For the second time, if you are going to quote a statistic, cite your source. Please, count the number of bishops who were convicted of aiding and abbeting a felon. With the media and the internet the way it is, you shouldn't have any problem coming up with whatever figure holds the most shock value. It must give you great pleasure to rub poop in peoples faces. But Catholics aren't real people, are they Foreigner.
-- Tell me Kepha, do you really need statistics to help you understand how wide-spread this issue is?
http://articles.cnn....harter?_s=PM:US
Draft survey: 4,450 priests accused of sex abuse
February 17, 2004
Children accused more than 4,000 priests of sexual abuse between 1950 and 2002, according to a draft survey for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The survey, to be released February 27, found that children made more than 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse by priests. The 4,450 accused priests represent about 4 percent of the 110,000 priests who served during the 52 years covered by the study.
The report is based on a nationwide survey of church records, and was compiled by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the conference. The bishops' conference commissioned the survey to get a better understanding of the scope of the crisis.
CNN reviewed a draft copy of the survey. Officials said it may be slightly changed before its release.
More than half of the accused priests had only one allegation against them. Nearly 25 percent, or 1,112 priests, had two or three allegations, and almost 13 percent, or 578 priests, had four to nine allegations, according to the draft report. Nearly 3 percent, or 133 of the priests, had 10 or more allegations.
The report said that 6,700 of the 11,000 allegations were investigated and substantiated, and another 1,000 were unsubstantiated. The remaining 3,300 were not investigated because the priests involved had died by the time the allegation was made.
The director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said Monday that the survey's numbers are low.
"Bishops have tried to hide this for years, so there is no reason to believe all of a sudden they would change their ways," David Clohessy said. "The only prudent thing to do is to assume this is not the entire truth. This is a survey, not a report or investigation."
SNAP, founded in 1989, describes itself on its Web site as the nation's largest, oldest and most active support group for people victimized by religious authority figures.
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a written statement calling the reports "a very sobering and important milestone."
"I have not seen the reports, and so I cannot comment on their substance," the statement from Bishop Wilton D. Gregory said. "But I want to reaffirm that the bishops requested these studies so that we could understand as fully as possible what caused this terrible occurrence in the life of our community to make sure that it never happens again.
So what do we take from just this one article?
- THOUSANDS of children were indeed molested
- Roughly one out of every 25 priests was accused
- The 'multiple allegations' against individual priests means they were likely moved from parish to parish without warning the people.
- There are some accusations that are unsubstantiated, but there are likely many more where the victims didn't come forward out of fear or shame.
- We are talking only about the last 50 years. (Do you really think these abuses only started 50 years ago?)
- We are only talking about the U.S. (Do you really think these abuses didn't happen in Europe, Africa, South America, Mexico, Canada, Australia, etc.?)
And as a sidebar:
http://www.nytimes.c...wanted=all&_r=0
"Vatican Declined to Defrock Priest Who Abused Boys."
Interesting read. It even involves the current Pope.
It is the institutionalized activities within the church that are the problem. Not the individual Catholics.
Sounds to me it is the individual Catholics who are paying the highest price for the Church's culture.
As far as your lame, "
But Catholics aren't real people, are they Foreigner" you really need to quit with the childish rhetoric.
I have many Catholic family members whom I love dearly. Two of my very best friends are Catholic. One active and one lapsed.
It is not the Catholics that are the problem, it is the church itself.
The only time I have problems with individual Catholics it is when they start sharing tripe about the members of their church being the only ones who are saved, and trying to justify all their church's policies based on church-alone sources.
Sound like anyone you know?
Maybe when I see you treating us Catholics like we were human beings, and write as if your mother or your pastor was looking over your shoulder, I'll take you off my ignore list. I will pray that the Lord heal you of whatever it is that makes you so anti-Catholic. May God illuminate your mind and soul with grace. Hope to talk to you later.
-- Kepha, I think you are mature enough to handle a little criticism. Especially if that criticism is supported by facts.
Especially when you prove yourself repeatedly ready to criticize the beliefs of others here.
Victimhood is not your best quality.
Foreigner - if your many posts about sex abuse within the Catholic Church has no reflection on Catholic authority or morality (both included in doctrine) then why do you keep bringing it up? I've never seen you mention sex abuse in schools or other churches - it is always associated with Catholicism according to your posts. Certainly you would agree that 'weak men' are found within every institution.....
-- Aspen, what do you mean you have never seen me "mention sex abuse in schools or other churches."
THIS was my second post in
this thread:
"-- What on earth is the problem with his post?
Thousand of children HAVE been molested at the hands of Priests.
The majority of them have been boys (which indicates a seperate issue altogether).
Many protestant leaders HAVE been busted for sexual perversions and misappropriation of money.
What is he going to be busted for? "Inconvenient accuracy?""
And the only reason I posted that was because Kepha was reporting Axehead just because he mentioned the abuses within the Catholic Church.
If no one has said a word about that thread acknowledging the issue in both Catholic and Protestant churches, that would have been the end of it.
It is you guys commenting, asking questions and making demands that cause the topic to continue.
(Look above. I presented Kepha with facts and links. Still, there is no way he is going to let that drop.)
What you guys have done is make a number of comments, asked questions and then demanded answers..........
and then criticize me for talking about it too much.
lol give me a break.
Weak men ARE found in every institution. But as the previous article I posted shows, Protestant churches are more likely to report it and address it, not cover it up.
They address the issue and do everything they can to stop it. But it has been almost the complete opposite within the Catholic Church - at least until recently.
.
