Dear Paul,

No one is denying that sexual abuse of children is
horrendous and intolerable and that the failure of
the church to deal with it effectively has done
immeasurable damage to victims. The cover-ups,
the protection of abusive clergy and the refusal
to admit egregious mistakes are unjustifiable.

However, it is a shame that you have lost your
faith as a result. There are many good priests
within the church and personally I am optimistic
that the Church will confront both the difficulties
and the opportunities that it now faces.
It has to, or it will wither and die.

Philo / Foxie

These crimes took place around 1965/66 6th class of school, I had good knowledge of what was going on, he was my class teacher and boys talk, left me alone, picked on the meek, blessed are the meek. At the time action was taken by the Brothers following a parent complaint, un-officially the Brother was moved to another school. The official explanation was "Brother has been over working and has gone for a rest." He never returned to our school. I never knew his real name, still don't, and never saw him again until 1996. Police, what for get some old bloke who's on deaths door, charged with pedophilia if your lucky, all I can hope is my little outburst may have hastened his death.

PAUL1405
you don't need to worry about the police getting that 'brother'....

consider this.

a) Jesus condemned child abuse.(vehemently)
b) Note this verse below:

27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt 10:27ff)

That 'brother' will meet the one who said those words.

In this life.. if there was time... yes...he should have been punished, but perhaps the best punishment for him at this age is just to read those verses to him. It will make his impending physical demise all the more 'joyful'.....

Al,

In saying that you point out another Christian Problem, the notion that there is really no need to worry about the wrongs done in this life as all will be well when you get to the other side. The only problem with that is you have to believe there is an other side, life after death stuff, heaven and hell, and that the Good God is going to fix everything up, assuming without evidence there is a God, and that God is going to do the fix.
If one is going to believe in God, what's wrong with believing in say the Roman Gods what evidence is there to show they, Romans, are wrong and Christians are right with God(s)

Dear Paul,

I'm so sorry for your bad experience with
that particular brother.

My husband went to Christian Brothers schools.
And he tells of things he heard from other
boys concerning a certain brother.

I remember Sister Mary Virgilius - at my
preparatory school, who was a holy terror
with the cane. My father ended up taking
out of that school.

On the other hand, I grew up with a parish
priest, Father Kennedy, who was the gentlest
soul, and a close family friend. He was someone
whom we all loved dearly. He joined my husband
and I in matrimony. It meant a great deal to me
to have him do that.

However, in my secular - all girls high school, I
encountered a Mathematics teacher who took great
delight in punching me with full force with her
fist into my back every time she walked past
my desk. She also called me "unpronounceable,"
instead of by name in front of the entire class.
And of course it made the other girls laugh
(at my expense). To this day I have a mental
problem when it comes to Maths. The woman convinced
me that I was an idiot. Despite the fact that I
have never had a problem with doing accounts or
handling money since leaving school.

What I'm trying to point out, I guess, is,
bad people do bad things - they don't necessarily
have to be religious to do them. Of course regarding
child sexual abuse - that's something that the Church
cannot and should not try to hide or ignore or
remain inactive. Action needs to be swift and
appropriate. Transferring people to do more of the
same to other parishes is not the answer.

I hope that you will find peace of mind someday soon.

Not at all Paul.. I know that in this life the crime means the time, but in the brothers case he doesn't have much life left..

I have no illusions about his destiny... but also think about this.
What hell must it be on this world to have done what he did..and have to live with it "unto death".....

I can't imagine he got up each morning and looked in the mirror and declared "You wonderful chap"

The thing you express re Christianity is not really a problem.. unless people make it one. The idea that "oh..great..we are savvvvved now.. we can just keep on sinning" is actually evidence of NOT being saved or born again. See Romans 6 (the chapter)

cheers mate.