Why Does the Catholic Church Keep Failing on Sexual Abuse?

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It makes for a big shocking headline to sound like the Church is attempting to evade justice or something, but I don’t buy it. There is a reason why there is a statue of limitation on most forms of legal action, and this is actually an ancient concept in law. The alleged incident occurred 60 years ago, and it is virtually impossible to have a fair trial at this point.
 
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No, not from a psychological standpoint. There WILL be a handful of false allegations and therefore careful listening to victims (and those claiming to be victims) is warranted. However, skepticism is a most damaging way to approach broken people. The abuser being dead may be the only thing that allows a victim to finally come forward. That the person is dead and thus unable to defend himself is exactly why so many victims finally are able to speak of the abuse–the suffocating presence of the abuser can no longer possibly touch the victim. I am speaking as a psychologist who has worked with abuse victims and from the perspective of trauma and the psychology of abuse. As I stated before, many victims experience even harsher betrayals when they are dismissed and invalidated, especially by their parents.
 
Pray tell me exactly how ‘the Catholic Church’ ‘claims the moral high ground
Each priest is another Christ. And so, many people believe that priests should be held to a higher standard.
 
Excellent comments… Too bad, usually people who have never been in an abusive situation are the ones to approach someone who has with skepticism first.

@adamhovey1988, sorry to hear about what happened to the Bishop at your church, thank God it was cleared up. It happened to a teacher in my high school, but good investigations proved the girl was lying…

The worst part is when things don’t get corrected and a person’s life is ruined… worse if it was over a lie.
That’s not a preventive measure and by then it’s already too late.
Opening records when ever possible is never too late when it can help prevent something like this from happening again.
 
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Again, how do you stop this from happening. Open up all the records.
 
It can help to prevent accusation being “weaponized”. Too late, it is never too late for the facts and truth to be told.
 
I don’t understand where you get “Each priest is another Christ.” I have never thought of any priest, bishop, cardinal, or pope as being another Christ. Do holy men and women of any religion hold themselves to a higher standard? Should we hold them to it? Should we hold ourselves? Priests are not God. Christ was true God and true Man. Priests are men.
 
I don’t understand where you get “Each priest is another Christ.”
Alter Christus = another Christ
and also
Liturgically, the priest serves in persona Christi.

" As an alter Christus, the priest is profoundly united to the Word of the Father who, in becoming incarnate took the form of a servant, he became a servant (Phil 2: 5-11). The priest is a servant of Christ, in the sense that his existence, configured to Christ ontologically, acquires an essentially relational character: he is in Christ, for Christ and with Christ, at the service of humankind. Because he belongs to Christ, the priest is radically at the service of all people: he is the minister of their salvation, their happiness and their authentic liberation, developing, in this gradual assumption of Christ’s will, in prayer, in “being heart to heart” with him. Therefore this is the indispensable condition for every proclamation, which entails participation in the sacramental offering of the Eucharist and docile obedience to the Church." - Pope Benedict XVI 24 June 2009
In its document on the ministry of priests, Vatican II says, “The priest receives a special Sacrament by which, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, he is conformed to Christ the Priest in such a way that he can act, in Persona Christi, that is, in the very Person of Jesus Christ.”
CCC 875 … . From him, bishops and priests receive the mission and faculty (“the sacred power”) to act in persona Christi Capitis ;…
 
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You’re applying personal qualities to an institution. Do you have any concrete evidence that bishops are still asking victims to discrete, only to be ignored? You refer to the bishops being dragged kicking and screaming… which bishops does that refer to? Bishops who were appointed within the last year? The bishops who presided over nearly every reported case are now retired or long dead.
Certainly there have been serious institutional failures, but I think there’s some sweeping generalizations in your post. Most “reigning” bishops today were appointed bishops long after reforms were put in place…
 
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IMHO, i think that the Church should be more lenient in allowing married priests. There are so many good women who would make wonderful wives and helpers for Catholic priests.
 
And? Your point is? You wish for ‘impeccable priests” is simply a wish. The fact that some priests sin with abuse doesn’t mean that the Church* cannot claim moral high ground in its teachings.***
 
And what would that solve? Married men still sexually abuse others. As if the purpose of a wife is to be a release for the violent sexual urges of her husband.
 
As if the purpose of a wife is to be a release for the violent sexual urges of her husband.
The Bible tells us that the union of a man and a woman is what God has created: Prov 18: 22, Eccl. 9: 9, Eph 5: 33.
And according to Holy Scripture she is much more than what you have described:
Prov 31: 10
[a] An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses herself[b] with strength
and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.[c]
22 She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
 
As if the purpose of a wife is to be a release for the violent sexual urges of her husband.
IMHO, this is not the only role or purpose of a wife. I would disagree with you on that. Marriage can be a beautiful journey for both the husband and the wife. Here is an article which lists at least 17 things that a wife can do for a happy marriage.

 
Yes, I obviously saw that. Notice the “as if,” referring to your statement about married priests.
 
IMHO, i think that the Church should be more lenient in allowing married priests. There are so many good women who would make wonderful wives and helpers for Catholic priests.
The women I have talked who are wives of deacons to were not in a hurry to be pastor’s wives and still less in a hurry to have children who would be doomed to being the pastor’s kids. Their view of their own pastors was that the total dedication of the priests their husbands served with wouldn’t leave enough leftover for a marriage. They were quite adamant about it. (The clergy in other denominations do have divorce rates similar to the laypeople in the same denomination.)

As others have pointed out, marriage is not an antidote to sexual predation. Sexual predators even use their positions as husbands and fathers to create a position of trust.

In other words, if someone were to become a Catholic priest in order to have a trusted position from which to be a sexual predator, he’d have an even better cover if he were a married Catholic priest. What any predator wants above everything else is to arouse no suspicion in victims or those with the office of protecting victims. They work hard to seem extremely trustworthy and safe. That is true of sexual predators, financial predators and every other kind of manipulative person. Trust is what they need! The only thing they like more is the pity of good people–that is carte blanche!
 
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