When will churches start to tell the truth?

[maggie2]

Having been sexually abused myself as a child, I find the news about sexual abuse in the Catholic church disturbing. In recent weeks there have been numerous new allegations of sexual abuse by priests in many parts of Europe. And just yesterday it has come to light that there were over 200 deaf boys who were sexually abused in Wisconsin. This story seems to be never-ending. The Irish church has been rocked by scandal as well. And it goes on and on...Canada, Australia, the US, Brazil, many countries in Europe and more.

And lest anyone think that I think this is a 'Catholic' problem, I don't. There have been and will continue to be cases of abuse in other denominations. However, that said, there certainly doesn't seem to be the same quantity of cases in other denominations that the Catholic church is facing.

It saddens me to hear about this ongoing situation and I feel for all Catholics in the general population of the church. They are, in my opinion, being mistreated by their priests, bishops and yes, even the Pope. It is not their fault that some of those in authority in the church have been abusers or been some who chosen to turn a blind eye to the abusers. However, the reality is that this problem needs to be dealt with. And it can't be dealt with by trying to cover it up, as the church has done for so many years.

For example, the group of over 200 deaf boys from Wisconsin has documentation from within the church itself showing that the church attempted to cover up this situation, so it's not my opinion that this is so, but the church papers provide the proof that this happened.

So my question is:
When will the church finally decide to take responsibility for not only the abuse but for the cover up as well? The now pope, previously Cardinal Ratzinger, is even involved in this problem. Apparently when he was Cardinal in Germany a priest under his charge was accused of molesting children. That priest was sent for counselling but was still allowed to be around children. Now one of the Pope's underlings from that time is trying to say he (the underling) was responsible for transferring the priest, not Cardinal Ratzinger himself.

Here's another part of the problem. For many years before becoming pope, Ratzinger served as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which was in charge of dealing with cases of sexual abuse. And it was during that time that the documents regarding the Wisconsin school for the deaf were written. It seems to me, then, that the pope has some responsibility in that case as he oversaw the whole thing.

We as a society need to deal with our problems and we need clergy to tell the truth, take responsibility for their actions or lack thereof and help those who have been abused to heal.

What do you think about this situation?

 

[MSizer]

Cover up after cover up IMO proves that many heads of the church, some in very high places, have never had any intention of coming clean at all. Even now that it's gone beyond laughable they're fighting tooth and nail to keep covered whatever remaining atrocities have been kept from public eye. Sadly IMO there is a terrible evil strain in the catholic church worse than any other safe maybe genocides, which I'm not so sure aren't comparable in atrocity. Those involved in the churches abuse scandals are among the most evil people alive IMO.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Has telling the truth ever been an identifiable goal or aspect of churches?

 

[McBell]

Has telling the truth ever been an identifiable goal or aspect of churches?

Instant Rimshot

 

[footprints]

Having been sexually abused myself as a child, I find the news about sexual abuse in the Catholic church disturbing. In recent weeks there have been numerous new allegations of sexual abuse by priests in many parts of Europe. And just yesterday it has come to light that there were over 200 deaf boys who were sexually abused in Wisconsin. This story seems to be never-ending. The Irish church has been rocked by scandal as well. And it goes on and on...Canada, Australia, the US, Brazil, many countries in Europe and more.

And lest anyone think that I think this is a 'Catholic' problem, I don't. There have been and will continue to be cases of abuse in other denominations. However, that said, there certainly doesn't seem to be the same quantity of cases in other denominations that the Catholic church is facing.

It saddens me to hear about this ongoing situation and I feel for all Catholics in the general population of the church. They are, in my opinion, being mistreated by their priests, bishops and yes, even the Pope. It is not their fault that some of those in authority in the church have been abusers or been some who chosen to turn a blind eye to the abusers. However, the reality is that this problem needs to be dealt with. And it can't be dealt with by trying to cover it up, as the church has done for so many years.

For example, the group of over 200 deaf boys from Wisconsin has documentation from within the church itself showing that the church attempted to cover up this situation, so it's not my opinion that this is so, but the church papers provide the proof that this happened.

So my question is:
When will the church finally decide to take responsibility for not only the abuse but for the cover up as well? The now pope, previously Cardinal Ratzinger, is even involved in this problem. Apparently when he was Cardinal in Germany a priest under his charge was accused of molesting children. That priest was sent for counselling but was still allowed to be around children. Now one of the Pope's underlings from that time is trying to say he (the underling) was responsible for transferring the priest, not Cardinal Ratzinger himself.

Here's another part of the problem. For many years before becoming pope, Ratzinger served as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which was in charge of dealing with cases of sexual abuse. And it was during that time that the documents regarding the Wisconsin school for the deaf were written. It seems to me, then, that the pope has some responsibility in that case as he oversaw the whole thing.

We as a society need to deal with our problems and we need clergy to tell the truth, take responsibility for their actions or lack thereof and help those who have been abused to heal.

What do you think about this situation?

First let me offer my condolences for your bad experience. One or more bad apple can taint them all, if left unchecked or not dealt with properly.

Honesty is a big problem in society pertaining to this matter. Not just with churches, but with every level of society. In Australia right now, breaking news of sexual molestation of young children acting in a television program is a top line story, along with the alledged cover up by the producers and network officials at the time.

The unfortunate thing about life is, we can never undo or change the facts of the past, all we can ever do, is change these facts from the present and into the future and hope we as a species, have the intelligence to ensure they are never repeated.

 

[maggie2]

First let me offer my condolences for your bad experience. One or more bad apple can taint them all, if left unchecked or not dealt with properly.

Honesty is a big problem in society pertaining to this matter. Not just with churches, but with every level of society. In Australia right now, breaking news of sexual molestation of young children acting in a television program is a top line story, along with the alledged cover up by the producers and network officials at the time.

The unfortunate thing about life is, we can never undo or change the facts of the past, all we can ever do, is change these facts from the present and into the future and hope we as a species, have the intelligence to ensure they are never repeated.

I believe you are exactly right when you say we can't undo the past. I agree fully. We can't. I also agree that what we need to do is to change from this day forward. And that's my concern with this situation...until we tell the truth and accept responsibility for an action or inaction we are still involved in the past because we're still trying to cover up the past. We need to have a clean slate and move on.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Never.