Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, August 29, 2012
Religion Apparently We've Got the Whole Catholic-Sex-Abuse Scandal Thing Backwards
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 4:05 PM
Explain it all for us, Father Benedict:
In a recent interview with the National Catholic Register, Father Benedict Groeschel, of the conservative Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said that teens act as seducers in some sexual abuse cases involving priests.... "People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to—a psychopath," Benedict said. "But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster—14, 16, 18—is the seducer." Pressed for clarification, the New York State-based religious leader explained that kids looking for father figures might be drawn to priests to fill a hole.
Um. Wow. Just. Wow.
And believe it or not, Sloggers, it gets worse from there:
Benedict expressed a belief that most of these "relationships" are heterosexual in nature, and that historically sexual relationships between men and boys have not been thought of as crimes. "If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties—except for rape or violence—it was very rarely brought as a civil crime. Nobody thought of it that way... And I’m inclined to think, on [a priest's] first offense, they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime."
So... the boys are seducing the priests, no one thought this stuff was a crime FIFTEEN SHORT YEARS AGO, and all that priest-on-boy hole filling is totally "heterosexual in nature." Nothing gay or criminal about priests fucking boys—excuse me, about priests being seduced by boys with holes that need fillin'. But this detail is my favorite:
Benedict is an influential voice in the American Dioceses and continues to maintain a high-profile in the church, writing several books and appearing weekly on a religious television network.... Benedict is also a professor of pastoral psychology at St. Joseph’s Seminary of the Archdiocese of New York.
The Catholic Church, ladies and gentleman—they'll be here all millenium.
3
Wow. That is h'amazing. Nothing about "Catholic priests take a vow of celibacy" and any sex violates that vow. Nor, more relevantly, that priests should be role models and be the adult in the room, clearly steering their, uh, "young seducers" to anything other than sex with priests. So much for responsibility of the role! Ha!
This Benedict Groeschel has most likely had sex with many young boys himself. Why would he be bending over backwards to squirm out of Catholic priest culpability?
Fuckheads.
So glad I never got confirmed and am not Catholic any more.
This Benedict Groeschel has most likely had sex with many young boys himself. Why would he be bending over backwards to squirm out of Catholic priest culpability?
Fuckheads.
So glad I never got confirmed and am not Catholic any more.
4
The slut hypothesis for rape and incest, eh?
Hasn't that been discredited about a million times? Sadly it will survive because it dovetails so well with the Catholic virgin vs. whore dichotomy.
Hasn't that been discredited about a million times? Sadly it will survive because it dovetails so well with the Catholic virgin vs. whore dichotomy.
5
But think of the CHILDREN! They WANT their holes filled. They are asking for it. They are demanding it.
That pedopriest needs to be sacrificed.
That pedopriest needs to be sacrificed.
8
It boggles the mind that these fuckers still have two believers to rub together. All religions are prima facie ridiculous (Mormonism's origin story still makes me laugh and laugh and laugh), but most of them are not so proudly, defiantly, stubbornly OUT LOUD sick and wrong as the papists.
10
I'd like to think that, hearing this priest say something similar in person, I'd have the whereithal to just punch him in his pedophilic face and not actually beat him to a bloody pulp.
11
"I got a degree from a religious school that I use in working for the church to cover up for the church's crimes! You can call me professor."
13
(snip)
http://tinyurl.com/8ogvkxm
Here’s this poor guy — [Penn State football coach Jerry] Sandusky — it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn’t anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn’t break the ice. Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime. It was a moral failure, scandalous; but they didn’t think of it in terms of legal things.
(snip)
What has the Church learned in terms of preventing this?
We’ve been screening seminarians for decades. That’s nothing new. I’ve been doing it for 40 years...
http://tinyurl.com/8ogvkxm
14
(sigh) I long for the care-free, innocent and sexually naive days of...1997?
To be fair (someone please correct me if I missed something, I read through very quickly), the phrase "fill a hole" was used by the writer at HP to characterize what Benedict said, not by Benedict himself. I didn't find that in the actual interview in the Register.
But yeah...he said the rest of it, which is much worse and nowhere near as (darkly) funny.
To be fair (someone please correct me if I missed something, I read through very quickly), the phrase "fill a hole" was used by the writer at HP to characterize what Benedict said, not by Benedict himself. I didn't find that in the actual interview in the Register.
But yeah...he said the rest of it, which is much worse and nowhere near as (darkly) funny.
15
Re: my fucked (hole-filled) link @6, go here.
My point is that Father Gerald Fitzgerald, founder of Servants of the Paraclete in 1947, had a more responsible and ethical ultimate vision for what to do with sex-offender priests (confine them to an island for life) than any of the serial molester co-conspirators in the church hierarchy (who cut his plans off at the knees) since.
My point is that Father Gerald Fitzgerald, founder of Servants of the Paraclete in 1947, had a more responsible and ethical ultimate vision for what to do with sex-offender priests (confine them to an island for life) than any of the serial molester co-conspirators in the church hierarchy (who cut his plans off at the knees) since.
16
Life imitates the Onion, only not as funny, and ten years late:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/pope-fo…
http://www.theonion.com/articles/pope-fo…
17
Some kids do seduce adults. It's shocking, uncomfortable, lamentable, but true. To think otherwise is just silly.
There's plenty to be outraged about when a priests fuck kids. We don't need to pretend the kid could not possibly have been the instigator. Let's save our most venomous outrage for the true predators.
There's plenty to be outraged about when a priests fuck kids. We don't need to pretend the kid could not possibly have been the instigator. Let's save our most venomous outrage for the true predators.
18
Wow, no wonder the Rapepublicans like the Prapists- rape-babies are "ill-concieved" and victims of pedophiles were "holes to be filled"... I'm begining to suspect they are having some sort of contest or something...
19
@17 - Hear hear! Children need to be held accountable for those times they give legal consent for sexual activities! Sometimes, a man just can't resist the pixie charms of a predatory child!
21
@3
My thought exactly. Priest dude clearly has some major skeletons in his closet.
@16
The Onion is always two steps ahead.
My thought exactly. Priest dude clearly has some major skeletons in his closet.
@16
The Onion is always two steps ahead.
22
And of course, these comments will go uncontested by legislators or law enforcement officials. Religion is off limits to official criticism. The Roman Catholic Church is such a powerful entity that no politician or law enforcement officer will touch them.
Even if they openly endorse raping children.
That's how powerless, craven and immoral our system really is. Nobody in DC or any state capital, or any police precinct station, anywhere in America will defend our own children against serial rape if the rapist is a priest.
Even if they openly endorse raping children.
That's how powerless, craven and immoral our system really is. Nobody in DC or any state capital, or any police precinct station, anywhere in America will defend our own children against serial rape if the rapist is a priest.
25
Speaking as a heterosexual man, I'm a bit confused by this.
How, exactly, does a boy seduce a man who has no sexual desire for boys?
How, exactly, does a boy seduce a man who has no sexual desire for boys?
28
I'm suddenly reminded of the living instructions for monks living in a monastery on Mount Athos. Not only were they forbidden from owning female livestock, because all female animals have cooties apparently, they were also instructed to avoid finding themselves alone in the same room with younger, prettier monks in training, you know, just in case they found they couldn't control themselves.
29
The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal are heavily involved in youth ministry - it is their primary charism. Back before I saw the light and left the Catholic church, I even took youth to conferences where they were the primary speakers.
This puts a new and disturbing light on that.
This puts a new and disturbing light on that.
30
Could a teenager initiate a sexual relationship with a priest in a seductive manner? You know, I bet it's possible, especially if the teenager's been sexually abused or coerced previously and sees this as a way of getting some control or sympathy from another person BUT IT'S PROBABLY PRETTY DARN RARE. And almost all the reported cases of sexual abuse put all the power in the hands of the adult priest.
And ADMINISTRATORS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. PLEASE STOP EMBARRASSING THE PARISHONERS WHO HAVE STUCK WITH YOU THROUGH ALL THESE SCANDALS. STOP DEFENDING THESE JERKS, GODDAMMIT! "CHILD MOLESTATION IS BAD." IT'S NOT THAT HARD.
And ADMINISTRATORS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. PLEASE STOP EMBARRASSING THE PARISHONERS WHO HAVE STUCK WITH YOU THROUGH ALL THESE SCANDALS. STOP DEFENDING THESE JERKS, GODDAMMIT! "CHILD MOLESTATION IS BAD." IT'S NOT THAT HARD.
31
If you told me this without linking the article, I'd say you're making it up. It's that ridiculous. Pedophile rapist priests are the victims of the boys they rape? And they shouldn't go to jail? And a principal leader of the church is saying this? Are you serious?
But the worst part of this is that it will never make it to the major news agencies. Organized religious groups are soooo coddled. It's ridiculous, and frustrating.
But the worst part of this is that it will never make it to the major news agencies. Organized religious groups are soooo coddled. It's ridiculous, and frustrating.
32
@13, at least several of the commenters there are lighting into the friar's comments. They claim to be devout Catholics, too, and are holding his feet to the fire.
33
@30 - well said on the first paragraph, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to assign you 3 Hail Mary's and 2 Our Fathers daily for a week for using that (GD) comment in the second paragraph. And in caps no less!
34
This makes me so mad. Kids "looking for father figures" are looking for FATHER figures -someone they can trust- not fuck buddies, you pig. (sorry, he just sounds horrible).
No, Father Benedict* (and other child-raping priests), this one's on you. Considering that the average age of abuse victims is 12, with 30% of victims being younger than 10, and 6% being younger than 7, this argument about all the predatory teenagers taking advantage of grown men is especially sickening.
Also, what @25 said. Yeesh.
*I want to call Father Benedict some very bad names. It's clear HIS fantasy is some 14 yo "youngster" trying to seduce him. I tried to find statistics on how many supposed "victims" were actually the instigators, and I got back nothing, not even one example. Apparently, Father, you're not as sexy as you think you are.
One of many references:
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/rep…
No, Father Benedict* (and other child-raping priests), this one's on you. Considering that the average age of abuse victims is 12, with 30% of victims being younger than 10, and 6% being younger than 7, this argument about all the predatory teenagers taking advantage of grown men is especially sickening.
Also, what @25 said. Yeesh.
*I want to call Father Benedict some very bad names. It's clear HIS fantasy is some 14 yo "youngster" trying to seduce him. I tried to find statistics on how many supposed "victims" were actually the instigators, and I got back nothing, not even one example. Apparently, Father, you're not as sexy as you think you are.
One of many references:
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/rep…
35
Have you seen those little sluts in their Grrrranimals and Onesies? Parading around with their sexy diaper rash. They're totally ask'n for it. Howza priest gonna resist that!?!
36
I don't fucking care if the child initiated the "seduction." Statutory rape is statutory rape. Period.
37
Let me essplain this for these feeble-minded fools...
My BFF's 14-year-old stepson has a big-old teenage crush on me. It's cute and charming and all that, but I'm an adult, and he's a child. So I maintain the same level of involvement I have with him since I first met him when he was 4. I let him tell me all about his school day, I help him with his homework, I pretend to be interested in his video game scores, and I briefly entertain his friends with my mad Rock Band skills when they're hanging out with him and I'm hanging out with his mother. I'm like the cool aunt, and I don't want that to change. And when he or one of his friends attempts to clumsily flirt with me, I give them a noogie and remind them that I'm [boy's] mother's age, have known them since they regularly shat their pants, and ask them about the girls at school (none of them have shown that they are anything other than straight, of course I'd be accepting and accommodating if one or more wasn't). They're FOURTEEN AND FIFTEEN YEARS OLD fercrissakes, and I'm not. I have control over myself and my hormones, them, not so much. Are they going to retire for the night and chat about my boobies or go home and masturbate about them...meh, probably. But to suggest that one of them could successfully seduce me, and that I would be powerless to do anything about that, is the largest pile of bullshit I've ever smelled. And you know why that kid is my friend's STEPSON? Because his "mother" outright walked out on him when he was 2. He's only spoken to her a handful of times since then, and she's been nothing but manipulative when those rare conversations have happened. Wow...I can even resist the youthful charm of a kid who has a big old hole to fill in his life!
My BFF's 14-year-old stepson has a big-old teenage crush on me. It's cute and charming and all that, but I'm an adult, and he's a child. So I maintain the same level of involvement I have with him since I first met him when he was 4. I let him tell me all about his school day, I help him with his homework, I pretend to be interested in his video game scores, and I briefly entertain his friends with my mad Rock Band skills when they're hanging out with him and I'm hanging out with his mother. I'm like the cool aunt, and I don't want that to change. And when he or one of his friends attempts to clumsily flirt with me, I give them a noogie and remind them that I'm [boy's] mother's age, have known them since they regularly shat their pants, and ask them about the girls at school (none of them have shown that they are anything other than straight, of course I'd be accepting and accommodating if one or more wasn't). They're FOURTEEN AND FIFTEEN YEARS OLD fercrissakes, and I'm not. I have control over myself and my hormones, them, not so much. Are they going to retire for the night and chat about my boobies or go home and masturbate about them...meh, probably. But to suggest that one of them could successfully seduce me, and that I would be powerless to do anything about that, is the largest pile of bullshit I've ever smelled. And you know why that kid is my friend's STEPSON? Because his "mother" outright walked out on him when he was 2. He's only spoken to her a handful of times since then, and she's been nothing but manipulative when those rare conversations have happened. Wow...I can even resist the youthful charm of a kid who has a big old hole to fill in his life!
38
@17, YGTBKM. Can a teenager make a pass at an adult? Yup, see above. Does the adult have the responsibility to cut that pass off at the knees and divert the discussion? Yup, times a million. Stacy's priest may well have it going on, but somehow Stacy's mom was able to stay out of the kid's bed and safely in his fantasy life.
40
@30 No. You are the idiot for standing by a morally bankrupt institution. The RCC couldn't get away with this if they didn't have hundreds of millions of stupid, pathetic dupes like you to "stand by them." And gee, what are you doing? Going to the SLOG and bitching. Wow, that will *really* shake things up in the Vatican!
Fuck you. If you supported the RCC through the revelations, then you bear some of the blame. If you really want to do something, not only should you quit the Church, you need to work hard to convince everyone else you know to quit the Church, as well as your entire congregation.
Fuck you. If you supported the RCC through the revelations, then you bear some of the blame. If you really want to do something, not only should you quit the Church, you need to work hard to convince everyone else you know to quit the Church, as well as your entire congregation.
41
Why don't some of you come down to St. James the next time the nuns need a show of support. They're being punished all over America by our local Archbishop, as delegated by Ratzinger, for not caring about "morals" while the priests get a pass from their bishops. I didn't see many people under 50 down there several weeks ago.
42
"Aw, man, how I long for the good old days when we could fuck kids with impunity because the kids didn't rat on us and when they did nobody believed them! But now we have to walk to court, uphill both ways!"
43
Is there anybody who isn't thoroughly brainwashed that doesn't now realise that these holier-than-thou motherfuckers have been raping tens of thousands of children for many hundreds of years? It is an inherently disordered religion. Geezus, open your fucking eyes!
44
This sort of reminds me of Nabokov's Humbert Humbert. He didn't go after regular children, oh no, that would be pedophilia. He went after *nymphets*, the mature, sexy 10-year-olds who were *asking* for it.
45
Also, clearly, this priest is a boy-fucker himself. Priests who aren't boy-fuckers talk about how there aren't that many priests who do it, and that we have to forgive, etc. But priests who are doing it themselves talk about how the boys are asking for it, because that is the fantasy that runs in their heads.
Also, he's given us a handy timeline! 10 or 15 years ago when this wasn't a crime.... that's when he was doing it.
Also, he's given us a handy timeline! 10 or 15 years ago when this wasn't a crime.... that's when he was doing it.
46
I tried to get to the original article - your link goes through Huff Post. The link from Huff Post goes to an empty page. I think they've pulled the article.
47
I'm still kind of stunned by the way "conservatives" nowadays spend all their energy trying to justify rape and child sexual abuse, while at the same time demonizing same-sex marriage between consenting adults in love with each other.
It's a sick, sad bizarro world, and anybody who ever supported the religious right for their "family values" platform ought to be fleeing in horror.
It's a sick, sad bizarro world, and anybody who ever supported the religious right for their "family values" platform ought to be fleeing in horror.
48
I saw this on another comment thread about the topic and it's so awesome I have to share
"It is a simple fact that when a group of people find a place where they are safe and welcomed, more members of that group will gravitate to that place. The Church has become a safe haven for pedophiles and now those pedophiles, holding powerful positions within the Church, work to preserve and protect their safe haven."
"It is a simple fact that when a group of people find a place where they are safe and welcomed, more members of that group will gravitate to that place. The Church has become a safe haven for pedophiles and now those pedophiles, holding powerful positions within the Church, work to preserve and protect their safe haven."
49
@46: Yep. It was there last night, but gone this morning, down the Memory Hole. Hope someone got a screensave.
50
@17
I'm responding to your comment that sometimes the teens are really seducing the priests, and I'm responding with my own version of @37's story of her BFF's stepson.
I have been teaching high school for over 28 years. Although I'm in my mid-fifties now, I started in my twenties, and in the first decade or so, I inspired quite a lot of student crushes. It still occasionally happens, even now that I'm gray and a little paunchy. Undoubtedly, these students are the ones whom Benedict would say are looking for "father figures."
Some of the kids with crushes on me have limited their displays to awkward giggles and blushes. Some have come on to me in blatantly obvious ways. Never once, in 28 years, have I been "seduced."
And why? Primarily there are two reasons: one ethical and one pragmatic.
Ethically, if I allowed myself "to be seduced by a student" (and let's be honest, #17--who is really weilding the power here?), it would be a huge and grotesque abuse of my position.
And the pragmatic reason? If I ever let myself "be seduced by a student," my ass would be fired so fast it would make your head spin. It wouldn't matter whether the kid was male or female, nor would it matter whether the student was above or below the legal age of consent. If the kid was, say, 18 instead of 15, I might not be subject to criminal charges, but my superiors would see my behavior as absolutely incompatible with the nature of my position (see ethical reason, above) and would judge me as unfit to continue in my profession. What's more than that--I would agree with them.
The RCC does not have the same ethical standards as my local school board; when their employees violate and abuse the trust of their positioins, they are sent on a retreat "to recover from physical and spiritual exhaustion," and the retreat is followed by a reassignment to a new parish. They don't get fired; instead they get a vacation and a new job.
So excuse me for thinking that Father Benedict is full of shit. If priest is unable to resist "seduction," particularly if it happens more than once, well, then, he probably shouldn't be a priest. And excuse me if I think that, if you've bought Father Benedict's argument, you could use a lesson or two in critical thinking.
More...
I'm responding to your comment that sometimes the teens are really seducing the priests, and I'm responding with my own version of @37's story of her BFF's stepson.
I have been teaching high school for over 28 years. Although I'm in my mid-fifties now, I started in my twenties, and in the first decade or so, I inspired quite a lot of student crushes. It still occasionally happens, even now that I'm gray and a little paunchy. Undoubtedly, these students are the ones whom Benedict would say are looking for "father figures."
Some of the kids with crushes on me have limited their displays to awkward giggles and blushes. Some have come on to me in blatantly obvious ways. Never once, in 28 years, have I been "seduced."
And why? Primarily there are two reasons: one ethical and one pragmatic.
Ethically, if I allowed myself "to be seduced by a student" (and let's be honest, #17--who is really weilding the power here?), it would be a huge and grotesque abuse of my position.
And the pragmatic reason? If I ever let myself "be seduced by a student," my ass would be fired so fast it would make your head spin. It wouldn't matter whether the kid was male or female, nor would it matter whether the student was above or below the legal age of consent. If the kid was, say, 18 instead of 15, I might not be subject to criminal charges, but my superiors would see my behavior as absolutely incompatible with the nature of my position (see ethical reason, above) and would judge me as unfit to continue in my profession. What's more than that--I would agree with them.
The RCC does not have the same ethical standards as my local school board; when their employees violate and abuse the trust of their positioins, they are sent on a retreat "to recover from physical and spiritual exhaustion," and the retreat is followed by a reassignment to a new parish. They don't get fired; instead they get a vacation and a new job.
So excuse me for thinking that Father Benedict is full of shit. If priest is unable to resist "seduction," particularly if it happens more than once, well, then, he probably shouldn't be a priest. And excuse me if I think that, if you've bought Father Benedict's argument, you could use a lesson or two in critical thinking.
51
@37. Thank you so much for writing what you wrote. I keep pointing out to people that we are adults because... and the kids are children because...
I lived in a small town, where as the local weekly put it, it was 'open season on kids' because of the numbers of charges going before the court. Being a small town, you get feedback. The reason given by men fornicating with girls was that 'she was all over me'. And then there was the case where 6 men were charged with serially shagging a 14 year old boy because 'he wanted it and kept wagging his butt at us'.
My smart-ass comment about the priests is that at least they're not gay, they're just pederasts. The RC Church is rotten through to the core, and if the congregates rise up in rage, Rome will simply take back the real estate and there will be no where to have mass. How anybody could believe that all that folderol has anything to do with God dismays my attempts at comprehending the human mind. You'll find Jesus in your heart, not in a building or an organization, no matter how old or charming the traditions. And it is not necessary to believe in any thing in order to be a good person. Which is what it is all about.
I lived in a small town, where as the local weekly put it, it was 'open season on kids' because of the numbers of charges going before the court. Being a small town, you get feedback. The reason given by men fornicating with girls was that 'she was all over me'. And then there was the case where 6 men were charged with serially shagging a 14 year old boy because 'he wanted it and kept wagging his butt at us'.
My smart-ass comment about the priests is that at least they're not gay, they're just pederasts. The RC Church is rotten through to the core, and if the congregates rise up in rage, Rome will simply take back the real estate and there will be no where to have mass. How anybody could believe that all that folderol has anything to do with God dismays my attempts at comprehending the human mind. You'll find Jesus in your heart, not in a building or an organization, no matter how old or charming the traditions. And it is not necessary to believe in any thing in order to be a good person. Which is what it is all about.
53
@46, 49: the article does appear to have been pulled. I can't find any news stories yet mentioning that, but I just e-mailed a suggestion to Dan that he update this post and sent along a .pdf of the pulled story if needed.
54
As always, The Onion had it first:
Pope Forgives Molested Children
May 22, 2002 | ISSUE 38•19 | More News
VATICAN CITY—Calling forgiveness "one of the highest virtues taught to us by Jesus," Pope John Paul II issued a papal decree Monday absolving priest-molested children of all sin.
"Though grave and terrible sins have been committed, our Lord teaches us to turn the other cheek and forgive those who sin against us," said the pope, reading a prepared statement from a balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square. "That is why, despite the terrible wrongs they have committed, the church must move on and forgive these children for their misdeeds."
"As Jesus said, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,'" the pope continued. "We must send a clear message to these hundreds—perhaps thousands—of children whose sinful ways have tempted so many of the church's servants into lustful violation of their holy vows of celibacy. The church forgives them for their transgressions and looks upon them not with intolerance, but compassion."
The papal announcement arrives in response to public outcry over the sex scandal sweeping the Catholic church in the U.S. Though official church doctrine condemns such transgressions, the pope's decision, observers say, is intended to demonstrate the church's willingness to put the scandal behind it and restore the public trust.
"By forgiving these children, primarily churchgoing boys between the ages of 5 and 15, the pope has shown true Christian kindness," said Father Thomas O'Malley, a member of the New York archdiocese and one of the many priests implicated in charges of sexual activity with minors. "The pope is saying that, in their own way, these sinful youths are victims, too. Through their absolution, he sends the important message that empathy, contrary to what naysayers and critics in the secular media would have us believe, does have a place in modern Catholicism."
For Catholics waiting for the pope to break his long silence on the scandal, the sweeping, decisive nature of his response has come as welcome relief.
"The pope has shown great love and compassion, much as Jesus did when he ministered to tax collectors and whores," said Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston. "Despite all they have done to jeopardize the careers of so many priests—to say nothing of imperiling the priests' immortal souls—the church embraces these underaged seducers and tempters with open arms. The pope's words and actions prove that the church is willing to put an end to the suffering and let the healing begin."
The mass absolution is being hailed by church scholars as one of the Vatican's most progressive acts since the Second Vatican Council in 1962.
"One cannot overstate the break from tradition this represents," said lay administrator Bruce McConnachie of the Los Angeles archdiocese. "After all, under church doctrine, the act of seducing a priest is considered a grave sin against the laws of God, punishable by condemnation to Hell for all eternity. But the pope has put all of that aside. He has let bygones be bygones. For this, all of those misbehaving, sexy little guys should feel grateful. By showing such willingness to forgive and forget, the pope has sent a clear message: Even though these boys have done much to undermine and subvert the priestly vows of celibacy, they are still deserving of God's love."
Margaret Leahy, 39, a Somerville, MA, homemaker and mother of one of the alleged seducers, expressed relief over the pope's announcement.
"For months, I feared that my boy—and the dozens of others who committed sinful acts with Father Halloran before he was moved to the safety of another parish to protect him from further temptation at their pre-pubescent hands—was going to Hell for what he'd done," Leahy said. "It's the worst feeling a mother can know. But thanks to the forgiveness of the pope, my long nightmare is finally over. He was just a boy of 8 at the time. He didn't know any better. Thank you, your Holiness, for giving my poor little Timothy a second chance at redemption."
However, not everyone within the Catholic church is so supportive of the pope's actions.
"What kind of a message is the pope sending today's children? That it's okay to seduce priests?" said one concerned Baltimore priest who asked to remain anonymous due to a pending court case. "With the pope's announcement, the church is essentially telling its youngest members, 'Go ahead and let Father So-And-So reach into your swim trunks at the church-youth-group pool party. It's okay, the pope will forgive you in the end.' Without fear of eternal damnation, how are these provocative young lotharios ever going to learn?"
"As the creep of secular humanism continues to chip away at our most sacred institutions, the Vatican has established a dangerous precedent," the priest continued. "We look to the church's authority for justice and righteousness, not politically convenient solutions that maintain the status quo. These nubile sinners should be held accountable for the damage they've done."
More...
Pope Forgives Molested Children
May 22, 2002 | ISSUE 38•19 | More News
VATICAN CITY—Calling forgiveness "one of the highest virtues taught to us by Jesus," Pope John Paul II issued a papal decree Monday absolving priest-molested children of all sin.
"Though grave and terrible sins have been committed, our Lord teaches us to turn the other cheek and forgive those who sin against us," said the pope, reading a prepared statement from a balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square. "That is why, despite the terrible wrongs they have committed, the church must move on and forgive these children for their misdeeds."
"As Jesus said, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,'" the pope continued. "We must send a clear message to these hundreds—perhaps thousands—of children whose sinful ways have tempted so many of the church's servants into lustful violation of their holy vows of celibacy. The church forgives them for their transgressions and looks upon them not with intolerance, but compassion."
The papal announcement arrives in response to public outcry over the sex scandal sweeping the Catholic church in the U.S. Though official church doctrine condemns such transgressions, the pope's decision, observers say, is intended to demonstrate the church's willingness to put the scandal behind it and restore the public trust.
"By forgiving these children, primarily churchgoing boys between the ages of 5 and 15, the pope has shown true Christian kindness," said Father Thomas O'Malley, a member of the New York archdiocese and one of the many priests implicated in charges of sexual activity with minors. "The pope is saying that, in their own way, these sinful youths are victims, too. Through their absolution, he sends the important message that empathy, contrary to what naysayers and critics in the secular media would have us believe, does have a place in modern Catholicism."
For Catholics waiting for the pope to break his long silence on the scandal, the sweeping, decisive nature of his response has come as welcome relief.
"The pope has shown great love and compassion, much as Jesus did when he ministered to tax collectors and whores," said Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston. "Despite all they have done to jeopardize the careers of so many priests—to say nothing of imperiling the priests' immortal souls—the church embraces these underaged seducers and tempters with open arms. The pope's words and actions prove that the church is willing to put an end to the suffering and let the healing begin."
The mass absolution is being hailed by church scholars as one of the Vatican's most progressive acts since the Second Vatican Council in 1962.
"One cannot overstate the break from tradition this represents," said lay administrator Bruce McConnachie of the Los Angeles archdiocese. "After all, under church doctrine, the act of seducing a priest is considered a grave sin against the laws of God, punishable by condemnation to Hell for all eternity. But the pope has put all of that aside. He has let bygones be bygones. For this, all of those misbehaving, sexy little guys should feel grateful. By showing such willingness to forgive and forget, the pope has sent a clear message: Even though these boys have done much to undermine and subvert the priestly vows of celibacy, they are still deserving of God's love."
Margaret Leahy, 39, a Somerville, MA, homemaker and mother of one of the alleged seducers, expressed relief over the pope's announcement.
"For months, I feared that my boy—and the dozens of others who committed sinful acts with Father Halloran before he was moved to the safety of another parish to protect him from further temptation at their pre-pubescent hands—was going to Hell for what he'd done," Leahy said. "It's the worst feeling a mother can know. But thanks to the forgiveness of the pope, my long nightmare is finally over. He was just a boy of 8 at the time. He didn't know any better. Thank you, your Holiness, for giving my poor little Timothy a second chance at redemption."
However, not everyone within the Catholic church is so supportive of the pope's actions.
"What kind of a message is the pope sending today's children? That it's okay to seduce priests?" said one concerned Baltimore priest who asked to remain anonymous due to a pending court case. "With the pope's announcement, the church is essentially telling its youngest members, 'Go ahead and let Father So-And-So reach into your swim trunks at the church-youth-group pool party. It's okay, the pope will forgive you in the end.' Without fear of eternal damnation, how are these provocative young lotharios ever going to learn?"
"As the creep of secular humanism continues to chip away at our most sacred institutions, the Vatican has established a dangerous precedent," the priest continued. "We look to the church's authority for justice and righteousness, not politically convenient solutions that maintain the status quo. These nubile sinners should be held accountable for the damage they've done."
55
He is also in favour of gay to straight therapy. http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/a…
Here's the 'highlights' of his remarks: http://www.religionnews.com/culture/gend…
Here's the 'highlights' of his remarks: http://www.religionnews.com/culture/gend…
56
@30 (DRF): In all gentleness, with no hostility intended:
I think it's you who are embarrassing yourself by continuing to stick with a church whose administrators have done only the bare minimum they have been forced to do to deal with pedophile priests, and who remain defiant and self-absolving when confronted with their crimes. Stop supporting these jerks, goddammit! Funding a pedophile ring is bad! Leaving the church is not that hard!
I think it's you who are embarrassing yourself by continuing to stick with a church whose administrators have done only the bare minimum they have been forced to do to deal with pedophile priests, and who remain defiant and self-absolving when confronted with their crimes. Stop supporting these jerks, goddammit! Funding a pedophile ring is bad! Leaving the church is not that hard!
57
Wait? Sex between consenting adults of the same gender = bad. Priests fucking teenage boys = no big deal?
59
So do priests rape little kids and cover it up? Does the Pope where a funny hat?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxPCxvxzu…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxPCxvxzu…
60
I have the unfortunate pleasure of having known Benedict Groeschel when I was a seminarian at Dunwoodie Seminary in Yonkers, NY. Then, as now, he was one of the professors. And then, as now, we believed he was a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. We all thought he was bonkers. And, having started his own order (when I knew him he was Fr. Benedict Joseph of Jersey City, OFMCap), he ran a retreat house which took in troubled priests until the Archdiocese of New York decided it wasn't a fit place for recovering priests. He has had a bee in his bonnet about homosexuality for years. And, if he says they've been screening the seminary for gays for years, well, not only did I get through the screening process, but lots of other gay men did as well. And lots of them have been caught with their hands down boys' pants, and have been disciplined for it.
It is not the opinion of the hierarchy that the kids are seducing priests, in general. Ben is not a representative of anyone in the hierarchy. In the past there was some hint of this kind of attitude (often priests who fell for women or girls were hurriedly moved and the woman blamed for seducing poor Father) but I do not sense that what Ben is saying is anything but his own looney opinion. I am not excusing the RC hierarchy (I'm now in London and am firmly Church of England, having gotten out of the clutches of the Scarlet Whore of Babylon...) but I would be astounded if this were a commonly-held opinion.
It is not the opinion of the hierarchy that the kids are seducing priests, in general. Ben is not a representative of anyone in the hierarchy. In the past there was some hint of this kind of attitude (often priests who fell for women or girls were hurriedly moved and the woman blamed for seducing poor Father) but I do not sense that what Ben is saying is anything but his own looney opinion. I am not excusing the RC hierarchy (I'm now in London and am firmly Church of England, having gotten out of the clutches of the Scarlet Whore of Babylon...) but I would be astounded if this were a commonly-held opinion.
61
@60 Gay, straight, no adults should be sticking hands down any boys' pants. The pedophile priest epidemic must have some more distinct cause. Could it come from some form of arrested sexual development caused by giving a vow of chastity to sexually arrested, self-loathing young neophytes? What motivates a young man to give up worldly things and go into the priesthood? Are there more candidates running away from something than towards something? The end result we're seeing, a high incidence of child molestation, is much worse than merely breaking one's vow of chastity, or not taking one in the first place.
I don't see a solution until the Church junks the chastity vow and starts recruiting people at peace with their sexuality, gay and straight, and allowing them to have partners. Like the Anglicans do.
I don't see a solution until the Church junks the chastity vow and starts recruiting people at peace with their sexuality, gay and straight, and allowing them to have partners. Like the Anglicans do.
62
So, when a teenage boy goes looking for a father figure in his church, he's hoping to find the kind of father who molests his children?
63
I was a victim of rape while attending catholic community middle school of baltimore
By a lay teacher. The priest knew and so did sister Eileen Weisman the principle of the school
I was 11 years old when the abuse started and the abuse ended at the age of 13 years old when I finally
Graduated. This serial child rapist continued his reign of terror from
1972 thru 1979 when he finally left the school his name wad
John Merzbacher and is in prison found guilty of raping a child under
The age of 14 and several other charges. He was found guilty on all charges and
Was sentence to for life terms plus ten years. Know our court system might let
This serial child rapist out on a technicality can you believe that. Again the
the system has failed the children. No child encluding myself ever asked to be raped.
For this I call him inhuman person to state that we wanted this is unbelievable. I think
He must be a pedophile himself to have stated that children bring this on thereselves
Give me a break. We need the catholic church to stand behind the victims and not blame
The victims for horrific crimes that we endured while under control of the catholic church
The Vatican should make this person step down and educate him on the subject of child
Abuse and child rape. This person makes me sick. No apology would ever be good enough
Because that is not how he feels he stated his true feelings already. Now because of the
Reaction of the people he is having a change of heart. I have lived with this nightmare
For decades. I still relive the rapes and child abuse everday of my life. The God I believe in
Would never agree with the cover up of the catholic church you should all be ashamed of yourself
And make the pedophiles pay for there crimes and not make excuses for them.
More...
By a lay teacher. The priest knew and so did sister Eileen Weisman the principle of the school
I was 11 years old when the abuse started and the abuse ended at the age of 13 years old when I finally
Graduated. This serial child rapist continued his reign of terror from
1972 thru 1979 when he finally left the school his name wad
John Merzbacher and is in prison found guilty of raping a child under
The age of 14 and several other charges. He was found guilty on all charges and
Was sentence to for life terms plus ten years. Know our court system might let
This serial child rapist out on a technicality can you believe that. Again the
the system has failed the children. No child encluding myself ever asked to be raped.
For this I call him inhuman person to state that we wanted this is unbelievable. I think
He must be a pedophile himself to have stated that children bring this on thereselves
Give me a break. We need the catholic church to stand behind the victims and not blame
The victims for horrific crimes that we endured while under control of the catholic church
The Vatican should make this person step down and educate him on the subject of child
Abuse and child rape. This person makes me sick. No apology would ever be good enough
Because that is not how he feels he stated his true feelings already. Now because of the
Reaction of the people he is having a change of heart. I have lived with this nightmare
For decades. I still relive the rapes and child abuse everday of my life. The God I believe in
Would never agree with the cover up of the catholic church you should all be ashamed of yourself
And make the pedophiles pay for there crimes and not make excuses for them.
64
Sorry, I didn't realize that it was weird that kids had crushes on older people. I had crushes on the boy counselors at camp and my brother had crushes on our babysitters. Such is the way of youngin' hormones. I won't apologize for not finding it strange, but I think I was clear that I cut that behavior off at the pass. I'm not in any way attracted to these young men (DH is *9* years older than me, I like 'em mature), but I guess I remember having those harmless crushes and think it's normal and kinda endearing that they find someone old enough to be their mom cool.
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