Remorseful Newcastle priest calls himself a "scumbag pedophile" [CNAU]

[Catholic_Press]

Jul 1, '10 5:00 pm
Father John Sidney Denham appeared in NSW District Court for sentencing on Thursday, and described himself as a “scumbag pedophile”, in a testimony during sentencing submissions.

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[reggieM]

“Maybe I was so full of hubris that no one could resist me . . . I was an irresistible creature.”

It’s good that he could see that, although tragically only after the damage was done. The next question: “How do you overcome that hubris”?

The wisdom of Catholic tradition was too hastilly set-aside, in my opinion. It takes a lot of prayer and a much deeper spiritual foundation – and lacking that, a number of priests have been swept away in the tide of secularism.

 

[SunnaB16]

“Maybe I was so full of hubris that no one could resist me . . . I was an irresistible creature.”

It’s good that he could see that, although tragically only after the damage was done. The next question: “How do you overcome that hubris”?

Yep: and at least he was honest with the “scumbag” description. A refreshing change.

The time spent in prison might help…if he`s truly repentant, the fight for survival should give him a good lot of humility.

May God help him!

The wisdom of Catholic tradition was too hastilly set-aside, in my opinion. It takes a lot of prayer and a much deeper spiritual foundation – and lacking that, a number of priests have been swept away in the tide of secularism.

Couldnt agree more. Its humanly impossible to be a faithful priest or religious.
Back in 1973, Archbishop Sheen mentioned that a group of seminarians said that they wanted to be ordained priests “to have a good time”. The chickens eventually came home to roost.

 

[timotheos]

He said he began to understand “what a foul creature I had become” after attending group therapy where victims of child sex abuse spoke about their trauma.

When the victim becomes a real, living person to a perpetrator, then understanding of personal sin begins. And I’m not just talking pedophilia either; all forms of sin have victims whose feelings are to a great extent ignored by the sinner.