And these are the guys who are supposed to refuse Communion to gays, divorcees, and Democrats.
constitutional rights to reputation
Hmmm. Must have missed that one.
Matthew 18:1-10 King James Version (KJV) 18 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And
said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But
whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it
were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and
that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! 8 Wherefore
if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from
thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather
than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And
if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is
better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two
eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 Take
heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you,
That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which
is in heaven.
“More than 1,000 children — and possible many more — were molested by hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses, while senior church officials took steps to cover it up…”
“And when you hide behind religion, they let you do it. You can do anything!”
[quote=“ignoreland, post:2, topic:76028, full:true”]
And these are the guys who are supposed to refuse Communion to gays, divorcees, and Democrats.
[/quote]Well, ya gotta draw the line somewhere.
But, to be serious for a moment … this conduct, these crimes, these sexual attacks and abuse, and the cover-ups and enabling that went on for decades - that we’ve been hearing about with renewed episodes and evidence for decades - is some of the most disturbing and anger-evoking I’ve ever heard. I’m not a Catholic, but I imagine they will say God will be the judge (was it God’s will?). But, I’m not sure there’s a punishment severe enough for all of those involved. And, unfortunately, there’s probably not consolation or solace or justice enough for the victims.
So how many catholic shelters for immigrant kids?
Yet the grand jury’s work might not result in justice for Catholics who say they were molested as children. While the probe yielded charges against two clergymen — including a priest who has since pleaded guilty, and another who allegedly forced his accuser to say confession after each sex assault — the vast majority of priests already identified as perpetrators are either dead or are likely to avoid arrest because their alleged crimes are too old to prosecute under state law.
Burn it down and salt the Earth. The Church is a force for evil in the world. Absolutely disgusting.
As a Catholic the reality of this abuse has been evident to me, and anyone with their eyes open, for decades now. The long bad history of abuse-- not just in the US, but around the world-- is horrifying. But the willful ignorance of this abuse by so many people in the church is also terribly depressing.
In Philadelphia and elsewhere too I suppose, there is an attitude among Catholics that unless you have suffered at the hands of the church, been whacked by nun’s rulers in parochial school, and said “Yes Father.” to the nasty idiot who ran your school or church, you weren’t really a real Catholic. Forget the Eucharist, forget all the other sacraments. Suffering at the hands of Mother Church and “Father” was its own rite of passage.
I love the liturgy, the readings, the Prayers of the People, the celebration of Holy Eucharist, but how can I celebrate any of this when the thing is in support of, and hiding away horrible horrible power plays and pedophilia? I am a Catholic in Exile.
No, it is not God’s will. As a Catholic I’m trying to suppress the desire to see these men rot in Hell. Those men who aided in the cover-up are just as guilty.
Who would Jesus molest?
Just fucking gross.
Too bad Ole Blues Eyes Frank weren’t still alive so we could get his response. “Mr Sinatra, Sinead O’connor was right about the priests, what say you, sir?”
Here in the Harrisburg area a local TV station ran a list of the Priests that did the dirty.
What was unbelievable was the number of parishes these wonderful people were moved to ,to avoid being found out.
We must stop protecting Christians of all faiths.
There are many of us in that category. I was raised as a Catholic, but in a household where the emphasis was not on religious rules or eternal punishment but rather on our responsibility to care for the less fortunate. But, ever since these stories of abuse (and ESPECIALLY the cover up by church officials) have surfaced, I am no longer able to maintain that religious identity. Instead, I have found other ways to be charitable and support social justice. This report only confirms my decision.
A thousand sexually abused children yada yada.
The real crime is that Obama wanted to force a Catholic organization to send a letter to notify the government that the organization wasn’t going to pay for health insurance that covered any birth control services or prescriptions for organization employees.
So, forget the sexual abuse and pay no attention to the fact that a growing number of US citizens who don’t work for a religious organization and do have birth-control covered by their health insurance are still effectively denied important birth-control services (such as sterilization) by the Catholic church.
In many areas, the only hospital within dozens of miles is run by the Catholic church, and medical professionals there cannot offer (and often can’t even discuss) medical options that the church objects to – even when a woman is at high risk of death or permanent injury without one of those options. If a patient is able to figure out what is needed, able to figure out where it is available, and able to travel to the more-distant hospital, she might find that she is out of her insurance network and has to pay out of pocket for all but some emergency services.
I understand that the most of these cases occurred decades ago and can not be individually prosecuted, however the larger and most egregious crime is the coverup that enabled decades of sexual and physical abuse by the Church’s clergy. I think the Pennsylvania AG should seek a RICO complaint against the Church and it’s leadership. The PA Governor should ask the US AG to consider the same action by the Department of Justice. Removing monetary resources from Catholic Church and placing leadership at risk of prosecution by organized coverups of systematic child rape and abuse might just put the Fear of God in these people.
Believe it or not but I was at the Vatican Saturday. Thousands of young kids were in Rome for a world youth day. I guess it’s a nice activity for the young people during the summer but the Church has no future if they don’t come to terms with this stuff.
The Catholic church’s actions against the ACA covering birth control was another aspect of the “bridge too far” for me. Poor women suffer the most from this ridiculous position, and I can’t align that with what I always considered to be the church’s position either. (They were okay, however, with insurance covering Viagra.)
I spent 8 years in Catholic school and never saw anything like this, but then I spent most of my time being schooled by nuns where beating kids with yardsticks was more their thing.
i’m always perplexed at the concept that one can act against the will of a god.
if god doesn’t want something to happen, how does it nonetheless happen, unless god wants it to happen?
if you were god, would you let anyone, especially one of your purported representatives, rape a child?