Retired Ontario priest pleads guilty to 47 charges on sex assaults

[Cheese]

First off my apologies to any who think this post may be inflammatory from my point of view.

Im glad they caught this beast...this man who preyed on young people in the name of the Church. I guess the fact this Priest attacked young females makes it somehow different?
Somehow the celibate Priesthood may be one of the final stones in the downfall of the Catholic Church. Lets hope it is swift when the final boot comes down on this group.

A retired Roman Catholic priest on Thursday pleaded guilty in a court in Chatham, Ont., to 47 charges stemming from sexual assaults against young females between 1954 and 1990.

Beast of a Priest

Thought Id do a quick search on clergy facing lawsuits of this type....astounding hit count.

Monks plead not guilty
Minnesota abuse
Vatican defrocks another Priest
Youth Minister charged
High ranking monsignor charged

Many more from rickross...

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

When you say "this group" I hope you are refering to the rapists and the other criminals who happen to use the catholic church as a tool in order to commit their crimes.

I am not religious but I do realize that not all priests are rapists and that these sick individuals should not be used to represent the church in general - same with the criminals in the Leafs organization should not be used to tarnish the reputation of the entire NHL.

[Antithesis]

Always good when a sexual abuser gets caught, whether they are part of a church or no.

I'm not familiar enough with Cathloic dogma and the Bible enough to know the answer to this question: Why are priests not allowed to marry?

[PowerPlayoffs06]

Thanks for the 2 week vacation.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

Why are priests not allowed to marry?

I think it has something to do with giving yourself over to God. By not having concerns of a wife, kids, or worldly possesions theoretically one could be more devoted to God.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

Always good when a sexual abuser gets caught, whether they are part of a church or no.

I'm not familiar enough with Cathloic dogma and the Bible enough to know the answer to this question: Why are priests not allowed to marry?

In the fourth century came a law that forbade a married priest from having sexual intercourse the night before celebrating the Eucharist. However, when the Western Church began celebrating a daily mass, abstinence became a permanent factor for married priests.

"At the origin of the law of abstinence, and later the law of celibacy," said Schillebeeckx, "we find an antiquated anthropology and ancient view of sexuality." (ibid) Rice follows with a quotation from St. Jerome which expressed the views of both pagans and Christians at the time that, "All sexual intercourse is impure." (ibid)

Because the resulting implication of a priest living with his wife like a brother led many priests into "deplorable situations," in 1139, the Second Lateran Council forbade the marriage of priests altogether and declared all existing marriages involving priests null and void. (ibid)

"One does not approach the alter and consecrated vessels with soiled hands," had been the pagan view and then became the cornerstone for compulsory Christian celibacy. (ibid) Other not-necessarily concurrent or chronological developments also contributed to the establishment of the celibacy requirement for catholic priests. More bishops began to be chosen from the ranks of monks who had already taken monastic vows of chastity. Another factor was an economic development as the Church began acquiring his own property. According to Rice, there was a real danger that legitimate children of priests could inherit and deprive the Church of its land. At the time, common law prevented illegitimate children from inheriting property.


As to Powerplays comment...The truth hurts!

[Flashpoint]

Why am I not suprised anymore when this happens? I mean, how come you never hear about other professions doing this with such regularity?

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

When you say "this group" I hope you are refering to the rapists and the other criminals who happen to use the catholic church as a tool in order to commit their crimes.

I am not religious but I do realize that not all priests are rapists and that these sick individuals should not be used to represent the church in general - same with the criminals in the Leafs organization should not be used to tarnish the reputation of the entire NHL.

The FACT that the Church has been under this gun for hundreds of years vs one occurance with the Leafs does not compare. OBVIOULSY ALL rapists are scum....the fact that the Church has been housing many of these paedophiles for Centuries and actually buried their heads about it is a horid misuse of trust. So in that respect yes I do mean the Church.

[Hemi-Cuda]

in the same way that the religious fundies like to blame games for turning kids into violent killers, i blame the church for turning ordinary men into sexual predators when they try to inhibit the most basic instinct and need of all living creatures. if nothing else they create an environment that pedophiles might find advantagous enough to want to become priests

personal belief and faith is great, but i strongly believe that organized religion of all kinds is a complete sham and the greatest cause of war and suffering on this planet

[Table 5]

When you don't give a human a sexual outlet, this is the crazy **** that happens. There is a definite reason why it always keeps happening in the Catholic church.....you have a bunch of sexually repressed guys who wield power over a whole flock of young kids who dont have the power to fight back (and would they want to risk going against a man on God? This is the person that teaches them right and wrong, therefore what he is doing must be ok from a kids perspective).

There will always be crazy pervs out there, but i bet that if they let priests have sex, these incidends would go way down.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Table 5

When you don't give a human a sexual outlet, this is the crazy **** that happens. There is a definite reason why it always keeps happening in the Catholic church.....you have a bunch of sexually repressed guys who wield power over a whole flock of young kids who dont have the power to fight back (and would they want to risk going against a man on God? This is the person that teaches them right and wrong, therefore what he is doing must be ok from a kids perspective).

There will always be crazy pervs out there, but i bet that if they let priests have sex, these incidends would go way down.

I agree that this is part of the problem. But the question then is, does lack of sex turn you into a pedophile? At least I can tell my wife this.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Why am I not suprised anymore when this happens? I mean, how come you never hear about other professions doing this with such regularity?

I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that it is a much more sensationalist headline than

"Electrician molesest little girl".

In fact I'd say that is somewhat of an inflamitory question. Seriously, when was the last time you heard about the profession of a child molester that wasn't a priest or a teacher?
Do you even know what the dude from Saskatchewan did for a living?

Yes it's deplorable, and yes it's worse because it's a priest, but I'd say it's worse for anyone in a position of trust, be it a priest, babysitter, teacher, or whaterver.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

personal belief and faith is great, but i strongly believe that organized religion of all kinds is a complete sham and the greatest cause of war and suffering on this planet

Perhaps this is why there are movements afoot—within many evangelical churches in particular—to de-centralize? It is an impossible burden for the Catholic Church to bear; for by their very nature, the institution is the locus for spiritual authority. Because all institutions are prone to corruption, problems of this nature will probably always plague the Roman Catholic Church; it was for similar reasons that the Protestant Reformation was so successful. I would submit, however, that attempts to re-locate authority have been equally problematic. The fundamentalist fear of human depravity has resulted in a ridiculous, practically idolatrous elevation of Scripture as the solitary and objective source of authority in all matters. So, on the one hand you have a smattering of pedophilic clerics, and on the other a large (and growing!) population of bigoted, homophobic, apocalyptic anti-intellectuals. Pick your poison.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that it is a much more sensationalist headline than

"Electrician molesest little girl".

In fact I'd say that is somewhat of an inflamitory question. Seriously, when was the last time you heard about the profession of a child molester that wasn't a priest or a teacher?
Do you even know what the dude from Saskatchewan did for a living?

Yes it's deplorable, and yes it's worse because it's a priest, but I'd say it's worse for anyone in a position of trust, be it a priest, babysitter, teacher, or whaterver.

Honestly, I have to disagree. I suspect (and have no stats to back it up - hence a suspicion), that the prevalence of sexual abuse amongst Catholic priests is higher than it is amongst other professions.

2 reasons

1) Sexual repression mandated by the church

2) Position of authority over children that is not closely monitored.

I welcome anyone with data to prove my suspicion is wrong and that there are professions more "prone" to child sexual abuse.

[FireFly]

Also I believe the church wants their priests to be 'married to God'

But this begs the question, why didn't nuns abuse their pupils sexually like priests did? If it's the forced abstinance which is repressing natural sexual urges, one would think that nuns would face the same issues. As a matter of fact, because women get more sexually with age, hitting their peak around 40, while men get less sexual with age, hitting their peak around 20, you'd think that nuns would've had an even harder time repressing their sexual urges... Food for thought.

[Vulcan]

This is a bad problem for the Catholic church. I've heard that child molesters are often repeating the same act performed on them, so these priests are recruiting future molesters who may find joining the clergy a tempting path. The Catholic church is becoming a laughingstock if not a danger to children.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Cheese

First off my apologies to any who think this post may be inflammatory from my point of view.

Im glad they caught this beast...this man who preyed on young people in the name of the Church. I guess the fact this Priest attacked young females makes it somehow different?
Somehow the celibate Priesthood may be one of the final stones in the downfall of the Catholic Church. Lets hope it is swift when the final boot comes down on this group.

A retired Roman Catholic priest on Thursday pleaded guilty in a court in Chatham, Ont., to 47 charges stemming from sexual assaults against young females between 1954 and 1990.

Beast of a Priest

Thought Id do a quick search on clergy facing lawsuits of this type....astounding hit count.

Monks plead not guilty
Minnesota abuse
Vatican defrocks another Priest
Youth Minister charged
High ranking monsignor charged

Many more from rickross...

Just a couple of quick points before this turns into a circus.

3 of the 5 links at the bottom are not Catholics. One is an Eastern Orthodox, and 2 are Protestants.

This problem is not limited to the Catholic church. It is however more of a North American problem than a European or South American problem. The answers to the questions about why these abuses happen may lay more in the culture than the religion.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

This is a bad problem for the Catholic church. I've heard that child molesters are often repeating the same act performed on them, so these priests are recruiting future molesters who may find joining the clergy a tempting path. The Catholic church is becoming a laughingstock if not a danger to children.

Just to re-iterate what I said in another post, 3 of the 5 links he showed were not Catholics.

I'm not saying that it is not a big problem in the Catholic church, but it is certainly not just a Catholic problem.

It's a problem anywhere adults are given unsupervised access to children, whether it be youth hockey, scouts, etc.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Just to re-iterate what I said in another post, 3 of the 5 links he showed were not Catholics.

I'm not saying that it is not a big problem in the Catholic church, but it is certainly not just a Catholic problem.

It's a problem anywhere adults are given unsupervised access to children, whether it be youth hockey, scouts, etc.

Also, the catholic church is one of the largest therefor, it would be safe to say that they would have a higher number of cases.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Just to re-iterate what I said in another post, 3 of the 5 links he showed were not Catholics.

I'm not saying that it is not a big problem in the Catholic church, but it is certainly not just a Catholic problem.

It's a problem anywhere adults are given unsupervised access to children, whether it be youth hockey, scouts, etc.

Again not be too picky...in the post that offered the links I said....
"thought Id do a quick search on clergy facing lawsuits of this type."
I didnt suggest my search was based solely on Priests. Im sure if you went through most of the links that a great majority would be on the Catholic side because of the nature of the beast...ie Priests being celibate vs Pastors allowed to marry. Of course where adults are given unfettered access to children the problem "could be larger", but I havent seen the news supporting that yet...perhaps you can dig something up. There are quite a few men or young men working in the Daycare field, why arent we seeing the same cases there?