The scandal is not just in the past

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MikeInVA said:
I think it’s the other way around - the homosexual priests used their position to pursue their vice.
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That’s kinda what I said.
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It’s primarily about abuse of power. The position provides them opportunity to use people for their own desires. The problem is they use people.
It’s predominately homosexual, but other tastes also use the same position.

The Church needs to stop providing the trappings of worldly power to clerics.
 
Not my experience. I personally have seen the secular media behaving with a real and present agenda.
 
I think as the “chicken little” approach has taken hold and the hysteria is at a fever pitch, there are a couple of things we might want to remember.
One. This is always going to happen. People sin, and that isn’t going to stop. How that sin is handled, must change however. No more cover up.
Two. In the past, I imagine the “cover up” response, i.e. keeping it in house, has a secondary purpose. To shield the victims from further public disgrace. I don’t think the bishops were (IN EVERY INSTANCE) trying only to shield the accused. Unfortunately, this situation has come to such a serious head, that the only way this can be rooted out is to put EVERYONE on trial. Anyone who thinks in the past that priests weren’t falsely accused by someone seeing a quick and easy payday by falsely claiming abuse, well, I have some “property” down in Louisiana you might be interested in. Prime building land.
Three: In the past, bishops have considered this situation (widespread abuse) an ecclesial matter and not given enough weight to the civil ramifications That has to stop too. Any claim of abuse should and must be turned over to the civil authorities for investigation and prosecution. No more considering this a “private”/“in-house” matter only. The bishops have to get out ahead of this problem, and that means a lot of people are going to get hurt, OR nothing is going to change.
 
joeybaggz said:
I think as the “chicken little” approach has taken hold and the hysteria is at a fever pitch, there are a couple of things we might want to remember.
One. This is always going to happen. People sin, and that isn’t going to stop. How that sin is handled, must change however. No more cover up.
Two. In the past, I imagine the “cover up” response, i.e. keeping it in house, has a secondary purpose. To shield the victims from further public disgrace. I don’t think the bishops were (IN EVERY INSTANCE) trying only to shield the accused. Unfortunately, this situation has come to such a serious head, that the only way this can be rooted out is to put EVERYONE on trial. Anyone who thinks in the past that priests weren’t falsely accused by someone seeing a quick and easy payday by falsely claiming abuse, well, I have some “property” down in Louisiana you might be interested in. Prime building land.
Three: In the past, bishops have considered this situation (widespread abuse) an ecclesial matter and not given enough weight to the civil ramifications That has to stop too. Any claim of abuse should and must be turned over to the civil authorities for investigation and prosecution. No more considering this a “private”/“in-house” matter only. The bishops have to get out ahead of this problem, and that means a lot of people are going to get hurt, OR nothing is going to change.
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well said Joey!!!
 
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Joline said:
I believe that clerical abuse has dramatically improved in recent decades and I thank God for that.
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I do too. I believe, and someone correct me if I’m wrong, that the number of current reported abuse cases per year is something like fewer than 15-20 per year.

The other problem though, reported homosexuality among clergy and seminarians, appears to be a present and grave problem.
 
It sounds like the vast majority of CHILD abuse cases are old. The Church has improved screening and cleaned up its act in this regard. What has continued into recent times is priests in power using their authority to seduce / molest male adults. Very different animal, but also disturbing.
 
Most of the abusers were probably ordained before the new rules and stuff.
 
This is correct. Very few incidents ever get reported so this is just a fraction of it. There are ongoing scandals as well - and I suspect the ‘in the past’ argument is a means of deflection. Remember, nothing was ever done about these cases or victims, beyond settlements and nondisclosure agreements. The hierarchy kept this under wraps, including Cardinal Wuerl. This is also often about ‘homosexual activity’ vs ‘predator activity’ - that is how it is split - one being ok in the modern RCC the other not. It is a pretty darn fine line at the best of times, always a tight knit group. Most victims are teenage boys - 14-17. I will be amazed if this internal homosexual structure even receives a dent. The RCC is ‘individualist’ now anyway. If Wuerl et al. make it through this unscathed, that is your answer to how sorry and ashamed everybody is.
 
I agree! It would be much better if the Church were effective in combatting abuse. Pope Francis’ comments regarding the Chilean abuses were so damaging.
 
Exactly. Did the secular media trap a child, hold her confined in a secluded room, and force a priest to rape her?! Absurd.
 
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The way the Pope and Vatican have reacted/not reacted to these scandals gives quite a bit of weight to the gay lobby vs. Pope Benedict, fix is in on Jesuit Pope Francis argument - dismissed as alt-trad paranoid nonsense for so long. Now it takes quite a suspension of reason / leap of faith NOT to suspect it. Onwards to the ‘Family’ celebration!!😉😆😉
 
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So how is the secular media forcing the issue? It seems both secular and Catholic agencies are covering a materially important topic for the church.
 
The way the media reports this is very misleading. I don’t know what the Catholic agencies are trying to do.
 
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Really? I read on CNN that, according to the Grand Jury, the situation has much improved since 2002.
 
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