The church (Hope: sex offenders, living, buses)

[warptman]

'Frontline' documents Catholic church's apologies for abuse: Religion | Alaska news at adn.com

I'm catholic, not too proud though.

[blueflames50]

the greatest trick the devil ever pulled....in the disguise of Christianity! too bad it has made good Catholics feel guilty. Never have been Catholic so I don't know how it would feel to be of this faith and have to live with what some have done. Hopefully this meeting helped some of the ones victimized.

[bortstc37]

oh, don't worry, it happens in protestant churches as well.
at least two protestant churches that i've attended have had some kind of abuse going on or have had convicted sex offenders working as pastors. i say "at least" because those are only the ones that i know about. both victims and abusers seem to be very secretive...

[SityData]

Evil permeates every establishment; Wolves in sheeps clothing is the proper term used 'biblically'.

Religion is phoney - it is completly powerless. Merly the rules and traditions of men. There is only one book in the whole world whose Author claims to be God. It is a relationship based on 'what HE says'. Not men.

I was born & raised Catholic; I left that 'establishment' in search of the Truth when I was 17. I simply wasn't getting any answers to my many questions. Then I read the bible and found out why!!

[momofmany926]

Abuse happens in all religions, I think Catholics are getting the brunt of the "publicity" for it for 2 reasons; They are a huge religious organization which permeates through out government, and across the globe.
They hold to the belief that their priests should stay single as well as the nuns which is hard for other people to understand and so they start wondering how these men and women abstain from what most feel is a necessity of life. Then when something like this happens it becomes a matter of "Oh see that's what they do instead of getting married, or well that makes sense all priests are pedophiles and gay" We seek to condemn that which we don't understand. I have known many great Catholics, in fact I've known a lot of great people from almost every major religion, as well as a lot of not so great people.
In the church I was raised in abuse was quickly hushed and swept under the carpet both abuse that happened at the hands of our pastors, elders, and decons, as well as abuse that happened within the family. My own pastor didn't want to baptize me because I told on my dad for what he was doing .. funny that same church said all Catholics were going to hell.. and people wonder why I have no use for religion now...

[SityData]

As I said: "religion" is all too phoney - and there in is the proof.

A 'relationship' is different and it is based on HIS TRUTH(s).

The word "faithful" does not apply to any human being; That word belongs to God only. HE never fails. Humans always do.

[MissingAll4Seasons]

The cruelest irony in this whole ordeal is that the entire reason that priests and nuns are required to be celibate is so the Church didn't have to pay benefits to the family and the Church didn't have to compete with a family for your loyalty. It's about money and control, not being closer to God. Really, how hard is it to control someone when you've removed their means of self-support (vow of poverty) and removed them from their emotional support network of family and friends (vow of chastity)?

If I remember correctly, those are the first things most cults do when they indoctrinate people.

But anyway, it's nice to see the leaders of any formal religion initiate open discussions about the abuses that could be occurring in their system, and at least appear apologetic for what happened even if they don't necessarily admit that they way they manage their system may have contributed to the abuses in the first place.

[momofmany926]

Missing I have to disagree with you, the Catholic church had celibate priests and nuns long before anyone knew anything about getting benefits from work and they aren't forbidden contact with their family unlike most cults that do not allow you any access to the outside world, I could be wrong but I believe nuns and priests are allowed to visit and have contact with their family.

[SityData]

Catholicisim is not a cult.

The first sign of a cult are those that deny the divinity of Christ!

Read Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin.

Jehovah Witness / Mormons / Moonies are just some of the many modern day cults. Each of them deny the Fact the Jesus is GOD.

[momofmany926]

I don't believe Jesus is God, not a member of any cult or religious organization. My understanding is Jesus is the Son of God, I have five sons, they are not me, they are their own person.
A cult is defined as
a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader. My interpretation is when people follow one man as the "direct" and only link to eternity. Usually that leader tends to be out there and demand a lot of his followers while reaping great profits for himself.

I think we have pulled this way off topic though. Sorry Joe Joe.