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Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,299 posts, read 54,193,573 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Retroit
Many are in jail. The problem is that many of the abused did not report the crime or reported it only to the church. They neglected to report it to the appropriate authorities: the police. The church is not a law enforcement organization; it is a forgiveness organization. When you go to penance to confess a crime, the church has no authority or responsibility to charge you or report you. This is similar to attorney-client privilege or doctor-patient confidentiality. Obviously, the church is going to try and cover it up, just like non-denominational churches have done, and like the Boy Scouts have done, and like schools have done, and like police have done, etc.
If you are the victim of a crime, report it to the police, not to the organiztion your perpetrator was a member of.
Isn't facilitating a criminal enterprise a crime in and of itself?
Isn't facilitating a criminal enterprise a crime in and of itself?
Yes. This is where the entire thing could have been stopped. If the authorities had prosecuted a higher up that knew of the problem but simply moved the problem elsewhere to continue to commit these crimes it would have made a difference.
So we can blame, priests, the church overall but we also need to blame the authorities that did not do their jobs.
The movie, "Spotlight," which won the best picture award, brought my attention to the extent of this abuse. I am guessing the numbers we know of, are just the tip of the iceberg! My question is: why were these priest not reported to the law and charged???
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,299 posts, read 54,193,573 times
Reputation: 40623
I haven't kept up with some of this, anyone know if this has been mainly a problem in the US or has it occurred throughout the Catholic world? I just wonder if our belief in separation of church and state has resulted in a (misguided IMO) reticence of the state to prosecute these criminals?
How on earth did this disturbing phenomenon become so common among catholic priests in the first place? Is it cultural?
When I hear these stories that curiosity always lingers in the back of my mind.
It wasn't common. Probably no higher a rate than teachers. The problem was a lack of prosecution for those who were guilty. There were many not prosecuted that were certainly more offensive than Jared Fogle.
This uneven prosecution is what is wrong with our justice system. Father John rapes a kid and he gets moved across the country. Fogle looks at pics of naked kids and he goes to prison.
Martha Stewart goes to prison. Lloyd Blankfein gets millions of dollars.
Not only should they be charged and serve jail time they need to be registered sex offenders as well and thrown out of the church not just defrocked.
That 2 Popes condoned this is unbelievable.
Yes. Cardinal George pell, is about to be questioned, today ... He did so yesterday. Unsurprising, a range of "forgetfulness". This is a man, who has an important role at the Vatican . He's apparently in charge of the finances. Hope he's not so forgetful in that role.
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