I wasn't saying he was absolving the rapist, but I do think he is downplaying the rapist actions (generally speaking here, not to this particular character) by putting their crime below that of those covering it up. I believe in bat **** crazy. I understand somehow who isn't bat**** crazy but still can't contemplate the difference between right and wrong in this instance is messed up mentally... but I also think the person who understands the difference between right and wrong yet covers up, condones and allows for future behavior to occur is also messed up mentally. that's all i'm saying. not trying to argue for arguments sake.
Then you're not saying much. You keep treating the entire Catholic Church as though it is one mentally ill person. There are hundreds of these guys at least and they all behaved in the same way. This is way beyond the Paterno cover-up. Don't compare a college sports team to a worldwide Church where parents send their toddlers to Sunday School. The betrayal of the parishioners that placed their trust and faith in God and thereby in the Church were betrayed in a systemic, decades-long cover-up, signed, sealed and delivered to you by the guyS in charge; not by one loony sicko. And yet you continue to act like we are comparing one guy to another guy. That's lunacy on your part and probably also a willful misrepresentation of the facts. Because there's no way that you consider every authority figure in the Church to be the same guy. I've made my point and I'm tired of repeating it to someone that's not listening, so let's agree to disagree regarding the question of every Bishop, ArchBishop, Pope and everyone else in charge being one person. You say they are one mentally ill person; I say they are many, many people that knew exactly what they were doing and that knew very well, every single one of them, that their actions would lead to more kid-raping 100% of the time.
I'm listening. The catholic church consists of a bunch of individuals. Sorry if I find it ludicrous that you think it's worse to do nothing and foster an environment that leads to sick criminal behaviors than to actually perpetuate such behavior. Which is what you literally said.
And I literally meant it. And the Catholic bosses did NOT "do nothing." They actively engaged in an agreed-upon cover-up and they actively sent priest-kidrapers to new parishes without alerting them to the priests' known crimes against children and humanity. When a priest rapes a child he should be reported to authorities, not sent to a new parish to rape again. But that is exactly what happened every single time a priest was reported. And if the police came sniffing around they were met with institutional cover-ups. That is NOT "doing nothing." I would say the same thing about any system that encouraged and made possible the continuation of a heinous crime. They covered up the abuse and gave the pedophiles new keys to a new church with fresh child-meat. When the cops came calling, they claimed privilege and refused to share evidence or even speak without legal representation. Just count the damn rapes if you can't see the difference: 1. A priest rapes 20 kids. 5 of the kids' parents find out and report it. 2. The church to whom the rapes are reported does not call police which would have put an end to the crimes. Instead they ship the priest to another parish where he will rape another 20. Or 30. Or 50. And so on and so on. I would feel the same way about hiding a serial killer from the law and providing for him not prison but instead fresh victims. If you can't see the evil in that, if you can't see how it is worse, I don't know what to tell you. A rapist of a kid (or adult) should receive justice under the law. The people that comprise an ENTIRE WORLDWIDE FAITH decided to circumvent that and make it easier for the priests to continue with their raping. I've said this five different ways to you. I give up talking with you about it. If anyone else is still reading, I believe the pedophiliac rapists should never again see the light of day or wander free in society. I further believe that the entire Catholic Church should be in a world court defending themselves against the most heinous of human rights violations. I believe that every cent in their coffers should go to the victims and their families and that they should be shut down until such a time as they demonstrate, in no uncertain terms, how to regain the faith of their followers and of the world that such cover-ups will NEVER happen again.
Didn't want to start another thread, but the scale of this thing is so massive I thought I'd at least post it. I don't think these events are reflective of all Catholics or Christians or Australians. I think it is important for people to realize that religious, and indeed all ideological, authorities are not only deserving of scrutiny, but they are deserving of far more scrutiny and supervision than others. These are appointed positions of power - and whether the power is real (politics) or perceived (religion), it seems to lead to similar problems.
Nothing makes me angrier than hearing about children being molested / raped. I have not watched the video yet as I am not sure I could stomach it. The Catholic church does seem to have a history of covering these things up which is just as bad as committing the act. Anyone involved in a cover-up should have to pay for it. I think we need much stronger laws for child rape / molestation. I believe anyone convicted of this should get life without parole minimum or the death penalty. Anyone caught covering something as bad as this up should suffer the same fate as if they did it themselves. While I am not a Catholic, I am a very religious man. It angers me even more knowing these bastards took advantage of these children using their power in a religious setting. These children may blame the church and never come to find Jesus. If something like this happened to of my children, I would probably end up in jail.
if the heirarchy is ultimately to blame, how does this not negate catholicism as a viable path to god?
For the ones who have HBO, this is a more recent documentary of the Catholic church's atrocities. What is so powerful about this one is that the folks who can't speak are making a lot of noise and very vocal. "DEAF POWER"!!!! https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/mea-maxima-culpa/index.html
Additional info... That documentary also shows that the pope does not have ultimate power as it is generally portrayed. The vatican is pretty much being managed just like a government. Like a president, he is just a symbolic figure and all the decisions made needs to go to a committee.
I think we can agree that the rapist has some mental issues and that even though they know that what they are doing is wrong, they keep on doing it. Meaning, they are incapable of helping themselves. As a sane person (leaders), if you have the power and authority to prevent future crimes and did not do so, you are a lot more immoral. You are also not just preventing but condoning the behavior by placing the mentally ill in a location where they can commit more crimes. They basically said, "here, you have a new flock that you can abuse".
Just watched this one. I'm so livid right now. Pope Benedict OVERSAW these cases prior to his ascension! This organization is a corrupt, criminal organization committing mass human rights abuses and covering it up. And everyone reveres it. It's sickening. A criminal investigation is NECESSARY.
catholic myself i'm asian and catholic. are there any scandal about asian priests for church leaders? just wondering
I think it's very important that when looking at problems with one denomination of one religion that we don't focus just on those problems, but try and bring in some problems that another religion might have, to make sure the focus doesn't stay on one problem at a time unless of course that one problem has something to do with Islam. Thank you for doing such a great service, and pointing out something that isn't even the same with a totally different hierarchy and would have no possible way to have the same level of organized cover up also has some horrible abuses. Just think how horrible it would have been if for one minute people would have worried about this problem and not thought about any of the problems involved with something Islamic. It would have been absolutely awful. You've saved us.
I'm not sure we can make the assumption that there is difference between those that did and those that covered up. Looking at the length and breadth of the scandal, it would not be surprising at all if those covering up were once and/or current abusers.
That's fine too, I think it should also be dealt with there. The fact remains that the Catholic church has a SYSTEMIC problem.
