Why Catholic now? Abuse reports getting worse, lost interest in Inquiry

[lutherlic]

Blaming the press is a just a weak tactic that the guilty use.

That may be true, but does not mean the innocent can not be victims of the press either.

I would agree that it is arguable just how culpable the press is in intentionally libeling the Church. It is possible that some are mostly just very poor fact checkers, lazy researchers and accustomed to believing what others have published. It is possible that they might be more open minded than they appear if they didn’t have a presumption about the Church before writing their columns. A lot of things are possible, but they are not publishing the truth.

 

[Disciple4Christ]

The last wave of abuse scandals in this country was what got me to decide to join the Catholic church!

Actually, it was two things: JPII’s death and the sexual abuse news back in . . . oh I guess it was 2005 or so. I don’t exactly have it on my calendar.

Does anyone remember what Billy Joel said how he wrote his song about New York? He was living in California and New York defaulted on their city bills and wanted President Ford to give them assistance. I recall that period well. And Ford refused (I guess you had to be a bank in order to qualify for federal government bailouts, but I’m flirting with an anachronism here . . . ). According to Billy Joel, when he heard what happened, he immediately left California and headed back home to New York. He figured New York needed him.

That’s how I felt about the Catholic Church. When your child needs you, do you walk away? When a friend has a problem, do you say ‘goodbye’? Or do you help out as much as you can, to be there as a comfort if nothing else?

Nope, for me it was: “I think I have something to contribute to the Catholic Church, even if it’s only that I’m 100% on board with becoming Catholic.” I decided to step up and cast my lot with the Catholic Church. I figured they needed my little expressions of joy and my devotion during trying times.

Well said, I was going to comment here but you have poured my own heart into your post. We need to stand strong in our faith to defend Jesus true Church.
Thank you Tina

 

[mickeyfan35]

For me it’s not what those evil men have done. They should be punished just like any other criminal. I remain in the church for the graces I receive there. I’m not there for the priests or the other parishioners, I’m there because only there can I receive my GOD in the Eucharist. The church is so much more than the sinful humans that are part of it (some more sinful than others apparently). The priest at my church in GA said you must not judge all the clergy because of the acts of a few. And to pray and support those who are good, just men.
Tina

 

[Pamm]

Never, ever misunderstand that these men who have damaged so many are “the Church.” They are not – we are the Church. Our faith is the Church. Our insistence that faithfulness and fairness will bring the Church back to where it needs to be. I would never consider leaving a Faith I love for the sins of others.

The Bible says we will will be tempted and perhaps this is a temptation from the Devil to discourage us. The Devil certainly lives inside the priests who have committed these sins. Fight hard to believe and trust that those of us who love the CC will hold all those accountable who have committed the sins or have looked the other way. Any priest who has violated the sacred trust of a child should be forever banned to serve again within the Church. Any Bishop who looked the other way or transferred guilty priests should also be banned from leadership roles within the Church. These men need to confess and repent – and part of their penance should be to lose the power they hold over Catholics anywhere in the world.

 

[faithfully]

Hi… I’m new here still… You know, I knew a priest that had abused several boys. Only, I didn’t know that he had done this until it was brought out publicly years later. This was well over 15 years ago. He was removed from service, and “dealt with”. No longer a priest as far as I know. He was a priest at the church I grew up in. Honestly, there was something about him that made me never want to turn to him for ANYTHING… The other priests at the same church… very special men. I could not possibly turn my back on them (they were equally as mortified as our parish)… And they have so much to offer!

As an analogy… I used to work in healthcare (Insurance in California). And if you could help it, you didn’t select Kaiser. Why?Because you probably know someone who has had terrible care from them. I know SEVERAL people who went to ER with a serious conditions sent home with an aspirin. I myself went recently with severe kidney site pain, and was sent home with a very high white count, a few other things, and without any testing (other than the blood test) told I probably pulled a back muscle. Later to find out I had a pretty good size kidney stone (after further pushing with my Dr.) Needless to say, not life threatening… but bad!

Now, if given the choice, all other things equal, I know FEW people that would select Kaiser. They are known state wide for their horrifying care… But then you must think… They ARE state wide, and they use their name on every single affiliation they have… Other hospitals do not. Chances are, if you go to a hospital, they can just as easily give you bad care. But you don’t affiliate them with the other 20 or 30 hospitals they are IN FACT affiliated with, as they all have a different name. It seems that Kaiser, therefore, has the highest rate of medical mistakes… I don’t know what the actual numbers are… but you realize after a while that you aren’t comparing the same things…

In the end… in every walk of life… where education and trust are important… SOMEONE always graduated at the bottom of their class (hence poor medicine when you need it) There are always creeps working their way into authority. This is what predators do. It’s their MO. It the TRUSTED person that hurts us that stings the most… But the crazy uncle, the teacher, the doctor, the priest… They should love you, or at least care very much about your well being. NOT hurt you. A predator knows this… they know they are trusted… They abuse not just the person (God Bless them for enduring!!!), but the entire system. I’m sure that in hind site, there will have been a WAY better path the church could have taken to prevent all of this… But I can only imagine that what was done, was done in good conscience. Not malice. Whether we like the way it’s been handled or not…

I think it’s important to remember that even Christ had Judas walk among him.

ANYHOW:recently found this article…

fratres.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/redemption-comes-through-the-jews-jewish-businessman-sam-miller-whaps-anti-catholic-bias-in-news-media-full-text/

The following is what I actually rec’d… 'causing me to search out the entire article… It’s important to read, I found the numbers sited of interest:

Jewish Sam Miller on Catholics

Excerpts of an article written by non-Catholic Sam Miller - a prominent Cleveland Jewish businessman:

"Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States , namely the Catholic Church?

Do you know - the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to that Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. The graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%.

The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students.

The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today

But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage.

Let me give you some figures that Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact in a study by the United Methodist Church , 41.8% of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed.

Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic Problem.

A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have probably been totally weeded out by now.

Walk with your shoulders high and you head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States . Then remember what Jeremiah said: ‘Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls’. Be proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions.

Be proud that you’re a Catholic."

 

[mickeyfan35]

Faithfully,

Thanks so much for the numbers. It’s so easy to lose sight of all the good when the bad comes to light.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Blaming the press is a just a weak tactic that the guilty use.

I’m reminded of a somewhat tongue-in-cheek remark I once overheard,

"just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that someone ISN’T out to get you.’

Now, of course if somebody was guilty of a crime, and the press reported it, and the person started to ‘blame the press’, that would be a pretty lame thing to do.

But --wait for it–what if somebody was guilty of a crime, and the press not only reported that, but went on to accuse other people of crimes who were innocent of those crimes?

That is a very sticky situation, you know? Because if you start to point out that ‘some’ people were not guilty, you’ll be accused of ignoring the fact that others ‘were guilty’. If you point out that the press was right in say 6 facts, but wrong in 6 others, you’re still acknowledging the truth, aren’t you? But what about the WRONG facts? They are often ‘glossed over’, if not actively (and falsely) insisted on as being ‘true’ because, hey, there were some ‘true’ facts in there and so everything ELSE the press says must be ‘true’ if SOME facts were true.

If a newspaper runs an article, and the article contains errors, to point out that there are errors is something that (if we are aware of said errors) we are pretty much obligated to do in the interest of **truth. **

Recently in the baseball world Mark McGwire admitted that he had LIED for years about whether or not he had used steroids in his career. And this was important news because it was getting the truth out and correcting the previous **lies **that he had made.

when errors and falsehoods are presented as truth, people should be strong enough and courageous enough to keep on insisting that all the truth be told, even if some people misjudge them for it.

 

[MtnDwellar]

Of Christs 12 apostles one betrayed him , one denied him 3 time and 9 ran off when he was seized. There are over 400,000 Priests in the world of which less than 5,000 have been accused of wrongdoing. No one, i mean no one is going to seperate me from Christs Church.

A former pastor of my parish was accused and arrested for child abuse during the week. A letter will be read at each mass this weekend asking other victims to come forward. The priest admitted guilt and was immediately defrocked. That should be an example going forward for handling similar situations.

Before this problem “hit home”, I was thinking that it was exaggerated in the media and that priests are probably not statistically more abusive than the general public. I may be wrong about that. Even folks who are defending my previous opinion seem to be sighting rather large percentages. As above, 1.25%. I have heard others throw around statistics such as less than 1% or even 2% in defense of the Church.

I know that the percentage of pedophiles in the general population cannot be that high. Our prisons would be filled with pedophiles. Add to that my guess that for every one priest who is accused, there are probably at least another half dozen or more who are guilty and are never discovered.

I found this website: bishop-accountability.org/ The group seems to present accurate data. All of the cases that they mention have outside links to newspapers or other media reporting the story. Of 184 dioceses in the U.S. 172 have reports of child abuse by priests. Some of the larger dioceses have over 100 cases filed.

Those of us, like me, who have minimized the problem are probably wrong. I think that it is a crisis. Besides the obvious effects on the victims and families, the crisis has to be having a huge effect on our churches. If I was a priest, I would be reluctant to be left alone with children, due to the suspicion or worry that it may cause. As a parent, I wouldn’t let a priest take my child for ice cream or to a ball game. 1 in 100 is too much risk.

This article published by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, usccb.org/catholic-church-sxl-ab.pdf, claims that the Catholic Church has done more to protect children than almost any other organization and goes on to describe their actions. They are on the wrong track, or at least their efforts are missing key components.

It seems that they are minimizing the problem. The efforts seem to focus on educating adults children, supporting victims, and the like. If I owned a company and 1% of my employees were committing horrendous acts which caused nearly irreparable damage to my organization, I would do more than hold some seminars.

The Church has to first realize that it has a big problem. Second, they have to take major steps to prevent future occurrences. If I was running things, and it maybe a good thing that I am not, I would make a simple rule. No priests are allowed to be alone with children. Any contact must have at least one other adult present. Priests who do not follow the rule will be punished.

Why not? Many male doctors follow this rule while examining female patients. It doesn’t mean that the doctors are perverts. It provides a safeguard against false accusations and often makes the patients feel more comfortable. I would be proud of my church if they took some kind of similar action.

 

[lutherlic]

A former pastor of my parish was accused and arrested for child abuse during the week. A letter will be read at each mass this weekend asking other victims to come forward. The priest admitted guilt and was immediately defrocked. That should be an example going forward for handling similar situations.

Before this problem “hit home”, I was thinking that it was exaggerated in the media and that priests are probably not statistically more abusive than the general public. I may be wrong about that. Even folks who are defending my previous opinion seem to be sighting rather large percentages. As above, 1.25%. I have heard others throw around statistics such as less than 1% or even 2% in defense of the Church.

I know that the percentage of pedophiles in the general population cannot be that high. Our prisons would be filled with pedophiles. Add to that my guess that for every one priest who is accused, there are probably at least another half dozen or more who are guilty and are never discovered.

I found this website: bishop-accountability.org/ The group seems to present accurate data. All of the cases that they mention have outside links to newspapers or other media reporting the story. Of 184 dioceses in the U.S. 172 have reports of child abuse by priests. Some of the larger dioceses have over 100 cases filed.

Those of us, like me, who have minimized the problem are probably wrong. I think that it is a crisis. Besides the obvious effects on the victims and families, the crisis has to be having a huge effect on our churches. If I was a priest, I would be reluctant to be left alone with children, due to the suspicion or worry that it may cause. As a parent, I wouldn’t let a priest take my child for ice cream or to a ball game. 1 in 100 is too much risk.

This article published by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, usccb.org/catholic-church-sxl-ab.pdf, claims that the Catholic Church has done more to protect children than almost any other organization and goes on to describe their actions. They are on the wrong track, or at least their efforts are missing key components.

It seems that they are minimizing the problem. The efforts seem to focus on educating adults children, supporting victims, and the like. If I owned a company and 1% of my employees were committing horrendous acts which caused nearly irreparable damage to my organization, I would do more than hold some seminars.

The Church has to first realize that it has a big problem. Second, they have to take major steps to prevent future occurrences. If I was running things, and it maybe a good thing that I am not, I would make a simple rule. No priests are allowed to be alone with children. Any contact must have at least one other adult present. Priests who do not follow the rule will be punished.

Why not? Many male doctors follow this rule while examining female patients. It doesn’t mean that the doctors are perverts. It provides a safeguard against false accusations and often makes the patients feel more comfortable. I would be proud of my church if they took some kind of similar action.

Perspective and motivation are very important.

In the US we know the problem has not been cured. It may never be, but we will do our best trying to 100% stop it. The website you reference was created in 2003. I looked through it and the information seemed dated and cumulative. I did not see breakouts by year and trends. That would have told a different story.

The US Church of 2010 is not the same as it was in 2005, 2000, 1990, 1970, etc. The recognition of this problem earlier on may not have been as quick as we might have hoped (although there are some valid reasons for that too), but it certainly is now.

The PDF you reference is brief and helps answer the question people have “what are you doing about it?” It is not minimizing the problem at all. If we don’t say what is being done then we would be reinforcing the opinion of many that we are doing nothing. That could not be further from the truth.

Last year there were 6 credible new US cases alleged. As terrible as that is, it is phenomenal compared to just about every other organization (scaling for size).

As to the motivation, we are mortified by this. Our stewardship of the Church Jesus founded was lacking. It has brought immeasurable scandal (and the damage always associated with that).

The motivation of others outside the Church is different. Child sex abuse should be important to them but their obvious intent is to marginalize the Church. If their intent were different, they would present all the abuse and stories would appear in proportion to how much is happening in different areas - not almost exclusively focused on the Catholic Church.

It is sad that your former priest is guilty of this tragic betrayal. You don’t say if you are in the US or not. If you are here, it is likely that his actions were some time ago and just now discovered. That does not minimize it.

The bottom line is - how much child sex abuse is occurring in the US Catholic Church in 2010? I think the answer to that is (1) very little and (2) we do not accept any whatsoever.

 

[hawkeye]

If fewer than 2% of priests can undo the whole Church, then we were finished at the very moment that Judas betrayed Christ, since he was not just a priest or Bishop; he was an Apostle. All except one of the Apostles abandoned Christ in His hour of need; if their behaviour is what we base our faith on, then we are sadly misled, indeed.

St. John didn’t let the sins of the other eleven drag him into the pit - he continued to be faithful, even when it was only him and Mother Mary standing there at the Cross. His faith and hers are why we are still here today.

 

[hawkeye]

John, you did not walk away when things got real dire, bad, you stood there with Gods Mother, a pillar of strength, Saint John, please stand by us as you did on that hill, so dark, so lonesome, Saint John, please pray for us…