To Forwardplease.

I'm not trying to defend child abuse among priests, but I am trying to offer solutions that can be applied. Think of it this way. If there is a field of work that a significant number of people in that field commit a certain crime, then it might be less about the people in the field being bad people, and more that that field of work can draw out that kind of crime out of people. The dynamics of police brutality for instance point to this kind of situation, where the work environment might draw out a certain negative behavior. With police I wouldn't say their work is not needed and to remove the career from society; but I would say there's significant amount of stress in their job along with putting their life on the line and fighting tensions of anti cop philosophies in the culture. If there is a way to help the police in their work environment then hopefully the issue can be resolved.

Going back to priests, my position is that if priests are required to turn other priests in when they confess their sins, then I don't think the offending priest will confess unless they are more devoted to God, that they are willing to lose their position of priesthood. In my opinion it would only stop the confessions not help catch them. With that in mind I think the suggestions I gave might lessen or even stop the issue of abuse among priests.

To Yuyutsu. Jesus did not encourage rebellion. And though I'm having trouble finding the verses where He said it, I'm sure Jesus said to not rebel against the rulers that ruled over Israel. Either way that message is also conveyed in Hebrews 13 and Romans 13. To not rebel against the authorities that rule over you. (Flee from them is fine though). To put it into perspective the state Israel was in while under Roman rule was under much oppression that is at a much harsher degree then what your talking about with religious rights and the responsibilities and power of the government's we live in. (You don't need to own it to be part of it's society).

With that in mind to respect those who rule over you (government powers that be), even in the situation of oppressive Roman rule. With that in mind I must disagree with your conclusions of the government having no right or authority to punish criminals who break the law. Religious rights can not, nor should not, be an excuse to let a crime flourish and harm the people the authorities are charged to look over.

If that helps resolve the topic your concerned with, great. Then let's move back to the subject matter of finding solutions to child abuse among churches, (which is I believe the main point of the article that started this discussion.)

Dear Not_Now.Soon,

We will probably never know all that Jesus really told his disciples: suppose he encouraged them to rebel - do you think that his disciples would dare to write it? And even if they had, do you think that the Romans and Emperor Constantine would allow that to remain in the New Testament?

The Jews did rebel in fact, thirty-something years after Jesus - and the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed as a result.

You are a Christian, presumably of European ancestry: European Churches were part of the regime for many centuries, in fact they were willing partners to many of the atrocities of the state. For a long while it was inconceivable that the state would rise against the church, well at least until Henry VIII in England, but even there the church quickly rejoined the regime.

European Christians thus got too comfortable, too used to being in power, they were spoilt and failed to see that one day the wheel will turn against them as well. It does now, and if you are complacent, then this trend will only gain momentum. Some secular ideologists, including in this very forum, are only too happy to crush any expression of religion. Where would you personally stop? When would you finally disobey their laws? Perhaps when they forbid prayer and the practice of communion (it is not far-fetched, some countries already do it)?

You suggested that fleeing from authorities is OK - where to? Muslim Indonesia? Communist China? Due to overpopulation, no country is now free and states control the whole earth. In biblical times you could still run to the hills and to the desert, but now they have the technology to catch you anywhere, including satellites, drones, miniature cameras and sonars that can see through walls.

You may believe that states have a right to punish criminals - I won't go into that, because the issue here isn't about what states do, but of forcing YOU to actively help them and be part of their actions, even when this is against your conscience and against your religion.

.

According to the specialists, paedophilia, is a psychiatric disorder which emerges before or during puberty and is stable over time. It is self-discovered, not chosen and, unfortunately, there is no known cure for it.

Psychiatric treatment with appropriate medication can help attenuate the symptoms to some extent and, as Yuyutsu pointed out on page 5 of this thread, the mere fact of being able to talk to someone about their problem can also help – to some extent.

Nevertheless, the fact is that all those individuals who, as adults, subsequently decided to enter the priesthood, did so knowing full well that they had a major personal problem due to their sexual orientation towards young children. There is no escaping that fact. It cannot be otherwise. Either they had already practised paedophilia (perhaps, even, on more than one occasion) or, at the very least, they were, necessarily, perfectly conscious of their uncontrollable sexual urges towards young children.

Neither they, nor anybody else, were obliged to enter the priesthood. Such an important decision is strictly personal. A purely voluntary engagement. Knowing what they knew about themselves, they should never have become priests.

They bear an extremely serious spiritual, moral and legal responsibility.

Call it a health problem if you will, a mental disorder, a neurological abnormality or a psychological pathology, the problem is, they were perfectly aware of their illness and yet wilfully and knowingly chose to enter the priesthood where they knew full well that, in all probability, they would come into close contact with young children whose parents would trust them as members of the clergy. They could not possibly have ignored that it was almost certain they would not be able to resist transgressing their vows and betraying that trust.

And just as premeditated murder is a more serious crime that just plain murder, premeditated paedophilia is also a more serious crime that just plain paedophilia.

The Christian Churches may not consider paedophilia to be a “sin”, a transgression of “divine” law, but it is a crime under human law – to which they, too, are subject.

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Banjo,

"The Christian Churches may not consider paedophilia to be a “sin”, a transgression of “divine” law, but it is a crime under human law – to which they, too, are subject."

They do consider it a sin, that's why they have been forgiving it.

Yuyutsu,

I can see that you are merely stirring.
You understand full well what laws we are all
subject to living in this country. You are
not exception to them. However, I find it is
pointless to continue this discussion.

Have a nice day.