Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These crimes happen in every church - the abuse and the cover up. It's horrible and inexcusable, and has no influence on my ability to reconcile with the decision to remain Catholic.

Can you provide a source that the systemic, institutionalized abuse and cover up exists in other religions?

Is there another religion where a priest/preacher raped a kid then forced the kid to confess their sin to the predator? This level of physical abuse and psychological torture happening while the Catholic hierarchy looks the other way or actively covers up known abuses is sickening.

And yes, there were priests that forced their victims to go to confession after they raped them.

I’ve heard many Catholics cling to this idea that there are pedophiles and rapists of all religions. That is true, but there is no other mainstream Christian Church that has been protecting the abusers and covering up their crimes for decades. I’m done. Nothing will change until Catholics stand up for their own children and leave the Catholic church.

I completely agree.

My mom was raised Catholic, went to 12 years of Catholic school (pre and right after Vatican II) and, after marrying my Jewish Dad, decided to raise my sister and me Jewish because she understood Judaism (in the way we were raised -- Reform) teaches greater respect for women and minorities, and does not have the systemic child abuse the Catholic Church has. That's certainly not to say there aren't creepy Rabbis--there are--but Judaism isn't organized via a secretive hierarchy that enables systemic abuse. It has other issues, but that's not one of them.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if there are going to be "rolling" reviews of sexual abuse claims in each state? Will they review sexual abuse claims in the Archdiocese of Washington?

Anonymous wrote:I left the church long ago because I had a priest try to rape me. Not only that, everyone I tried to tell (including my parents) got angry and that SOB priest kept forcing himself on me telling me I was misbehaving. I knew then and there it was a cult. Not only did I have to leave that child rape culture, but also my parents, grandparents and siblings. I hate all Catholics who continue to give money to that disgusting culture.

Anonymous wrote:I'm starting to think that people who defend the Catholic church are like addicts.

They are addicted to how the church makes them feel and so gloss over its evil and degradation.

Anonymous wrote:I will stay because now I am motivated to be part of the solution. Many in the church hierarchy have admitted that they need the help of the laity and law enforcement to help them address the damage done by those who should have never been there to begin with. They know they need to clean house. They are finally admitting they need support to do it. There are good, faithful, holy priests. Men who accepted the vocation with all that it asks of them and they do their job well. My heart hurts for them. (Much like my heart hurts for my law enforcement husband who gets painted with the brush of every arrogant, hot-headed, power hungry cop who abuses his power and bring shame to the force. Yet many in the police brotherhood protect those who bring shame!) NO! Stand up! Be strong enough to speak up! I really do believe in this Church begun by Jesus through Peter. Evil, sinful men may have damaged it, but they will not break my faith in what I believe to be true. They will not break my will to do what Jesus would do. Oddly their sin is what has sparked me to now be more than a passive churchgoer. I want to fix my church to make amends to those who have been hurt and to support the faithful who want to, and WILL, do good.

Anonymous wrote:I will stay because now I am motivated to be part of the solution. Many in the church hierarchy have admitted that they need the help of the laity and law enforcement to help them address the damage done by those who should have never been there to begin with. They know they need to clean house. They are finally admitting they need support to do it. There are good, faithful, holy priests. Men who accepted the vocation with all that it asks of them and they do their job well. My heart hurts for them. (Much like my heart hurts for my law enforcement husband who gets painted with the brush of every arrogant, hot-headed, power hungry cop who abuses his power and bring shame to the force. Yet many in the police brotherhood protect those who bring shame!) NO! Stand up! Be strong enough to speak up! I really do believe in this Church begun by Jesus through Peter. Evil, sinful men may have damaged it, but they will not break my faith in what I believe to be true. They will not break my will to do what Jesus would do. Oddly their sin is what has sparked me to now be more than a passive churchgoer. I want to fix my church to make amends to those who have been hurt and to support the faithful who want to, and WILL, do good.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This news is absolutely heartbreaking - on a number of levels. My heart breaks for the victims of sexual abuse who were shamed into silence and will live with these wounds forever. My heart also breaks for the clergy who dedicated their lives to God and helping others for the right reasons and their life's work is now forever tarnished. I grew up in a very Catholic family, attended Catholic schooling and was an altar server. I think of the priests who delivered my elderly and dying family members communion in their homes and offered comfort at every turn, those who organized disaster relief efforts and did other truly wonderful things. And that's not to say that other churches aren't doing these things as well, but witnessing them first hand all your life tends to make a lasting impression. I am disgusted by the abuse and recognize how easy it would be to manipulate the young when a priest is so highly revered.

The only way forward is for the Catholic Church to develop a corrective action plan that has a clear system for victims to report abuse and triggered actions that result. Hire a third party entity to take the victim reports and investigate! There needs to be sunlight and assurances of safety and I just don't think the Catholic Church should be handling these issues internally any longer.

The third party entity is called the police since pedophilia is a crime. The Church obstructed police investigations and helped to hide/move suspects so that pedophile priests could escape prosecution. The fact that the Church hierarchy even thought they could handle these matters "internally" instead of turning it over to the police shows that as an organization, the Church genuinely believes it's above the law. If the Church wants to show that it's capable of change, they should probably start there- full transparency and cooperation with the local authorities.

Actually, no, pedophilia is not a crime, it is a diagnosis. One can be a pedophile, the definition of which is being sexually attracted to children, without committing any crime.

Amen!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This news is absolutely heartbreaking - on a number of levels. My heart breaks for the victims of sexual abuse who were shamed into silence and will live with these wounds forever. My heart also breaks for the clergy who dedicated their lives to God and helping others for the right reasons and their life's work is now forever tarnished. I grew up in a very Catholic family, attended Catholic schooling and was an altar server. I think of the priests who delivered my elderly and dying family members communion in their homes and offered comfort at every turn, those who organized disaster relief efforts and did other truly wonderful things. And that's not to say that other churches aren't doing these things as well, but witnessing them first hand all your life tends to make a lasting impression. I am disgusted by the abuse and recognize how easy it would be to manipulate the young when a priest is so highly revered.

The only way forward is for the Catholic Church to develop a corrective action plan that has a clear system for victims to report abuse and triggered actions that result. Hire a third party entity to take the victim reports and investigate! There needs to be sunlight and assurances of safety and I just don't think the Catholic Church should be handling these issues internally any longer.

The third party entity is called the police since pedophilia is a crime. The Church obstructed police investigations and helped to hide/move suspects so that pedophile priests could escape prosecution. The fact that the Church hierarchy even thought they could handle these matters "internally" instead of turning it over to the police shows that as an organization, the Church genuinely believes it's above the law. If the Church wants to show that it's capable of change, they should probably start there- full transparency and cooperation with the local authorities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are you able to reconcile practicing the Catholic faith after yesterday's release of more sexual abuse by priests? I ask out of genuine curiosity.

I am not Catholic. But I view this like I view systemic racism in our country. I want to remain American, but I fight like hell to end racism.

I think it's completely normal to want to stay Catholic. But I hope all Catholics are fighting like hell to end this type of widespread abuse.

But a key difference is that as an American - I have the right to vote our politicians or protest to my government to make changes.

What is the recourse for Catholics? We can’t vote our church leadership.