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All I know is I see less and less Catholic churches and schools in the future.More church closings,more school closings.Thanks be to god.The more irrelevant the church becomes the better.
You do realize that nearly all Catholic schools are staffed with mostly lay people, yes? Gone are the days of 50-60 years ago where the staff was almost exclusively nuns, priests and brothers.
Of course. I also know that MOST priests don't rape children. But when they do, the church hides it and gives the priest a fresh supply of victims. If the Catholic apologists could admit that simple fact, there would be nothing to argue about. Most Catholics are good people. Most preists don't rape children. But some do, and the Roman Catholic church supports it, hides it and encourages it.
The reason the church got away with kiddy rape for decades is because most of the lay catholics realized it was happening, but it is drilled into them at such an early age that you never speak or think against the church, so they would never stand up to a priest. They were apologists. After learning that the church was encouraging the rape of children on every country on earth, you think they would be horrified enough to at least stand up and say "Wow, something is wrong here. We catholics need to stand up to our leadership in our church and say no more!". But as you can see from this thread, they still haven't gotten there. They are still apologists....it's really sad.
Of course. I also know that MOST priests don't rape children. But when they do, the church hides it and gives the priest a fresh supply of victims. If the Catholic apologists could admit that simple fact, there would be nothing to argue about. Most Catholics are good people. Most preists don't rape children. But some do, and the Roman Catholic church supports it, hides it and encourages it.
The reason the church got away with kiddy rape for decades is because most of the lay catholics realized it was happening, but it is drilled into them at such an early age that you never speak or think against the church, so they would never stand up to a priest. They were apologists. After learning that the church was encouraging the rape of children on every country on earth, you think they would be horrified enough to at least stand up and say "Wow, something is wrong here. We catholics need to stand up to our leadership in our church and say no more!". But as you can see from this thread, they still haven't gotten there. They are still apologists....it's really sad.
In my personal experience, being raised Catholic and going solely to Catholic schools, the one instance of abuse known in my parish was committed by a lay teacher- a woman.
When it was reported she was immediately fired, no cover up on the local parish's part (far as we know), she was not charged criminally as the statute had run run out. The Archdiocese gave the victim a nice monetary package along with paying all associated mental health care costs.
I'm pretty sure she had more than one victim, as she was quite "friendly" with the boys for many years. Unfortunately he was the only one with the courage to come forward, and quite publicly, he was featured on DateLine or some such show back in 1996.
I don't believe this is solely an issue within the Catholic Church, look at the track records in other religions regarding sexual abuse. The Hasidic community has very similar issues for example.
Low birthrate is closing schools, Catholic and public. I know they have been closing on LI for decades for this reason. When my older daughter was in Catholic School in Queens in the 80s, they said to me that if I had MORE KIDS going to the school tuition would be cheaper. Sorry, don't hold your breath on that one. When we moved to LI, I sent my two kids to public school. The public school was highly rated and I really didn't want my kids going to Catholic school. Been there, done that.
In my personal experience, being raised Catholic and going solely to Catholic schools, the one instance of abuse known in my parish was committed by a lay teacher- a woman.
When it was reported she was immediately fired, no cover up on the local parish's part (far as we know), she was not charged criminally as the statute had run run out. The Archdiocese gave the victim a nice monetary package along with paying all associated mental health care costs.
I'm pretty sure she had more than one victim, as she was quite "friendly" with the boys for many years. Unfortunately he was the only one with the courage to come forward, and quite publicly, he was featured on DateLine or some such show back in 1996.
I don't believe this is solely an issue within the Catholic Church, look at the track records in other religions regarding sexual abuse. The Hasidic community has very similar issues for example.
You are right, sex abuse can happen anywhere. Feel free to start a thread on Hassidic schools closing and I will be happy to go off on them too. I hate it when people choose religion over spirituality, and orthodoxes of all religions do that.
But since we are so dangerously off topic as it is, i won't go into that.
I am glad that in your personal experience the church actually stood up for an abused kid. Probably b/c the person doing the abusing in your story was not a priest, so they didn't get the cover up that the church gives priests. But your personal experience doesn't trump the thousands upon thousands of abuse cases the church has been found guilty of covering up in secular courtrooms.
Catholic schools are closing in NYC because the new immigrants coming in and are not Christians and do not send them to Catholic schools. That simple. In the past, most immigrants were over whelming Catholic. My girls go to Catholic school and I love the values they are being taught, and the fact that there ARE consequences in Catholic school for bad behavior of students. :-)
Catholic schools are closing in NYC because the new immigrants coming in and are not Christians and do not send them to Catholic schools. That simple. In the past, most immigrants were over whelming Catholic. My girls go to Catholic school and I love the values they are being taught, and the fact that there ARE consequences in Catholic school for bad behavior of students. :-)
FYI - some Christians wouldn't send their children to Catholic schools because they are not Catholic. About half the world's Christians are not Catholic.
You are right, sex abuse can happen anywhere. Feel free to start a thread on Hassidic schools closing and I will be happy to go off on them too. I hate it when people choose religion over spirituality, and orthodoxes of all religions do that.
But since we are so dangerously off topic as it is, i won't go into that.
I am glad that in your personal experience the church actually stood up for an abused kid. Probably b/c the person doing the abusing in your story was not a priest, so they didn't get the cover up that the church gives priests. But your personal experience doesn't trump the thousands upon thousands of abuse cases the church has been found guilty of covering up in secular courtrooms.
*big sigh* I never stated that my personal experience trumped all nor was it my intention to have it interpreted that way.
You have the horns for the Church, for whatever reason, and having a reasonable discussion is out of the question. Seemingly for your, it all boils down to the few rotten apples in the bunch.
*big sigh* I never stated that my personal experience trumped all nor was it my intention to have it interpreted that way.
You have the horns for the Church, for whatever reason, and having a reasonable discussion is out of the question. Seemingly for your, it all boils down to the few rotten apples in the bunch.
The fact that you can't see why someone would be disgusted by the Catholic Church, especially when I have been quite clear why I am, is the reason we can't have a discussion. It has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with you.
I don't see how you figure? What does it matter how many languages the man speaks? So if you are a polyglot it's okay to abuse children? I think it's great he can say "Stop screaming, it will all be over soon.." in 12 languages, but that doesn't mean that I can't criticize a man who systematically helped protect the rapists of thousands upon thousands of children.
Yes fluency in many languages matters. A pope must be well versed in multiple languages since Catholics come from all walks of life. He should also be thoroughly knowledgable in both theology and philosophy (the morality that underpins theology). As such, pope are elected by a group of similarly learned men; his qualifications are not something for the public to decide.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayBrown80
And I don't need to argue with Ratzinger on issues of philosophy or religion. I don't need too. No one can win an argument on these things. Ratzinger is very clear in his ecclesiastical opinions. Let me sum it up for you. "Women are inferior to men, their place is in the kitchen or the birthing room. Gays are intrinsically evil and the greatest threat to humanity, above even nuclear proliferation. Kids are tattle tales and should just walk it off when they take a shot from a priest. It is better for people to contract AIDS then to educate them about condoms." There you go, Ratzinger's humanity summed up in 4 easy sentences.
How about you focus on the FACTS of what I am talking about. The Catholic Church, and Ratzinger, supported kiddy rape. You keep on talking about how many languages the Kiddy rapist can speak. Who cares?
Ha ha ha! Those are your words, not his.
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