Dear Opinionated2,

I've just come across an article by Alan Dershowitz,
Lawyer and author, that may shed some light on this
subject. I'm going to use his words, as
he explains it far better than I ever could.

Dershowitz claims that regarding
sexual abuse and the Catholic Church - the issue is
a complex problem due to the fact that there are five
important traditions that make it difficult to move
quickly and aggressively in response to complaints of
abuse. He lists the traditions as follows:

1) The first tradition involves confidentiality, especially
the confidentiality of the priest with regard to the
penitent. There's also a wider tradition of confidentiality
within the Church hierarchy itself.

2) Secondly there's the tradition of forgiveness.
The previous Pope immediately forgave the assassin
who tried to kill him.

3) Thirdly there's the tradition of the Church regarding itself
as a state. The Holy See is a sovereign state. The Catholic
Church isn't big on the separation of church and state,
as are various Protestant denominations. The Catholic Church
like Orthodox Judaism believes that matters affecting the
faithful should stay within the Church, without recourse
to secular authorities.

4) Fourthly the Vatican prides itself on moving slowly,
and seeing the time frame of life quite differently than
the quick pace at which secular societies respond to
crisis of the day.

5) Fifth, the Catholic Church has long had a tradition of
internal due process. Cannon Law provides for scrupulous
methods of proof. Every T must be crossed and every I
must be dotted,
even when it comes to selecting saints.

Of course Dershowitz also tells us - "None of these
explanations justifies the long inaction of coming to
grips with a serious problem... But it may explain why
good people could have allowed bad things to happen for
so long." However, Dershowitz stresses, " Singling out the Catholic
Church and stereotyping all priests is wrong."

cont'd ...

mjpb <"Police these days are happy to prosecute the clergy. There could be some difficulties as most of the clergy involved are in jail or dead."

Really? Where did you get those ideas from?

"In the meantime paedophiles will be raping children elsewhere confident that all the attention is given to actions in the Catholic Church almost exclusively decades into last century and noone is looking for them."

Really? Have you spoken to the many Police working on child sex abuse cases around this country?
Do you honestly believe they are only concentrating on paedophile priests?
Of course not.

As it has been patiently explained many times on this thread (called "Child sex abuse and the CATHOLIC CHURCH" by the way), this issue is not just about all the paedophile priests who have got away with child sex abuse over the years, but the church hierarchy that turned a blind eye to it and covered up their crimes.

It is certainly true that these priests weren't the only paedophiles around, but the other paedophiles didn't work in a profession that says they work for the Lord now did they?

The Catholic faithful can apparently expect that their religious leaders should be above reproach in most areas shouldn't they, especially as far as dealing with children is concerned?

This fact alone makes them the worst sort of paedophiles as far as I am concerned.

cont'd ...

Dershowitz then tell us that:

"Pope Benedict, both before he became Pope and since
has done a great deal to confront the issue. The Pope
changed the policy that kept allegations of abuse
within the authority of local bishops, and he
acknowledged that the shifting of abusive priests
from parish to parish, thereby giving them potential
new victims must not be allowed. He also met with
abuse victims and recognized their victimization.
He was the first Pope to do this..."

Finally Alan Dershowitz sums up:

"It is obvious that despite Pope Benedict's good efforts,
MORE MUST be done, and not only by the Catholic Church
but by all institutions who have experienced hierarchical
sexual exploitation. They must create structures that
assure prompt reporting, a zero-tolerance policy, and
quick action, so long as these processes are consistent
with due process and fairness, not only to the alleged
victims but the accused as well. It's easy to forget, in
the face of real victims with real complaints, that there
have also been false accusations as well. Processes must
be put in place that distinguish true complaints from
false ones..."

"Most importantly, this tragedy should not be used as an
excuse to attack a large revered institution that does
much good throughout the world. Blame must be placed
with precision and praise should be given with precision
as well. The eleventh Commandment, thou shalt not
stereotype, must never be forgotten..."

Proxy

You hit on a raw nerve because you speak so much truth on this topic. Ban the employment of priests with homosexual tendencies and you reduce the problem dramatically. It is however not what people want to hear despite being 100% right.

Runner and Proxy seem hell-bent on having us believe all homosexuals are paedophiles because apparently paedophiles only have sex with children of the same sex to themselves? Am I right?

Further, they would have us believe that the Catholic Church are dealing with child sex abuse by these 'homosexual paedophile priests' by 'stopping' them from entering the priesthood in the first place?
Am I right?

So, when young men line up to take on the priesthood training, they will be asked "Are you homosexual?" as a first line question?
Naturally, if they are gay or have paedophile tendancies, they are bound to admit to this of course.

Meanwhile, those male paedophile would-be priests who have a preference for female children will get through the selection process with no problems?

ROFL.

runner:

Child sexual abusers are by far and away most often of heterosexual orientation - that's because a child's body of either sex is closer to feminine than masculine. Male homosexuals, by definition, are attracted to masculine characteristics - ie: other men.

Of opportunistic child abusers; the greatest amount of child abuse is carried out by adult heterosexuals who simply use the child's body like an object in place of a more suitable and perhaps desirable alternative.