THE Roman Catholic Church failed to recognize the worldwide reach of clerical sexual abuse, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley said .
“Many don’t see it as a problem of the universal church,” said O’Malley who heads the Vatican’s new commission for the protection of minors.
“In many people’s minds it is an American problem, an Irish problem or a German problem,” he said. “The church has to face it is everywhere in the world. There is so much denial. The church has to respond to make the church safe for children.”
O’Malley, whose Boston archdiocese was at the center of a wave of sex scandals that rocked the church a decade ago, addressed the media after the panel’s eight members held its first meeting in Rome.
Pope Francis announced the creation of the new committee in March. It includes Irish abuse victim and campaigner Marie Collins and two psychiatrists. But the committee is expected to expand to represent every continent around the world.
“We wish to express our heartfelt solidarity with all victims/survivors of sexual abuse as children and vulnerable adults,” O’Malley read from a prepared statement.
“We will propose initiatives to encourage local responsibility around the world and the mutual sharing of ‘best practices’ for the protection of all minors, including programs for training, education, formation and responses to abuse.”
READ MORE http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/03/pope-sex-abuse-panel_n_5258846.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
Bryan Patterson's Faithworks 
A sad and sorry issue all round.
From my (anarchic) perspective I think it highlights the all-permeating, and malignantly insidious conditioning of children (and on throughout their lives) in the acceptance of ‘Authority’ above all else.
…. unquestioned authority of parents, of teachers, of priests of assorted versions of ‘government’ and all it’s enforcement of authority agencies: themselves relying on ‘authority’
~ often enforced by the authority of fire-power.
….all the way up to the gods..
II can’t imagine what the effected kids went through, but can easily imagine what might be worse than the actual physical abuse:- the terror of their confusion. Their sense of utter betrayal ……. which CAN’T be betrayal since the highest accepted authorities are the perpetrators.
—-> God and his earthly Authority MUST want me to suffer this: I must be wrong to want it to stop…. I’m Bad!
There are no end of more pastoral examples.
Like your friendly neighbourhood draft-board…
Or the ATO.
Police-forces everywhere and everytime.
Talk about bloody ‘Identity-theft’!
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The church needs to be legally accountable. Make clergy mandatory reporters and have safe guards in place so it never happens again. It’s gone on for far too long.
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The whole of society needs to be legally responsible!
The church was merely ~ as always ~ acting in its role as an organ of ‘Society’ and social structures like governments and religions.
Laying the blame off on only the catholics is no more than rats deserting a sinking ship. You’re ALL responsible!
Incidentally, I see the salvation army, at least as guilty as the catholics (they’ve also been paying out ‘compensation’ for years and are currently still in court) but seem to have been able to maintain a much lower profile.
Their abuse, bashings, rape and at least one case of murder have been getting reported for decades ~ 55 years to my personal knowledge ~ and until recently (very hush-hush) have managed to keep the lid on. Just currently they’re hiding behind catholic skirts, that’s all.
If you lot haven’t seen a movie called ‘Sleepers’ I urge you to do so.
(I can provide a few copies if y’can’t get one at the video-store or through your local library.) I think we ALL have an obligation to know what’s going on, and a ‘moral’ duty to ACT….. and stop hiding behind the skirts of the ‘authorities’ (who supposedly monitor such atrocities, but are often the perpetrators.)
Any anarchists among you will understand.
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You’re right, Dabbles.
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But the priests in question are anarchists too Dabbles. Otherwise they would obey the law that said ‘thou shalt not commit adultery”, etc.
I find it rather ridiculous on your part that whilst you advocate anarchy, you talk about morals (which are always tied to laws, rules and regulations on what one should do).
I find it ridiculous that you talk about overthrowing the law, then insinuate that there is something wrong in Salvos bashing, raping, murdering and abusing others.
Lastly I find it rather pathetic that whilst you point the finger at us as being irresponsible, you yourself do not face the reality that people like you are behind paedophilia, rape, abuse, murder, skinning animals alive, because people like you advocated the overthrow of the laws that had led to the above actions in the first place.
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Thanks Sara.
I DO like being right every few years or so! 😉
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While these clergymen were abusing children they were refusing communion to divorced Catholics who remarry because that kind of marriage is a mortal sin. What do they call harming these young people?
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