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This thread seems to be caught up in declaring priests and bishops innocent becaus they could not be convictred in a secular court. I agree that the number convincted is very small.
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But that is not the issue that the Church has been dealing with, and will now deal with in the investigation called by the Vatican in Ireland.
The issue is how bishops acted in dealing with situations (as they occurred, not 40 years later), how priests' files talked about priests being angry or some other phrase when the parish or the bishops knew that they were talking about homosexual paedophilia, the methods of re-assignment of bishops, the acceptance and promotion of homosexuality in some seminaries, and on and on.
I am appalled that we continue to talk about one or two cases of abuse around Boston, when the actual numbers were in the thousands. After all, the OP reconized that 2% of priests were involved , not one or two. The article I posted a link to earlier agrees, and indicates each priest represents an average of hundreds of instances. See below for links to the Globe's web page on the subject.
Boston Globe / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church
I can accept that some here believe that Caerdinal Law and Bishop McCormack knew nothing about the situaion all those years. I understand that Cardinal Law may indeed have plausible deniability. Bishop McCormack knew much, and many, many, many know that he knew. And to repeat, it is quite possible that no secular laws were broken.
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For me, the priests are victims also. I have NEVER seen "employees" so mistreated. Many begged for treatment. Many begged to be re-assigned from roles that involved young boys. There is no question regarding the coverup, no matter how well-intentioned we think the coverup was. And the priests, those involved and those not involved, have paid a heavy price. They are not trusted a large percentage of the laity, and even when they are, the limits and the perceptions are always there.
Obviously, if laws were broken, people should go to jail. But much more to the point, the Church should not accept the secular legal system as the only solution. The Church failed the priests, the children, the families, the laity and all those who might have come to the Church or come back to the Church.
I congratulate the Holy Father on his outrage and call for investigation of the situation in Ireland. It is long, long too late for the US.
===============================
But that is not the issue that the Church has been dealing with, and will now deal with in the investigation called by the Vatican in Ireland.
The issue is how bishops acted in dealing with situations (as they occurred, not 40 years later), how priests' files talked about priests being angry or some other phrase when the parish or the bishops knew that they were talking about homosexual paedophilia, the methods of re-assignment of bishops, the acceptance and promotion of homosexuality in some seminaries, and on and on.
I am appalled that we continue to talk about one or two cases of abuse around Boston, when the actual numbers were in the thousands. After all, the OP reconized that 2% of priests were involved , not one or two. The article I posted a link to earlier agrees, and indicates each priest represents an average of hundreds of instances. See below for links to the Globe's web page on the subject.
Boston Globe / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church
I can accept that some here believe that Caerdinal Law and Bishop McCormack knew nothing about the situaion all those years. I understand that Cardinal Law may indeed have plausible deniability. Bishop McCormack knew much, and many, many, many know that he knew. And to repeat, it is quite possible that no secular laws were broken.
======================
For me, the priests are victims also. I have NEVER seen "employees" so mistreated. Many begged for treatment. Many begged to be re-assigned from roles that involved young boys. There is no question regarding the coverup, no matter how well-intentioned we think the coverup was. And the priests, those involved and those not involved, have paid a heavy price. They are not trusted a large percentage of the laity, and even when they are, the limits and the perceptions are always there.
Obviously, if laws were broken, people should go to jail. But much more to the point, the Church should not accept the secular legal system as the only solution. The Church failed the priests, the children, the families, the laity and all those who might have come to the Church or come back to the Church.
I congratulate the Holy Father on his outrage and call for investigation of the situation in Ireland. It is long, long too late for the US.
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