Sex Abuse Scandals etc

[AnnoDomini1]

Basically, I have just decided that I want to be Catholic. And yes, the cover-ups and abuses are horrible. I do not want apologies. I just want to know, after all this disgusting behavior, can we be reasonably sure that this sort of massive cover-up will not happen again? As you know, most of what is in the news, is what happened in the 1970-1980s or maybe early 2000. After all of this was made public, can we be sure that this will not happen again on such a wide scale? The thing is that all institutions have pedophiles, but I want to know that this massive cover-up of pedophiles is a thing of the past.
Can we be reasonably sure of this?

 

[po18guy]

1. Jack-in-the-Box. E-coli. Six months later, it was the safest place on earth to eat.

And so it is with fallen human nature. The bottom line is that the Church is indefectible - we have Christ’s word on that. He did not say it would be impeccable or anything near that. Quite the opposite.

A crack has appeared in the stone wall, and is ever widening. The dam has burst. It will all come out, as there is nothing hidden that will not be brought to light - especially in Christ’s Church.

In the past we had non-sexual scandals that were even more damaging in a general sense. Heresies have divided the Church - the Arian heresy for hundreds of years!

We had the Medici popes - some of whom were detestable, but never changed a single Church teaching. We had the Avignon popes, who lived lives of decadence - until a lay woman, St. Catherine of Siena, spoke truth to power and shamed the pope into returning to Rome.

In a big picture, spiritual sense, the evil one is always attacking, inciting the worst of human behaviors, from sin to cover-ups.

Yet, the Holy Spirit illumines all darkness and light comes from it.

Do not be afraid. Have confidence. Pray.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I have confidence that the Church is taking steps to address the problems going forward. The current issues primarily relate to behaviors, either abuses or cover-ups, that occurred in the past.

Simply put, the past behavior has ended up not only harming many people which is contrary to Christian values, but also costing the Church a lot of money and making a mess that the current people in charge are having to deal with, despite the fact that it was their predecessors who are now mostly retired or dead who caused the problem. No one wants this to happen again.

Having said that, in your wanting to join the Church, you should be focusing on your own spiritual life and wish to build a relationship with Jesus, not what some clergy are doing administratively or any other way.

 

[Joe_5859]

The thing is that all institutions have pedophiles, but I want to know that this massive cover-up of pedophiles is a thing of the past.
Can we be reasonably sure of this?

In the past, when these things happened, Catholics would often go to the bishop first. Nowadays, people go to the secular authorities first (as they should). For that reason alone, I don’t see how the “move them around in secret” type of thing could ever happen at such a large scale again.

Not that priests won’t still commit atrocious deeds ever again. Though I do believe the number of incidents will be drastically lower going forward, since priests are human beings, the number will never be zero. But, in general, it’s handled much better now than it was back then.

 

[YourNameHere]

Death and taxes seem to be the only for-sure things in life.
I pray that history is not repeated.
Welcome to the Catholic Church. There are a lot of good people here. Hopefully, most of them will become saints. Thanks be to God!

 

[ahs]

I just want to know, after all this disgusting behavior, can we be reasonably sure that this sort of massive cover-up will not happen again?

In the Catholic Church? Probably on the broad scale. Can someone guarantee that no Catholic will ever sexually abuse a child and that it won’t be covered up? Not as long as there are humans in the Catholic Church, in my opinion. But why just focus on the Catholic abuse victims? In the US alone, there are 62,000+ child victims of sex abuse each year…and that’s just the ones that are reported. Sexual abuse, and its cover ups, is a huge problem in this world, everywhere. Massive coverups happen in schools, neighborhoods, homes, by public servants; can we ever be certain that all of these cover ups are a thing of the past? I doubt it.

 

[DisorientingSneeze]

This has ushered in an era of transparency. As for whether we can be sure it won’t happen again, none of us really know how long the world will keep on turning. Historical forces lend themselves to eras of corruption through which the Church will always persevere.