Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8577740.stm

In an ideal world he wouldn't have had any need to apologise but kudos to the Vatican for this which was a LONG time coming.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Too long Russ and too little and too late.

The Catholic church has been seriously damaged and still the acknowledgement that it was covered up by senior clergy has not been addressed.

Neither has the situation of what will happen in the future if paedophile priests are discovered.Will the cover-ups continue or have procedures been put in place that will prevent that happening again? If not the whole exercise is a waste of time.:erm:

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

And he's not apologised for his own very direct involvement in the cover-ups.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

If you can't trust these men in a cloth with your little boy or girl. who can you trust.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Well most child abuse takes place within families so definitely don't leave your kids with them.

Anyway the issue is not Priests are Peados but the cover up within the church.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

<pedant on>
shurely "definitely".....

(and "men of the cloth", rather than "men in a cloth").
<pedant off>

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

It covers all doesn't it?
"sexual abuse in Catholicism"

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

When the catholic church hands over priests who abuse children to the authorities and does not ship them off to somewhere quiet to continue abusing then i might applaud them. When those in the upper levels of the catholic church are thrown out for their involvement in this whole sorry episode i might applaud. But the pope getting up and apologising no sorry that i won't applaud because without the actions to back the words it is pretty meaningless.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Well he does say those guilty should be held accountable. I think in this case a half-assed apology is better than no apology, after all it is acknowledgement of what happened.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Shurely? :D

Such is the problem with policing grammar on the Web.
We all screw up occasionally!

(Besides which, it would take a team of ten, full-time grammar Nazis, just to deal with the offences committed on this board!)

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

He always screws up if you just leave him to it :)

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

I would possibly agree Russ but the fact that there are no assurances or mention of mechanisms within the clergy to PREVENT and protect vulnerable children in the FUTURE it is rather a demeaned apology.:(

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

The "shurely" is a recurring joke from Private Eye..... I wasn't being a "Grammar Nazi", but if you had seen the original post from Damien, it said "defiantly" instead of "definitely", and I was trying to be helpful. Gary, however, I was correcting, as I have never heard of Catholic clergy being called "men in a cloth".:D (violent pervs, yes, men in a cloth, no).

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

There is a 14 person admin team?

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Which is totally irrelevant to this thread.

Stick to the topic people, not spelling, grammar or whatever else, otherwise 1 admin will be removing posts.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

I would also agree Russ if this problem wasn't so well known now and has got to the stage where it cannot be hidden although the church tried that route for long enough. Words are words and what people want to see here is some actual action nothing he said has so far convinced me thats goiong to happen and without that the apology is a bit worthless. This to me smacks of a desperate pope trying to end a situation that needs more then some words for it to be truly resolved and for anyone to have faith that the church will not have this scale of problem again and when it does have such priests they are dealt with far far better then they have in the past.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

I think you need to take stock of the fact that this pope love him or not has proactively been addressing the issue of child sex abuse in the catholic church since he came to popeness and he has actually made rules and stuff that it is more harder for paedophiles to get in to the church ect if he wants to apologize and I was a priest and things that made me more hard with kids that were asking for it i think that he could do more to help themmuns and me to be happy with god ect and i would be ok with it apology for something. \Tuesday.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

What gets me is the fact the pope is appologising for these people. Yes he is the head of the Catholic Church but shouldnt the apologies come from the people who actually comitted these offenses?

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

When offenders are excommunicated and handed over to the law I'll believe there is some sincerity. Until then it's no more than a damage-limitation attempt.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

In theory I'd agree but what many don't seem to realise is Catholicism has a well-structured hierchy system. Any major announcements (such as this) go through their leader.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

No i do not need to take stock of anything and sorry but making it harder for paedophiles to become priests doesn't change the damage and hurt and pain that has been caused by the ones that got in and got away with it for so long often with the help of the catholic church. Words are words and if they are not backed by actions then they are pretty meaningless when senior officials or clergy are publicly held to account for the covering up of this issue for so many years then i might take this apology more seriously. So far i have seen a lot of money thrown about a lot of words said about the issue only when they had no choice and a few sacrificial lambs thrown to authorities nothing of any real substance.

My sympathy in all of this is with the victims not the church and they desrve a hell of a lot more then they have had.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Yes, you're quite right, it won't change the past (obviously). However "prevention - better than cure" would also apply in this situation. For your information Rizzyking this is not the end of the affair but rather the start of action on the part of the catholic church (specific to Ireland I hasten to add) so you might yet get the blood you are baying for. Here's hoping.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

If the RC church really wants to mend fences with its flock, it needs to hand over the the police all evidence of wrong-doing by its priest in regard to child rape, and other physical abuses. It would also go some way to restoring peoples "faith" if those bishops, who bounced know child rapists from place to place also faced criminal prosecution for conspiracy, and/or perverting the course of justice....

Of-course, that's highly unlikely. You only have to look at Sean Brady, to see the sort of moral actions one can expect from the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland (not to mention the rest of the world). :rolleyes:

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Again: "...this is not the end of the affair but rather the start of action on the part of the catholic church (specific to Ireland I hasten to add) so you might yet get the blood you are baying for".

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Mr Angry i hear what your saying but sadly this has all been done in the US where despite them promising it being the start nothing much else has happened apart from the money slinging and the apologies. Am i baying for blood your damn right i am i cannot think of anything worse then institutionalised paedophilea and it's excuse and covering up so yes i want someone's backside in court and prosecuted to the fullest degree and not just the low end priests that commited those terrible offences but as i said the senior figures that allowed it and in some cases helped it to continue.

Personally i don't see that as asking too much or it being beyond what is reasonable given the situation and while my sympathys of course go to all those in Ireland who have suffered lets remember this has been a global problem where ever the catholic church has gone and needs to get sorted once and for all for everyone in the world not just Ireland. A victim is a victim regardless of geography and this church through it's inaction at best and conspiracy at worst have made far more victims then there needed to be someone has to answer for that.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

I appreciate that but from your posts it appears that you haven't actually read the letter or have overlooked the core context of same. It is clear from the letter that the Pope intends justice to be done.

This admission of guilt / complicity - no matter how you look at it - is an enormous step forward and offers new hope not only for past victims but the very real prospect of better protection for what might have become future victims.

Nobody has suggested that this systemic abuse is unique to Ireland / US. The US was addressed first and victims "bought off" with fiscal compensation. Admitting and addressing the abuse had to start somewhere and continue. Ireland (to all intents and purposes one of the most crucial of catholic countries from a Vatican perspective) has been selected for a good reason. The reaction of Irish catholics will shape how this is "rolled out".

As for the "money slinging and apologies" (of which there is no mention in his letter to Irish catholics) if that is what has you baying for blood then I respectfully suggest that your anger is misplaced. If this were to happen to one of my kids neither my nor their silence would be bought with cash and a softly whispered "sorry". There are some things money can't, and shouldn't be allowed to, buy.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

I have to admit, this gave me a very black humoured chuckle.... That any member of the curia could equate the child rape controversy to the murder of 6 + million jews is execrable in the extreme. Especially if one takes into consideration the RC churches inbuilt antisemitism since its formation.... Religion and morality, never the twain shall meet.... :rolleyes:

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

It is a stupid comparison and coming from someone high up should ring some more alarm bells but i doubt it will and if this is a commonly held feeling within the RC church well they have more problems then paedophile priests.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

and yet who saved many more Jews than any one else during WWII.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Jewish groups and victims of sex abuse by Catholic priests have condemned the Pope's preacher for comparing criticism of the pontiff to anti-Semitism.

US-based abuse victims' group Snap said the remarks were "morally wrong".

The head of Germany's Central Council of Jews described the Easter sermon as unprecedented "insolence".



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8601389.stm

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

And yet the Roman Catholic church in Germany opened its records to allow even greater persecution of the jews, and people with jewish blood via marriage. So please, don't try making the Curia, and the Roman Catholic as a whole into the champions of the jews during WW2. Many of the worst offenders when it came to the Holocaust where Catholics, who where never excommunicated for their crimes.... The Roman catholic church was happy enough to cozy up to fascism to ensure its religious primacy. But was more than willing to excommunicate every godless (catholic) communist....

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Religious primacy pfft, you do know that the organised Catholic church was for the chop once the war was over don't you, Himmler was public with his hatred of 'the black crows' and private with his plans for them for fear the army would stop fighting and as for cozying up to fascism, what would you expect, when people spoke out they either disappeared or communities as a whole faced reprisals, far better to carry out your activities without fan fare because you can be sure the authorities knew what was going on, as Pius said what's worse than 6 million dead Jews, 6,600,000 dead Jews.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Yes, I am well aware that the leadership of Nazi Germany had plans to dismantle the Roman Catholic Church after they had won the war.... The only problem with that little plan. Once Hitler decided not to invade Britain, and turned east in his "Crusade" against the godless slavic hordes, he set the conditions for eventual defeat....

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Oh dear. You couldn't make it up. Can these people be more out of touch?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle7096149.ece

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

I would love to say i am shocked by that ignorant and completely unsupported claptrap but i am not in fact it seems the norm for the catholic church to find someone or something to blame it's problems on. I have always found it a little disturbing for the people i know locally that the priest gives advice on family matters an issue he can have no real comprehension of without having a family himself.

Celebacy is very very outdated and needs to be seriously re-examind by the catholic church even more in the light of this scandal but i doubt they have the courage to do anything more then try and deflect rather then fundamentally alter anything within the church.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha.....

Yet again the ingrained mental illness of antisemitism rears its ugly head within Christianity ! :LOL:

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Someone in the catholic church needs to go round quick and collect up all the metophorical spades so that the hole they are in gets no deeper. As if having people think of the institution as being riddled with paedophiles isn't bad enough they are now going on the attack targetting it seems any group they think they can lay some blame at pathetic.

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Noooooo !

Let them keep digging, another couple of months and we'll be able to drop St Paul in along with the rest of the deluded fools ! :D

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

There you go, now your post is right :angel:

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

interesting statement from the pope

lets hope he follows through with this statement otherwise it's meaningless
who's justice does he mean anyway the churches or the law of the land?

link

Re: Pope apologises for sexual abuse in Catholicism
 

Nice link Martyh :erm:

In answer to your question, looks like the law of the land

The statement was one of the clearest yet from the Vatican that it wants local bishops to cooperate with civil authorities in prosecuting priests who abused children.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news...-91387519.html