Chet said:
I think Repo did a good job of clarifying my thought on the matter, and yes I do condemn the pope and hold him accountable. What source you say?
CNN and the church itself! . Stunnin. Over 11,000 assaults. I respectfully disagree and totally disagree with your statement that a catholic priest is no more likely to commit such assaults. The church has bred a culture of closted homosexuality in the priesthood since the rennaisance. I dont see mass allegaitons against any other religious denomination either, do you?
EDIT: Oh, you are right about the church not being run as a corporation -- the church has not been accountable to its shareholders.
Chet, I appreciate your response and I can understand why you disagree. I think where we part is in perspective. In the John Jay report, only 6,700 of the 11,000 allegations (allegations, not assaults) have been substantiated. Since 1950, only 4 percent of active priests have been accused (again, accused, not necessarily convicted). Also, this is an American phenomenon that has not been shown to be a problem for the universal worldwide Catholic Church.
Chet, the mere fact that one becomes a priest does not make him more likely to commit sexual crimes against minors. The facts just do not support that conclusion. Please read the article that I linked in my earlier post. However, I would agree that a large part of the problem has been homosexuality in the priesthood, as well as laxness toward vows of celibacy in general (this obviously includes straight sexual activity). There are recent studies outlining homosexual activity in American seminaries, especially during the seventies and eighties, but more recent audits show that this has largely been stopped. In any case, the priesthood (or leading a scout troop, or coaching a traveling sports team, or being a teacher, or a myriad of other jobs that require close contact with children) is no place for a person, straight or gay, that cannot control such sexual impulses.
True, no mass allegations have been made against any other religious denomination, but then, no other denomination is quite like the Catholic Church. Since nearly all Protestant denominations are non-hierarchical in structure, its hard to place blame for indiscretions on the part of Baptist ministers on the "Baptist Church." However, as I have already noted, the incidence and likelihood of one such minister to be an abuser is about the same as being a Catholic priest. I would add also that there is an active bias against Catholicism in American culture, so the indiscretions of the Catholic Church are much more likely to draw fire than when such things happen in other churches (not that the Catholic Church does not deserve the negative attention in this matter--it most certainly does).
Cardinal is right, one of the worst things about this scandal was that abusers were not stopped (the John Jay report shows that about 45 percent of the priests accused were accused of multiple incidents) but were instead moved to other places to continue preying on their parishioners. However, I would note that the mere fact that the very damning report that Chet cites was commissioned by the American bishops themselves, with the intent to eliminate the problem. Every diocese has adopted strict rules for priests and anyone who has contact with kids. My wife (a person with zero likelihood for abuse) was required to attend a six-hour training session called "Protecting our Children" and she only volunteers one hour a month at my kid's parish preschool. The Church is acting aggressively to address the problem.
Anyway, enough of this off-topic debate. I will agree with other posters in this thread that the President is not a good candidate for the Nobel prize, even though I am not against him or his policies. But then, if Arafat can win it, shoot, anyone should have a shot.
