He wasn't calling her a cow. Milk for free kinda thing. Oh nevermind. Almost everyone finds religion in the last hour. Theres no escaping the fear of death. Too much goddamn unknown. Or worse yet, nothing.
Even Voltaire who was famous for his atheism and distain of the Church was baptized on his death bed. He said something like “just in case there is a God”.
Interesting information I learned today at my EIM training. The abuse in Pittsburgh is mostly from before 2002 when the church scandal hit. What we don't know is why the victims didn't speak up then and expose it. Also, Abuse by priests has gone down significantly since 2002 and the Ethics and Integrity in Ministry trainings began. And finally, there is more abuse in Protestant churches now than in the Catholic church but because of the initial scandal, the media makes a bigger deal of the Catholic abuse. They need to ferret out abuse in ALL churches.
Sure we do. They were kids. Abused, scared, therefore confused kids. Good chance they were threatened as well. Edit: I just realized that by, "speak up then" you meant 2002. My bad.
Please don't take any of this personally, however, information on this topic coming from a Catholic organization regarding ethics in the ministry is going to be a lot of bullshit. Scandal? As in singular? It's been going on for decades, one scandalous cover-up after the other. 2002 is only the date in which the US Church abuse became publicized. Other countries around the world had been reporting on it since the 1980's. Seriously? You really don't why? EIM training personnel don't know why? I find that beyond head-scratching. POWER creates fear, doubt, shame. What 10-year old altar boy believes that anyone will believe him as opposed to the Church "pillar" that is a priest? Priests often threatened these kids, used alcohol and drugs to make them more pliable, made them question their own participation in the events. When some victims DID report it, the Church just moved that priest to another parish, sent them to short-term counseling, and placed them amongst other victims, and almost NEVER reported them to law enforcement. Even local law enforcement that may have received a complaint or a tip, would tell the local hierarchy to "do something" before it became public. You think some of those cops weren't part of the problem? Which city was host to the article that first blew the lid off the US scandal? That would be Boston. What is the percent of Irish Catholic cops in that city? Hell, they were probably parishioners and thought it was better for the Church to fix things than for law enforcement. Did you know that in some instances, the Church blamed the children? Told the families that their children were lying? And you really don't understand why more victims didn't speak up? It's gone down from what, exactly? Nobody even knows what the true worldwide victim count is. There are far too many adult victims who STILL don't want to say anything. Can't you understand how a grown man might feel shame having to admit that at 9 or 10 years old, they "accepted" sexual penetration or abuse from some pervy dude in an ecclesiastical robe? "The abuse ranged from groping and masturbation to anal, oral and vaginal rape. One boy was forced to say confession to the priest who sexually abused him. A 9-year-old boy was forced to perform oral sex and then had his mouth washed out with holy water. Another boy was made to pose naked as if being crucified and then was photographed by a group of priests who Attorney General Josh Shapiro said produced and shared child pornography on church grounds." If you really believe that some kind of training is going to fix the problem, then I don't know what to say. The biggest problem is the dude who lives in the Vatican. Until HE and the Holy See ADMIT and DE-FROCK every frigging priest who has molested, then the problem will continue to exist. That Vatican central bank has allowed them to pay lawsuits but that isn't fixing the problem either. In 2016...."The Catholic Church acquitted an HIV-infected priest who has admitted to raping close to 30 young girls between the ages of five and 10 years old. According to a report, which appeared in the Spanish-language news site Urgente24.com, the priest, Jose Garcia Ataulfo, was absolved of any wrongdoing by the Archdiocese of Mexico. Ataulfo has admitted to sexually assaulting indigenous young girls from Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico known for its large indigenous population. The priest has yet to face any criminal charges, most likely due to the significant influence that the Catholic Church wields in Mexico, particularly in areas populated by indigenous ethnic groups." "Pope Francis knew that a Chilean bishop had allegedly helped cover up heinous incidents of sexual abuse when he promoted him to a prestigious role in the Catholic Church, according to one report. The Pope came under fire during a recent trip to Chile, when victims of sexual abuse protested his decision to promote Bishop Juan Barros, a man widely accused of helping his mentor conceal the sexual abuse of children. Pope Francis has regularly defended Barros and called the allegations against him slanderous. But a letter viewed by the Associated Press reveals that the Pope was contacted by a victim of sexual abuse in 2015. Members of the Pope’s sex-abuse commission said the Pope had received the eight-page document outlining how a Chilean reverend had kissed and fondled the victim while Barros watched." Why did Cardinal Bernard Law, of Boston no less, receive the customary funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica? The Vatican is absolutely tone-deaf to this problem. Training at the end of the process is nothing more than putting adhesive on a flat tire. The Pope is responsible for his organization and his people. He's been an absolute flop on this as has every other Pope before him. What does that mean, exactly...."more" abuse? In total number? Ratio? What? And where did the information come from? That's a rhetorical question really. I'm guaranteeing you that abuse is more-often reported in non-Catholic institutions, clergy are more-often immediately de-frocked, and there is no central bank or organized hierarchy to help hide or pay off the offenders. Absolutely, ALL abuse needs to be dealt with but the Catholic Church has gotten the attention because of sheer numbers, the coordinated cover-up, the denials. If abuse numbers are declining it's BECAUSE of the attention, not because priests, bishops, cardinals, the Pope have been "trained".
Y'all think y'all are going to change one another's minds? NOT ONLY are we talking about religion but TWO WOMEN?! This thread needs to be locked up like a project dog in heat.
STFU.... Come on now....our gender has nothing to do with the conversation. AND, I'd like to point out that we are in fact, TALKING, not name-calling each other, not being aggressive, etc. I'm not trying to change her mind, nor do I believe she is trying to change mine. Perhaps the conversation is more for those who aren't even involved.....cept you, asshole.
I deal with a few priests in a non service setting with some church-related things. I have two in my contacts that, if I sent them a text right now, would text me back. What I'd like to hear is them, or any priest(s), say is, what happened is a shame. It should never happen and it was not handled correctly. That said, I know there are a lot of bad cops out there but I still follow the law and if one lights me up, I pull over. I could give similar analogies with all walks of life but to harm an innocent child just infuriates me to no end. Kids can't defend themselves. Speaking of hurting kids, how about the father who recently killed his two kids and pregnant wife. I'd like to give shane a few highballs then lock that guy in a room with him.
