that the Church has received more than a fair share of criticism concerning the sexual abuse of children perpetuated by priests, but this only reveals the degree of shock and disappointment so many felt at the realization of the depth of the scandal and the failure of many bishops to adequately protect their flock. True, many folks love to throw stones at the Church more than at other segments of society where abuse has also taken place, but I think we should take this as a kind of compliment, as painful as it may be. The Church has been held in great esteem by many people, so it is only natural that her stumble in this particular area would attack a similar degree of condemnation. I think the Church has done a great deal to overcome the mistrust engendered by these scandals, but I also think there is more than needs to be done. If one of my children had been abused by one of the most trusted men in our community, and then our family pain simply swept under the carpet by the bishop under whose care we are entrusted by the Lord, I wonder if I would be willing to forgive and forget at this point. I’m not sure I would. I would certainly want the bishop to repent and I would want the abuser punished in an appropriate manner. We must continue to pray for healing.
 
Finally!!! I am glad to read that and it is so true. On fact, as to religion the Jewish tabbies have the highest rates of children’s sexual abuse (only last year there were some very scandalous cases in New York) and you don’t see anyone criticising Judaism. It is time for us to step up and answer back.
 
Much of the criticism of the Church is not deserved, and it is certainly wrong for atheists or Protestants to paint all priests with the broad brush of suspicion when it was only a very small percent of priests who abused kids, and most of them, sorry to say, were homosexuals. If homosexuals had been kept out of the priesthood, there would have been almost no abuses.

I do however understand how a backlash developed against the Church, even though I don’t agree with the backlash. When an institution preaches sexual morality as a core value, it needs to be extra vigilant it practices what it preaches. People get extra angry when for example, a policeman is caught stealing, because it seems like a more egregious breach of trust. The same is true when a priest is caught up in wrongdoing.
 
Deus_tecum said:
I do however understand how a backlash developed against the Church, even though I don’t agree with the backlash. When an institution preaches sexual morality as a core value, it needs to be extra vigilant it practices what it preaches. People get extra angry when for example, a policeman is caught stealing, because it seems like a more egregious breach of trust. The same is true when a priest is caught up in wrongdoing.
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This is so true. When the Church claims to be THE Moral Authority and the sole keeper of The Truth, then it is not unreasonable to hold the Church to a higher standard. In my opinion, the media spotlight is well-deserved.
 
BettyBoop416 said:
This is so true. When the Church claims to be THE Moral Authority and the sole keeper of The Truth, then it is not unreasonable to hold the Church to a higher standard. In my opinion, the media spotlight is well-deserved.
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But often the media goes from, “this is immoral, shame on you and shame on you for doing it as an ordained man” to “therefore in response you should get rid of the priesthood snd the hierarchy, and by the way, get rid of your objections to abortion and contraception and gay marriage.” The media has a right to shine a spotlight, but not to turn it into a firestarter.
 
Cojuanco said:
But often the media goes from, “this is immoral, shame on you and shame on you for doing it as an ordained man” to “therefore in response you should get rid of the priesthood snd the hierarchy, and by the way, get rid of your objections to abortion and contraception and gay marriage.” The media has a right to shine a spotlight, but not to turn it into a firestarter.
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:sad_yes: You’re right!
 
BettyBoop416 said:
This is so true. When the Church claims to be THE Moral Authority and the sole keeper of The Truth, then it is not unreasonable to hold the Church to a higher standard. In my opinion, the media spotlight is well-deserved.
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Good point.

The challenge at this point is determining what can be done to restore that level and trust of moral authority the Church once had, using that same media perhaps.
 
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