Vatican: Sex abuse not just a Catholic problem

[robtax]

I really think that its human nature to circle the wagons and defend yourself. I was a little saddened that the Church just couldn’t assume responsibility for the abuse…end of statement. Offering statistics about abuse in general in an effort to show that the Church was ok was bad spin. As Christians we have to do a better job at that.

We have to have a higher standard…acknowledge our failures, act on them and move on. The Church as been around for over 2,000 years and weathered all sorts of storms. The Holy Spirit was sent to the Church because Christ knew how defective we humans are. Without the Spirit’s intervention the Church would have collapsed long ago.

I think our Church will continue to have these problems until the Church does what absolutely must be done to correct these problems. Maybe several bishops need to retire, offenders and those who helped them need to go to jail, and maybe lots of money needs to be paid out. Until those things are done we won’t see the end of these issues. The devil takes great delight in man’s failures and will exploit this issue to the end if we let him.

 

[Scottgun]

I really think that its human nature to circle the wagons and defend yourself. I was a little saddened that the Church just couldn’t assume responsibility for the abuse…end of statement. Offering statistics about abuse in general in an effort to show that the Church was ok was bad spin. As Christians we have to do a better job at that.

You have a good point and I have always done my level best to acknowlege shortcomings up front before moving to the baloney that invaritably follows. I hope it satisfies lurkers, because with someone with an axe to grind, it’s as if I had not acknowledged it at all. It’s like the Devil takes an arrowhead of truth and fixes it to a shaft of lies. The head penetrates, but make one move to clip off the shaft and you get branded a white-washer.

 

[geezerbob]

Nowhere has anyone said or even implied that the Church was okay in this. It was merely pointed out that the problem exists in other churches as well. Still a problem and a sin, though, for Protestants as well as Catholics, contrary to what the media would have you believe.

 

[dixieagle]

Nowhere has anyone said or even implied that the Church was okay in this. It was merely pointed out that the problem exists in other churches as well. Still a problem and a sin, though, for Protestants as well as Catholics, contrary to what the media would have you believe.

From my perspective, I have seen “the media” jump all over Protestants - usually fundamentalists - for this, as well. However, the Catholic Church, because its tenets fly in the face of conventional (im)morality, and because of its perceived power, is an easy target when a member of the clergy does something so obviously contrary to what we profess.

All of this has been compounded by the arrogance, lack of Christian charity, and, often, plain stupidity, of certain bishops in continuing to try to obfuscate. If only they had learned that “honesty is the best policy” really is true.