shellback - we don't need a claim to fame. Our arguments stand or fall on their own merits. Just because someone has a string of credentials doesn't mean he is incapable of abusing his power to promote his own personal agenda.

phanto, Radical, extremist, loony, left wing, femanazis have been desperately looking for, all cases of, all forms of, child abuse by fathers for several decades now in all western, English speaking democracies. As you well know, and 1% of sexual abuse was all they could find. I personally have met hundreds of people, who were sexually abused as children and only 2 of whom, by their biological father, and in both cases, those individuals had no problem telling anybody who would listen, about what their fathers had done to them.

Child sexual abuse has been known about for thousands of years. Extensive debauchery of all kinds, including child sexual abuse, in the catholic church, during the first millennium, is, why, the policy of celibacy was started in the first place. The writing of Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde, also cover all forms of child abuse.

suzeonline, i am sure, that there would NOT, have been anything, about it in the press, as we both know, that the mass media, is chock a block full of female journalists, who assiduously avoid, all mention, of any child abuse, by women. As do all DOCS staff in all states and territories, avoid investigating abuse of children by women. Which is why not many women have been caught so far.

I was not, and never have, lumped all, single mothers in the same basket, but the type of "good" single mothers you mention are in the minority, like the "allegedly" bad men, also in the minority.

So YES, the under reporting, and conviction, of females for child sexual abuse, (as well as all other, forms of abuse) can, be, disputed.

BTW, shellback was quite right about author and article.

John Paul II did not apologize for the anti-semitic sins of ommission or commission by the Catholic Church. As its institutional leader, he had the authority to do that. He apologized for the sins of some of the sons and daughters of the Church. I was saddened by this diversion.

The present position of the institutional church in New York on this proposed change in the law is consistent with the systematic primacy of self interest over the teachings of Jesus Christ (not to mention that it is illegal to cover-up crimes). This is part of the systemic pathology which, in fact, is at the core of the sexual abuse itself! The clerical culture, in order to preserve itself, forbids a cleric from ever being accountable to lay people. Lay people cannot examine a priest accused of molestation, only another priest can do that. The lack of the possibility of accountability combined with secrecy has generated a sick organizational system.

As a Catholic, I believe that the Church is the "people of God;" it is not the bureaucracy which runs the institution, Our institutional leadership has lost credibility. Their great fear was that scandal would undermine Church authority. Instead it was the actions of bishops over the last 50 years that have undermined their authority and brought into question their suitability to be spiritual leaders. We, Catholics, have no choice but to support accountability in the only place which is possible at the present time -- the law.

Doc Martin

Thank you for your informative and straightforward post. I can only imagine the conflict for those Catholics who wish to follow the teachings of Jesus and the self righteous behaviour of the Catholic hierarchy.

Repeated sermons from the sanctimonious like Peter Sellick, the pronouncements from Cardinal George Pell or rantings from Fred Nile give clear indication of the false turn taken by orthodox Christianity since the time of Constantine and show no indication to returning to the simple logic attributed to Jesus Christ.

While I sympathise for the conundrum this must create for the devout; there is nothing to prevent Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans or any other faction of Christianity from simply following their conscience rather than the dictates of the church.