Catholic Church Sex Scandal

[johannhowitzer]

To my knowledge no major world religion has claimed their priests/pastors/rabbis are anything other than fallible human beings in quite some time. This includes Catholics.

Not sure about Catholic priests exactly, but I know the Pope's words are taken as divine dictation.  At least I've met some Catholics who said that was the doctrine.

[ratcharmer]

Not sure about Catholic priests exactly, but I know the Pope's words are taken as divine dictation.  At least I've met some Catholics who said that was the doctrine.

Catholics believe the Pope is divinely guided on matters of church policy. The Pope has not been believed to be universally infallible for centuries.

To my knowledge priests are not supposed to be able to directly channel the divine word any more than anyone else. I can ask tomorrow if you want.

[Boingo]

Not sure about Catholic priests exactly, but I know the Pope's words are taken as divine dictation.  At least I've met some Catholics who said that was the doctrine.

Catholics believe the Pope is divinely guided on matters of church policy. The Pope has not been believed to be universally infallible for centuries.

To my knowledge priests are not supposed to be able to directly channel the divine word any more than anyone else. I can ask tomorrow if you want.

^^This.  Infallibility relates only to matters of Church doctrine.  As for being direct channels for the divine word, Catholic priests are not mediums holding seances connecting the faithful to the otherworld, they are men who are following a calling to God and go through years of theological study before becoming priests.  And they are very much fallible, just like the rest of us.

[iampostal]

numbers, stats, whatever...you also should include teh physical abuse perpetrated at catholic schools beatings torture and sexual abuse then your numbers go waaaay up...anyhow what i wanted to point out was about 4 months ago a priest from the maritines here in canada was caught with lots of kiddy porn pics and vids on his pc...how did the vatican respond?...by announcing the next day that they were recanting their stand on the beatles and that their music was devine after all...inotherwords typical vatican.aversion or ignorance of a problem....do i need to point out thta christ 4 times states that a vow of poverty was necessary to follow him...the vatican could feed the 3rd world for 2 years..disgusting

[iampostal]

(http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd76056/hitler_cardinal)...kinda funny god kinda not telling the pope hitler was bad....or the fact an anti hitler pope died just a few months before hitler invaded poland ...replaced by a pro hitler pope of course

[iampostal]

(http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd76058/index)                     oh couldnt forget my favorite ratzinger picture...ah the pope so divine

[ratcharmer]

numbers, stats, whatever...you also should include teh physical abuse perpetrated at catholic schools beatings torture and sexual abuse then your numbers go waaaay up...anyhow what i wanted to point out was about 4 months ago a priest from the maritines here in canada was caught with lots of kiddy porn pics and vids on his pc...how did the vatican respond?...by announcing the next day that they were recanting their stand on the beatles and that their music was devine after all...inotherwords typical vatican.aversion or ignorance of a problem....do i need to point out thta christ 4 times states that a vow of poverty was necessary to follow him...the vatican could feed the 3rd world for 2 years..disgusting

"If you ignore the numbers I look like I'm right" Seriously?

Those numbers do include Catholic schools.

Congratulations, you found an example of a priest arrested for sexual deviance. They've been all over the news media for the past 10 years or so. I'm more concerned with the millions of cases everyone is ignoring so they can make Catholics look bad.

Corporate America could feed the 3rd world for a lot more than 2 years. Where are you getting that number from anyway? I really doubt you could keep the entirety of the 3rd world fed from the funds of selling off the Vatican. Should I point out Catholic charities that are trying to keep the 3rd world fed?

(http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd76056/hitler_cardinal)...kinda funny god kinda not telling the pope hitler was bad....or the fact an anti hitler pope died just a few months before hitler invaded poland ...replaced by a pro hitler pope of course

We just finished discussing that the pope is only guided on matters of doctrine. The fact that you found 1 pope who caved in to pressure from Hitler and 1 who didn't is off topic.

[iampostal]

my point wasnt yay look i found one too..it was the manner in the way the vatican dealt with it...by not making nay public acknowledgement never mind saying sorry...i put the pope stufff there someone was talkign bout him...and you cannot deny the wealth of the vatican..it speaks volumes a s i try to find a numebr to its exact worth that no one seems to be able to agree.....hmmmmmm

[johannhowitzer]

Apologizing for something one of their priests did would be uncalled-for, since the Catholic Church cannot be held responsible for the actions of a single priest that go against their teachings.  Yes, acknowledgement has been slow and gradual as people have done some digging, but that's pretty universal regarding sexual abuse.  It doesn't get as much publicity when a public school tries to cover it up...

i put the pope stufff there someone was talkign bout him

Yep, your usual logic.  "Ooh, there's a word I can talk about!  Let's stray way off topic to the holocaust and see if anyone calls me on it!"

and you cannot deny the wealth of the vatican..it speaks volumes a s i try to find a numebr to its exact worth that no one seems to be able to agree.....hmmmmmm

So the Vatican has untapped monies that aren't being used for a specific world relief effort.  The other day a fireman called me and gave me a guilt trip because I wouldn't give $10 to help child burn victims.  Yes, I have $10 to spare.  No, I cannot give to every charity that calls me up.  I have been serving in a soup kitchen, and have given to numerous causes in the past.

Lack of total exhaustion of surplus resources is not a reason to criticize anyone.  Yes, the Vatican has plenty of resources and is not using the majority of them, but it is doing SOMETHING.  iam, before you continue, I'd like to know specifically what YOU are doing to help those less fortunate.  Action before words, please.

[ratcharmer]

@iampostal: What you listed in your post was not a Vatican response to the issue. It was a totally unrelated event. From what you said in your post the man in question had already been caught and was being brought to answer for his crimes.

What exactly did you want from the Vatican? Do you want a handwritten letter from the Pope apologizing for every individual incident that has ever happened in the Catholic church? The Vatican has already issued a public apology for these incidents, and has revised (& is continuing to revise) their practices in hopes of preventing future occurrences.

Do not misunderstand, I am not trying to say these incidents were anything less than horrific.

I merely want to know why they're being ignored outside the Catholic Church. Please tell me I'm not the only one outraged over media, government and society turning a blind eye to 99% of the cases of child molestation.

[johannhowitzer]

You're not.  But I have a lot of things to spread my outrage over, and only so much outrage.

High on my list is the objectifying of women by the cosmetics industry.  I know many women who have abysmal self-esteem, in large part due to the fact that wearing makeup makes them feel they aren't good enough by themselves.  It's a subtler form of exploitation, but it's hurting the quality of life of probably three-quarters of women in developed countries.  I am very grateful to be a man, to have an easier time developing self-confidence and emotional well-being.
[/soapbox]

[PuppyChow]

Just want to mention this about the pope:

There is absolutely nothing in the Bible about there being a papacy.

The Bible, in fact, continuously warns us against false prophets/teachers. That's not to say the Catholic religion is bad, but when cross referenced with the Bible (the sole authority on God by which teachings should be judged) it has some problems. Believers are supposed to cross reference and check what their own pastors or priests say with the Bible, for Scripture is the one true authority. Apostolic succession, which is how the Pope being able to guide Church policy unerringly is proved, is only inferred through a few verses and nowhere in the Bible does it explicitly talk about it.