Benedict: Protect Children from Future Abuse

Archdiocese of Chicago: Office for the Protection of Children and Youth

Mission

Protect the dignity of children and assist those who have been affected by abuse.

History

The Office for the Protection of Children and Youth was opened in 2003 following the passage of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Office focused on training adults how to protect children from sexual abuse.

Background checks were mandated for all clergy, all employees and all volunteers who work with children. In Fall 2006, the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth was re-organized to include the Offices of Assistance Ministry and Child Abuse Investigations and Review. The Safe Environment Office was created in 2007. The re-organization of the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth has resulted in the creation of the Children Matter Network and new educational programs for children and adults.

http://www.archdiocese-chgo.org/departments/protection/protection.shtm

Clerical sexual abuse of minors: policies for education, prevention, assistance to victims and procedures for determination of fitness for ministry

http://policy.archchicago.org/policies/bk2ttl3chpt1num1100.pdf

http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/responding_to_child_sexual_abuse

Responding To Child Sexual Abuse

Updated July 2004

When a child tells an adult that he or she has been sexually abused, the adult may feel uncomfortable and may not know what to say or do. The following guidelines should be used when responding to children who say they have been sexually abused:

What to Say
If a child even hints in a vague way that sexual abuse has occurred, encourage him or her to talk freely. Don't make judgmental comments.

* Show that you understand and take seriously what the child is saying. Child and adolescent psychiatrists have found that children who are listened to and understood do much better than those who are not. The response to the disclosure of sexual abuse is critical to the child's ability to resolve and heal the trauma of sexual abuse.

* Assure the child that they did the right thing in telling. A child who is close to the abuser may feel guilty about revealing the secret. The child may feel frightened if the abuser has threatened to harm the child or other family members as punishment for telling the secret.

* Tell the child that he or she is not to blame for the sexual abuse. Most children in attempting to make sense out of the abuse will believe that somehow they caused it or may even view it as a form of punishment for imagined or real wrongdoings.

* Finally, offer the child protection, and promise that you will promptly take steps to see that the abuse stops.

What to Do

Report any suspicion of child abuse. If the abuse is within the family, report it to the local Child Protection Agency. If the abuse is outside of the family, report it to the police or district attorney's office. Individuals reporting in good faith are immune from prosecution. The agency receiving the report will conduct an evaluation and will take action to protect the child.

Parents should consult with their pediatrician or family physician, who may refer them to a physician who specializes in evaluating and treating sexual abuse. The examining doctor will evaluate the child's condition and treat any physical problem related to the abuse, gather evidence to help protect the child, and reassure the child that he or she is all right.

Children who have been sexually abused should have an evaluation by a child and adolescent psychiatrist or other qualified mental health professional to find out how the sexual abuse has affected them, and to determine whether ongoing professional help is necessary for the child to deal with the trauma of the abuse. The child and adolescent psychiatrist can also provide support to other family members who may be upset by the abuse.

While most allegations of sexual abuse made by children are true, some false accusations may arise in custody disputes and in other situations. Occasionally, the court will ask a child and adolescent psychiatrist to help determine whether the child is telling the truth, or whether it will hurt the child to speak in court about the abuse.

When a child is asked as to testify, special considerations--such as videotaping, frequent breaks, exclusion of spectators, and the option not to look at the accused--make the experience much less stressful.

Adults, because of their maturity and knowledge, are always the ones to blame when they abuse children. The abused children should never be blamed.

When a child tells someone about sexual abuse, a supportive, caring response is the first step in getting help for the child and reestablishing their trust in adults.

Facts for families about child sexual abuse from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Updated May 2008

Child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater, because the children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened, and the legal procedure for validating an episode is difficult. The problem should be identified, the abuse stopped, and the child should receive professional help. The long-term emotional and psychological damage of sexual abuse can be devastating to the child.

Child sexual abuse can take place within the family, by a parent, step-parent, sibling or other relative; or outside the home, for example, by a friend, neighbor, child care person, teacher, or stranger. When sexual abuse has occurred, a child can develop a variety of distressing feelings, thoughts and behaviors...

Child sexual abusers can make the child extremely fearful of telling, and only when a special effort has helped the child to feel safe, can the child talk freely. If a child says that he or she has been molested, parents should try to remain calm and reassure the child that what happened was not their fault. Parents should seek a medical examination and psychiatric consultation.

Parents can prevent or lessen the chance of sexual abuse by:

* Telling children that if someone tries to touch your body and do things that make you feel funny, say NO to that person and tell me right away

* Teaching children that respect does not mean blind obedience to adults and to authority, for example, don't tell children to, Always do everything the teacher or baby-sitter tells you to do

* Encouraging professional prevention programs in the local school system

Sexually abused children and their families need immediate professional evaluation and treatment. Child and adolescent psychiatrists can help abused children regain a sense of self-esteem, cope with feelings of guilt about the abuse, and begin the process of overcoming the trauma. Such treatment can help reduce the risk that the child will develop serious problems as an adult.

Info from the following link:

http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/child_sexual_abuse

Homosexuality is a common devience in the world, not simply in one church. Tells us all what other churches are doing to deal with it.

Another Survivor

As a Catholic, I am deeply grieved to hear about the suffering you had to endure at the hands of a mentally ill monk who abused you sexually. I trust that you received financial compensation and that you are availing yourself of the opportunity to get long term cognitive-behavioral therapy to deal with your trauma. I hope too that you have supportive friends and family.

I do hope that you will try your best to accept the Pope's apology as genuine, no matter how difficult forgiveness of your abuser and restoration of trust in the system may be to you as a victim. It is my prayer that you will have faith in the grace of God to work through the priests and Bishops who are not abusers of children and will do whatever is in their power to prevent such abuse from happening again.

Even if it is no consolation to you, you must know that many children are abused by members of their own family. Can you imagine what sort of a nightmare that is for a child? Do we give up our trust in families for that reason? No. We try to protect the children anyway without losing faith in families.

I do not know if you have read these books:

The Betrayal Bond by Patric Carnes

The Resilient Self by Steven Wolin

The Apology by Aaron Lazare

They are worth investing time in reading.

Healing is a long and slow process. Be patient and confident in the healing power of Jesus. I wish you God's love and strength and support from health professionals and friends.

I am a survivor of sexual abuse by a monk. I do think the author of this piece is onto something. I have also personally known other clergy who have been accused and convicted of abuse as well. They would all fit into the author's definition as well. And with the changes in the US seminaries, going back to the sexual repressions of the past, we are setting up the church in the USA for another wave of abuse in the future....I would not hesitate to predict it will break in about 10 years. The new priests I am seeing ordained these days scares me half to death.

But, I do feel the author leaves out one thing. Coupled with this lack of teaching and open-ness to sexuality, we also see a return of the old heresy of "Father knows best". Rank clericalism and the idea that clergy are somehow above the laity and therefore deserving of power and privilege. This is combined with an immature sexual development are the root causes of the abuse crisis.

The Pope may have sounded good with his "concern" for those abused, but I want to see him actually walk the walk, not just talk the talk. So far, I don't see any changes in how they handle the bishops who have covered up for the abusers, allowing them to go from parish to parish or diocese to diocese, as well as from country to country. When those guys are removed from ministry and disciplined as well as the accused priests, then I will know he is serious about stopping the abuse scandals.

Oh, and my abuser (another serial abuser as well). It took over 30 years for him to be removed from the religious state. He was allowed to move from diocese to diocese, with reports of abuse in each place. It was only when someone finally filed a lawsuit that he was released from vows and the religious community he had founded dissolved. The group is still together though, still passing themselves off as legitimate religious and living off the tons of money he bilked out of trusting folks over the years.

Among the countersigns to the Gospel of life found in America and elsewhere is one that causes deep shame: the sexual abuse of minors. Many of you have spoken to me of the enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior. As you strive to eliminate this evil wherever it occurs, you may be assured of the prayerful support of God's people throughout the world. Rightly, you attach priority to showing compassion and care to the victims. It is your God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds caused by every breach of trust, to foster healing, to promote reconciliation and to reach out with loving concern to those so seriously wronged.

Responding to this situation has not been easy and, as the President of your Episcopal Conference has indicated, it was "sometimes very badly handled". Now that the scale and gravity of the problem is more clearly understood, you have been able to adopt more focused remedial and disciplinary measures and to promote a safe environment that gives greater protection to young people. While it must be remembered that the overwhelming majority of clergy and religious in America do outstanding work in bringing the liberating message of the Gospel to the people entrusted to their care, it is vitally important that the vulnerable always be shielded from those who would cause harm. In this regard, your efforts to heal and protect are bearing great fruit not only for those directly under your pastoral care, but for all of society.

If they are to achieve their full purpose, however, the policies and programs you have adopted need to be placed in a wider context. Children deserve to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships. They should be spared the degrading manifestations and the crude manipulation of sexuality so prevalent today. They have a right to be educated in authentic moral values rooted in the dignity of the human person. This brings us back to our consideration of the centrality of the family and the need to promote the Gospel of life. What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today? We need to reassess urgently the values underpinning society, so that a sound moral formation can be offered to young people and adults alike. All have a part to play in this task - not only parents, religious leaders, teachers and catechists, but the media and entertainment industries as well. Indeed, every member of society can contribute to this moral renewal and benefit from it. Truly caring about young people and the future of our civilization means recognizing our responsibility to promote and live by the authentic moral values which alone enable the human person to flourish. It falls to you, as pastors modelled upon Christ, the Good Shepherd, to proclaim this message loud and clear, and thus to address the sin of abuse within the wider context of sexual mores. Moreover, by acknowledging and confronting the problem when it occurs in an ecclesial setting, you can give a lead to others, since this scourge is found not only within your Dioceses, but in every sector of society. It calls for a determined, collective response.

Priests, too, need your guidance and closeness during this difficult time. They have experienced shame over what has occurred, and there are those who feel they have lost some of the trust and esteem they once enjoyed. Not a few are experiencing a closeness to Christ in his Passion as they struggle to come to terms with the consequences of the crisis. The Bishop, as father, brother and friend of his priests, can help them to draw spiritual fruit from this union with Christ by making them aware of the Lord's consoling presence in the midst of their suffering, and by encouraging them to walk with the Lord along the path of hope (cf. Spe Salvi, 39). As Pope John Paul II observed six years ago, "we must be confident that this time of trial will bring a purification of the entire Catholic community", leading to "a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate and a holier Church" (Address to the Cardinals of the United States, 23 April 2002, 4). There are many signs that, during the intervening period, such purification has indeed been taking place. Christ's abiding presence in the midst of our suffering is gradually transforming our darkness into light: all things are indeed being made new in Christ Jesus our hope.

At this stage a vital part of your task is to strengthen relationships with your clergy, especially in those cases where tension has arisen between priests and their bishops in the wake of the crisis. It is important that you continue to show them your concern, to support them, and to lead by example. In this way you will surely help them to encounter the living God, and point them towards the life-transforming hope of which the Gospel speaks. If you yourselves live in a manner closely configured to Christ, the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, you will inspire your brother priests to rededicate themselves to the service of their flocks with Christ-like generosity. Indeed a clearer focus upon the imitation of Christ in holiness of life is exactly what is needed in order for us to move forward. We need to rediscover the joy of living a Christ-centred life, cultivating the virtues, and immersing ourselves in prayer. When the faithful know that their pastor is a man who prays and who dedicates his life to serving them, they respond with warmth and affection which nourishes and sustains the life of the whole community.

Time spent in prayer is never wasted, however urgent the duties that press upon us from every side. Adoration of Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament prolongs and intensifies the union with him that is established through the Eucharistic celebration (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, 66). Contemplation of the mysteries of the Rosary releases all their saving power and it conforms, unites and consecrates us to Jesus Christ (cf. Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 11, 15). Fidelity to the Liturgy of the Hours ensures that the whole of our day is sanctified and it continually reminds us of the need to remain focused on doing God's work, however many pressures and distractions may arise from the task at hand. Thus our devotion helps us to speak and act in persona Christi, to teach, govern and sanctify the faithful in the name of Jesus, to bring his reconciliation, his healing and his love to all his beloved brothers and sisters. This radical configuration to Christ, the Good Shepherd, lies at the heart of our pastoral ministry, and if we open ourselves through prayer to the power of the Spirit, he will give us the gifts we need to carry out our daunting task, so that we need never "be anxious how to speak or what to say" (Mt 10:19).

-----------Pope Benedict XVI

(to the Bishops of the US, at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, 16 April 2008)

PAGANPLACE,

You've got your facts wrong.

I do not equate pedophiles and homosexuals, nor do I have a problem with gay priests - as long as they are celibate. Most of the documented abuse involves males (priests) abusing other males (boys), so it is by definition a homosexual crime. Homo from the Greek meaning same, and sexual because it is a sexual attack.

Yes you are right sometimes the predator will seek out girls too. So, let me clarify my position. I am in favor of developing testing and screening methods for ALL who want to be priests, gay and straight, to provide the maximum protection against pedophiles who victimize boys and girls.

With all due respect, I think your analysis of the Church is off base. There is no commandment to demonize gays, nor is there one promoting homophobia. There is no sign at the door banning gays. That attitude is a sin, and goes against the teachings of Our Savior. The church is open to all, gay and straight, just as Jesus set an example of love and kindness to all.

If you've experienced a church that's intolerant or tries to shame its members for being gay, go out and find another. There are many wonderful communities of catholics who would welcome you.

Lawyer Gregory Murphy's attack on the Catholic Church's response to pedophilia {letters, Dec. 31} sought to create the impression that the church is callous to the horror of pedophilia. That impression is false. The facts are:

The Archdiocese of Washington implemented a strict and thorough policy on pedophilia in 1985; it was one of the first dioceses in the country to do so. That policy was reviewed and strengthened in 1993. Today, almost every diocese in the country has a similar policy.

-----The Washington Post | Date: 1/9/1994

Pedophilia involves sexual attraction/orientation towards children, and usually involves males. Pedophilia is very rare among females. It is characterized by recurrent intense sexual-arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children for at least a 6-month period of time. What this means is that the sexual attraction/orientation of the person (usually a male) is toward a child rather than an adult. It has been estimated that sex offenders are often involved with two or more children, and the problem is often a recurrent one.

Mental health professionals agree that child molesters should never be considered normal, but is a disease.

Four percent of the population suffers from sexual orientation toward children. In 1999, 93,000 kids were sexually abused. 50% of the abusers were parents of the children. 18% were relatives. This means that almost 70% of children were molested by family members, fathers, uncles, and grandfathers – males they trusted.

What causes pedophilia? No one decides, "I’m going to grow up and be a child pedophile."

We know that pedophilia runs in families. Boys who are molested often molest boys when they grow up. Do they molest because they were molested or because they have a genetic sexual orientation toward children?

I feel that there is a strong genetic predisposition in pedophilia. I believe that pedophilia runs in families and seems to be a variant of OCD, which has strong genetic predispositions. In other words, pedophilia seems to be an illness that is caused by abnormal brain chemistry with strong genetic connections...

Dr. Herbert Wagemaker
Board-certified psychiatrist and Renowned Author

"Pedophilia: Causes And Typologies."

123HelpMe.com. 24 Apr 2008

123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=80976

Prevention of Sexual Abuse

The main method for preventing pedophilia is avoiding situations that may promote pedophilic acts. Children should never be allowed to in one-on-one situations with any adult other than their parents or trustworthy family members. Having another youth or adult as an observer provides some security for all concerned. Conferences and other activities can be conducted so as to provide privacy while still within sight of others.

Children should be taught to yell or run if they are faced with an uncomfortable situation. They should also be taught that it is acceptable to scream or call for help in such situations.

Another basis of preventing pedophilia is education. Children must be taught to avoid situations that make them vulnerable to pedophiles. Adults who work with youth must be taught to avoid situations that may be construed as promoting pedophilia.

Many states have adopted legislation that requires periodic background investigations of any adult who works with children. These persons may be paid, such as teachers, or they may be volunteers in a youth-serving organization.

The Boy Scouts of America has tried to address the problem of pedophilia by creating a training program that is required for all adults in the organization. All applications for volunteers are reviewed and approved by several persons. Adults and youth are required to use separate facilities on all activities. Secret meetings and one-on-one interactions between adults and youth are prohibited. This program has received several national awards.
---------------
By L. Fleming Fallon, Jr., M.D., Dr.P.H.

http psychologytoday.com/conditions/pedophilia.html

Pedophilia is considered a paraphilia, an "abnormal or unnatural attraction." Pedophilia is defined as the fantasy or act of sexual activity with prepubescent children. Pedophiles are usually men, and can be attracted to either or both sexes. How well they relate to adults of the opposite sex varies.

Perpetrators often delude themselves into viewing their actions as helpful to children. They might tell themselves they are contributing to a child's development or that the child is enjoying the act; however, they do tell their victims not to alert their parents or authorities.

An estimated 20 percent of American children have been sexually molested, making pedophilia the most common paraphilia. Offenders are usually family friends or relatives. Types of activities vary and may include just looking at a child or undressing and touching a child. However, acts often do involve oral sex or touching of genitals of the child or offender. Studies suggest that children who feel uncared for or lonely may be at higher risk.

Symptoms

Recurrent, intense sexual fantasies, urges or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child (generally age 13 years or younger) for a period of at least 6 months.

These fantasies, urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in everyday functioning.

The person is at least age 16 and at least 5 years older than the child in the first category.

However, this does not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old.

There are a number of difficulties with the diagnosis of pedophilia. People who have the disease rarely seek help voluntarily—counseling and treatment are often the result of a court order. Interviews, surveillance, or Internet records obtained through the criminal investigation can be helpful evidence in diagnosing the disorder.

Paraphilias as a group have a high rate of comorbidity with one another and an equally high rate of comorbidity with anxiety, major depression or mood disorders, and substance abuse disorders.

Causes

The causes of pedophilia (and other paraphilias) are not known. There is some evidence that pedophilia may run in families, though it is unclear whether this stems from genetics or learned behavior.

Other factors, such as abnormalities in male sexual hormones or the brain chemical serotonin, have not been proven as factors in the development of paraphilias or pedophilia. A history of childhood sexual abuse is also a potential factor in the development of pedophilias but this, too, has not been proven.

Behavioral learning models suggest that a child who is the victim or observer of inappropriate sexual behaviors learns to imitate and is later reinforced for the behavior. These individuals are deprived of normal social sexual contacts and thus seek gratification through less socially acceptable means. Physiological models focus on the relationship between hormones, behavior, and the central nervous system with a particular interest in the role of aggression and male sexual hormones.

Treatment

Two types of treatment still being investigated are antiandrogens, which reduce male sex hormone levels, and medications that increase serotonin, such as fluoxetine (Prozac).

Intensity of sex drive is not consistently related to the behavior of paraphiliacs and high levels of circulating testosterone do not predispose a male to paraphilias. Hormones such as medroxyprogesterone acetate and cyproterone acetate decrease the level of circulating testosterone thereby reducing sex drive and aggression. These hormones reduce the frequency of erections, sexual fantasies, and initiations of sexual behaviors including masturbation and intercourse. Hormones are typically used in tandem with behavioral and cognitive treatments. Antidepressants such as fluoxetine have also successfully decreased sex drive but have not effectively targeted sexual fantasies.

Research suggests that cognitive-behavioral models are effective in treating paraphiliacs. Aversive conditioning involves using negative stimuli to reduce or eliminate a behavior. Covert sensitization involves the patient relaxing and visualizing scenes of deviant behavior followed by a negative event such as getting his penis stuck in the zipper of his pants. Assisted aversive conditioning is similar to covert sensitization except the negative event is real, such as in the form of a foul odor pumped in the air by the therapist. The goal is for the patient to associate the deviant behavior with the foul odor. Aversive behavioral reversal is commonly known as "shame therapy;" the goal is to humiliate the offender into ceasing the deviant behavior. For example, the offender might watch videotapes of their crime with the goal that the experience will be distasteful and offensive to the offender.

There are positive conditioning approaches that center on social skills training and alternate, more appropriate behaviors. Reconditioning, for example, is giving the patient immediate feedback, which may help him change his behavior. For instance, a person might be connected to a biofeedback machine connected to a light, he is taught to keep the light within a specific range of color while he is exposed to sexually stimulating material.

Cognitive therapies include restructuring cognitive distortions and empathy training. Restructuring cognitive distortions involves correcting a pedophile's thoughts that the child wishes to be involved in the activity. A pedophile observing a young girl wearing shorts may erroneously think, "she wants me." Empathy training involves helping the offender take on the perspective of the victim and to identify with the victim and understand the harm.

Use of alcohol and difficulty forming intimate relationships with adult women increase the chance of recidivism in men convicted of pedophilia and later released. Also, men who prefer boys are approximately twice as likely to reoffend as those who prefer girls.

Sources:

* American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
* Morrison, J, MD. (1995) DSM-IV(TM) Made Easy: The Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis
* Nathan, P. E., Gorman, J. M., & Salkind, N. J. (Eds.). (1999). Treating Mental Disorders: A Guide To What Works

Last Reviewed: 07 Sept 2006
Last Reviewed By: Laura Stephens

Hi Paganplace!

I have made several attempts to post, but without success. Yet another go...

Paganplace, how much scientific evidence exists that celibacy in itself makes pedophiles of adults? Pedophilia is defined as exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children.

Celibacy in the religious tradition predates Christianity by several centuries in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

Hi Paganplace!

The Pope's public apologies (at least three times!) should be proof that he neither condones the wrong doing nor intends to do nothing about it. I understand that the Church has been trying to put measures in place to prevent such things happening again and is open to suggestions and contribution to healing from all its members.

However it is rather simplistic to attribute the disease of pedophilia to the practice of mandatory celibacy among Catholic clergy. That is not only scientifically wrong (for it ignores the data available of sexual abuse among other groups, including domestic abuse) but also creates the mistaken notion that children would be 100% safe from sexual abuse by adults if celibate Catholic clergy disappeared.

"According to the author of the article, priests are NOT likely to be pedophiles than other groups of men, even married ones."

Well, Soja, it's not about that kind of number, anyway, it's about how much power such priests have over how many victims, and the particular betrayal of the authority they use to control kids...

Not to mention how many *victims* each abusing priest can make. Especially with both the Church hierarchy covering for them and moving them on to fresh pools of victims, and with many of the other people kids are supposed to be able to trust defending the priests and helping make them afraid to come forward. Look at the hostility toward anyone saying anything 'against the Church.'

Dear Professor Thistlethwaite

"Fighting like hell for the living" and protecting the children include empowering the children through intense sex education that will help them recognize sexual abuse no matter where they may subjected to it, (including at home from family members or adults they trust or come in contact with in any area of their life). Since children are usually silenced through threats, feelings of shame or guilt, or bribes, they must be sufficiently brave to overcome their fears to report abuse immediately.

I am confident that the Catholic Church will not ignore the issue anymore. So rest assured. Everyone must do whatever is in their power to ensure that all children are protected at all times from all sexual predators, no matter where they lurk.

Soja John Thaikattil
Sydney, Australia

I'm unable to post after several attempts. So I'll let the information I collected and my comments about them pass. It seems to be a problem with electronics and not with any person making a decision to filter content, as one can see from the sort of material posted by dear old Josevz that is getting through successfully.

Pedophiles and Priests by Philip Jenkins is recommended reading according to the article I have been unable to post.

According to the author of the article, priests are NOT likely to be pedophiles than other groups of men, even married ones.

I'm unable to post an interesting article titled:

10 Myths about Priestly Pedophilia - CRISIS E-Letter

When pedophiles begin to consider their sexual attraction to children as a sexual orientation and not a disease, we are bound to have more problems. When pedophiles get together to discuss their sexual attraction openly, they are also simultaneously breaking down their inhibitions and fears of indulging in sexual behavior. When more attention is paid to the disease by indulging in the pleasure of discussing it, the desire gets stronger, the inhibitions and fear of consequences get weaker. The gap between a desire/compulsion and manifestation of criminal behavior gets smaller.

People who abuse children as a rule lack empathy for their victims (the main there is little success through therapy as empathy cannot be taught). They rationalize their behavior and blame the victim.

Umm, Cal?

"-- The young teacher hung his head, avoiding eye contact. Yes, he had touched a fifth-grader's breast during recess. "I guess it was just lust of the flesh," he told his boss."

Now, someone does something like that, and phrases it in *that way,* and it's a *secular* system you want to blame? :)

Oh about some context for the Catholic haters?

AP: Sexual Misconduct Plagues US Schools

By MARTHA IRVINE and ROBERT TANNER
The Associated Press
Sunday, October 21, 2007; 7:18 AM

-- The young teacher hung his head, avoiding eye contact. Yes, he had touched a fifth-grader's breast during recess. "I guess it was just lust of the flesh," he told his boss.

That got Gary C. Lindsey fired from his first teaching job in Oelwein, Iowa. But it didn't end his career. He taught for decades in Illinois and Iowa, fending off at least a half-dozen more abuse accusations.

When he finally surrendered his teaching license in 2004 _ 40 years after that first little girl came forward _ it wasn't a principal or a state agency that ended his career. It was one persistent victim and her parents.

Lindsey's case is just a small example of a widespread problem in American schools: sexual misconduct by the very teachers who are supposed to be nurturing the nation's children.

Students in America's schools are groped. They're raped. They're pursued, seduced and think they're in love.

An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic.

There are 3 million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive educators _ nearly three for every school day _ speaks to a much larger problem in a system that is stacked against victims.

Most of the abuse never gets reported. Those cases reported often end with no action. Cases investigated sometimes can't be proven, and many abusers have several victims.

And no one _ not the schools, not the courts, not the state or federal governments _ has found a surefire way to keep molesting teachers out of classrooms.

Those are the findings of an AP investigation in which reporters sought disciplinary records in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The result is an unprecedented national look at the scope of sex offenses by educators _ the very definition of breach of trust.

The seven-month investigation found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Young people were the victims in at least 1,801 of the cases, and more than 80 percent of those were students. At least half the educators who were punished by their states also were convicted of crimes related to their misconduct.

The findings draw obvious comparisons to sex abuse scandals in other institutions, among them the Roman Catholic Church. A review by America's Catholic bishops found that about 4,400 of 110,000 priests were accused of molesting minors from 1950 through 2002.

Clergy abuse is part of the national consciousness after a string of highly publicized cases. But until now, there's been little sense of the extent of educator abuse.

Beyond the horror of individual crimes, the larger shame is that the institutions that govern education have only sporadically addressed a problem that's been apparent for years.

"From my own experience _ this could get me in trouble _ I think every single school district in the nation has at least one perpetrator. At least one," says Mary Jo McGrath, a California lawyer who has spent 30 years investigating abuse and misconduct in schools. "It doesn't matter if it's urban or rural or suburban."

One report mandated by Congress estimated that as many as 4.5 million students, out of roughly 50 million in American schools, are subject to sexual misconduct by an employee of a school sometime between kindergarten and 12th grade. That figure includes verbal harassment that's sexual in nature.

Jennah Bramow, one of Lindsey's accusers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wonders why there isn't more outrage.

"You're supposed to be able to send your kids to school knowing that they're going to be safe," says Bramow, now 20. While other victims accepted settlement deals and signed confidentiality agreements, she sued her city's schools for failing to protect her and others from Lindsey _ and won. Only then was Lindsey's teaching license finally revoked.

As an 8-year-old elementary-school student, Bramow told how Lindsey forced her hand on what she called his "pee-pee."

Thank you, Susan, for this piece. As a gay Catholic priest, I felt compelled to leave active ministry in the Church in the wake of the Vatican's 2005 statement. You are completely accurate in noting how gay priests have been scapegoated for the sex abuse scandal, and how history will no doubt repeat itself due to the renewed spirit of repression in American seminaries.

Well stated and thought out article. I myself at first, about four years ago, thought the problem of the sexual abuse of minors was due a kind of "homosexuals gone wild" problem: men with that proclivity coming out ordained from Catholic seminaries giving into their baser sexual desires with kids.

However, after I watched the movie "Deliver Us From Evil" which is about Oliver O'Grady a former Catholic priest and pedophile that I learned this problem couldn't have been caused by homosexuality. O'Gray's orientation is heterosexual; yet, he was sexually abusing boys and girls, under age 13. He himself was abused at an early age; entered the seminary barely in his teens and never had a real chance to become a mature man with regard to his sexuality. It was inevitable that he would turn from sexual prey to predator.

The problem here in the U.S. has barely been scratched, but the bishops just seem to want to pretend like it's just going to go away with time.

If they don't change the way they approach the problem - especially changing what they do when a priest is reported to have sexually preyed on children (i.e. turn them in to the police and NOT send them to some priest camp for rehab), I fear the cancer as Rev. Thistlethwaite rightly calls it, will only get worse and eventually kill the Catholic Church in the United States.

Mike, and Steve, ...pedophilia is not the same thing as homosexuality. In fact, girls are sexually-abused by priests as well. Boys make the news more, and the particular dogma and structure of the Catholic Church makes boys more vulnerable *because* of the Church's homophobia: boys who were being abused were often shamed and silenced, not to mention doubly traumatized because they were afraid of seeming 'gay,' and having all the scorn you guys show turned on *them.*

This hurts the straight kids as well as the gay and bisexual ones.

Predators go for the easy prey, and kids already made to be afraid and isolated because of their developing sexuality are often prime targets, as well as kids with family problems or otherwise considered less credible and more vulnerable. Girls' virginity in Catholicism is a bit more fiercely-guarded, but there's a certain 'machismo' undercurrent in the Catholic view that tends to put the scorn for homosexuality on the victim, as the one most 'unmasculine.'

Pedophilia and exploitation of minors is about *control,* really. And it's generally thought, and I certainly observe, often about arrested sexual development: this being often a side-effect of shame and repression. The Catholic system has a particularly vicious cycle about demonizing homosexuality, demanding homosexuals live a celibate and penitent life, then offering the clergy as the respectable way to not marry the opposite sex without being subject to suspicion of being homosexual, and all the ill-treatment that comes with that, ironically.

This isn't to say that sexual abuse and exploitation doesn't happen in other denominations, and it should be watched out for, and dealt with, too. But it excuses nothing.

Predators in other denominations with married clergy can more easily use the predator's tactics of 'romancing' young girls, ...just make a girl feel all special and spin a tale about future marriage, and she's vulnerable.

The only real solution to this is to take away the shame and shadows that predators use for cover. Teach kids self-respect and responsibility, not shame and fear.

Our Philadelphia Archdiocesan legal counsel surely doesn’t discriminate—whether the victims are young children brutalized by pedophilia or the elderly church attendees, they are dispatched in the same cold, dispassionate, and un-Christlike manner. This archdiocesan legal tradition exists solely to protect our archdiocesan leaders, lay and religious, from any accountability and liability. What would Jesus do?

(1) In the National Catholic Reporter 1999, the current Philadelphia archdiocesan counsel states:
“No matter how vigilant a pastor or principal is, he or she may still face a lawsuit, said Timothy Coyne, who represents the Philadelphia archdiocese and various religious orders. “The little old lady who says her beads daily in church will sue you if she slips and falls in church,” he warned. Coyne told priests to regard lawyers as their friends and to “call your lawyer even before you call the chancery or your insurer.” One wonders if Mr. Coyne ever sits next to elderly women when he attends Mass.
(2)C. Clark Hodgson, long-time counsel to the Philadelphia Archdiocese was quoted in a local newspaper:
“Church officials were not obligated by state law to report sex-abuse cases to civil authorities unless the actual child victim notified the church personally. If the child’s parent filed the complaint with the archdiocese, however, church officials did not have to notify police.
Mr. Hodgson was subsequently awarded the St. Thomas More Award 2006 from the St. Thomas More Society of Philadelphia (Catholic lawyers). Remarkably, St. Thomas More was martyred for his faith because he was a champion for following the “spirit of the law”, not the “letter of the law.” What is the likelihood that a young, innocent and vulnerable school age child who was subject to the humiliation, degradation and physical sexual abuse by a clergy member would have the strength to come forward when this same victim would feel so ashamed, broken, horrified and bewildered? Our archdiocesan attorneys were sure to exploit the legal loophole re reporting such pedophilia to authorities. This conduct was KNOWINGLY, DELIBERATELY and CONSCIOUSLY performed by Church attorneys at the expense of the child’s physical, emotional, psychological and moral well-being and survival. What else can be said?
(3) William Sasso, Chairman, Stradley and Ronon, according to the firm’s website:
“Attesting to Stradley Ronon’s strength in this area, we have long served as general counsel to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.”
“An attorney for the archdiocese, William R. Sasso accused the report of exhibiting religious bias because it did not investigate allegations of child sex abuse in other denominations.
“As a lawyer, as an individual who has seen similar reports, I find it to be biased and anti-Catholic,” Sasso said.
Interestingly, on the firm’s website, there is a picture of Mr. Sasso and Bono at a dinner where Bono was honored for his humanitarian efforts and compassion to those children at risk in Africa. And what did Mr. Sasso do when archdiocesan children were not only victimized and/or abused over the years but others put in danger when the abusing priests were moved from one location to another?
(4) Mark Chopko, former counsel to US Bishops, and now head of the non-profit group at Sasso’s law firm. I particularly liked reading a summary of one of his legal arguments where he claimed that diocesan management was not liable for clergy sexual abuse behavior because the priest’s religious functioning was protected behavior by our constitution.

In light the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s duplicity, treachery and chicanery that has been clearly documented and substantiated, I personally would like the answer to the following question:
How are Archdiocesan attorneys like William Sasso, C. Clark Hodgson and Mark Chopko actually able to sleep at night knowing that former-priest predators are living throughout our communities and pose a “clear and present danger” to the youngest, most innocent and vulnerable in our communities?

If everyone would just grow up and accept the facts that very few people are 100% heterosexual and that a certain percentage of all discrete groupings will always play for the other team, then Christianity could get on with the really important theological questions; important questions like, "How many angels dancing on the head of a pin will be homosexual?"

Dear Ms T,

It looks like you wrote this column BEFORE the Pope even arrived. Did you watch, listen or read any of the Pontiff's remarks/homilies except those excerpts in newspapers and on TV? Come on. If you just want to slam him and Catholics, at least be honest and say you find nothing of value in the Pope or the religion.

The three survivors of clergy sex abuse who came forward for interviews unanimously praised the Pope for meeting with them, and seemed hopeful and confident he would not let this issue slide. You cut McDaid's full quote. You forgot to include the part where he said he touched the pope's heart and felt the pope understood, and would do more to solve the problem.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most of the child abuse cases of a HOMOSEXUAL not HETEROSEXUAL nature? So what's wrong with the seminaries screening out gays - unless they make a convincing case that they will keep a vow of celibacy.

Oh and don't forget to keep this column...for future use...maybe around Christmas.

"Theologies of liberation" is code for "how can I change the bible to make it more convenient for me".
To call the condemnation of perverted sexual acts homophobia is a pathetic attempt to change bible teachings. I can imagine if the Catholic Church tried to screen homosexual pedophiles they would have even more lawsuits from the ACLU. I noticed that Rev brooks particular avoided the term homosexual pedophiles. All of the problems that were in the news for the past umpteen years have been a homosexual pedophile problem. Could Rev Brooks be homosexual pedophile phobic? All people are welcome at any church I've ever attended but let's not dumb down the Word for convenience. I'm still looking for that passage in the Bible that states, "If my commandments or words seem too difficult then just forget them for after all can't we just all get a long and remember it’s all about you."

www.bishop-accountability.org/abusetracker for daily verified coverage on why the LYING and totally corrupt, serial, mutiple decades, pedophile enabling, cardinals and bishops, cannot be trusted at all.

The only WAY this gets resolved is through 1.1+ Billion Global Laity, who provide 100% of all My Church's revenue, to STOP DONATING 'en-masse', until the miter and red hats enablers are each removed from office (hundreds of them), canonically each censored, and each placed under life house arrest, or alternatively, each irrevocably EXCOMMUNICATED.

As St. James once asked: "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"

The answer is YES, if each of you STOP DONATING, to force Rome's hand in removing evil men like Mahony, Law, O'Malley, Egan, MacCormack, Hubbard, McCarrick, Brown, Barnes, Brom, McGrath, Cummins, Ryan, Curry, Soto, Weigland, Walsh, Steinbock, Dolan, Burke, Pilla, Hughes, Quinn, Malone, George, Hummes, Pell, Rivera, Lennon, Moeddel, Grahman, Chaput, O'Brien, Vlanzy, Wulfstan, Sklba, Lynch, Giovannini, Skystad, Leveda, and a very long list, costing the laity, in America alone, at least $2.8 Billion Dollars, with no end in sight, many pedophiles still in active secular minsitries and religious orders, and child endangerment still widely pervasive.

Remember 99% of all these red hat and miter pedophile enablers were John Paul II appointees, and why he is presently not here in Heaven; though Albino Lucani (JP I and poisoned by Vatican Bank Mobsters) is.

Go With Us (The Holy Trinity), But Keep Your Wallets Zipped!

Deliver All The Faithful From This Overt & Ongoing Curia EVIL!

Yeshua ben Yosef
(aka Jesus, step-son of Joseph)

PS - There are overt 80 empirical published books on the subject at www.amazon.com, of for FREE at your local public libraries, and I, Your Lord & Savior, recommend the ones by Leon Podles and Fr. Thomas Doyle, OP (saints in the making).

So much for celibacy amongst priests:

"A study of Swiss priests published on May 12, 2003, revealed that 50% of that clergy had mistresses. Father Victor Kotze, a South African sociologist conducted a survey of the priests in his country (1991) and found that 45% had been sexually active during the previous two year period.

Pepe Rodriguez published his book length study of the sexual life of clergy in Spain (La Vida sexual del Clero 1995). He concluded that among practicing priests 95% masturbate; 7% are sexually involved with minors and 26% have "attachments to minors;" 60% have sexual relations, 20% have homosexual relations.

He further refined the figures of 354 priests who were having sexual relations:

53% of these were having sex with adult women, 21% with adult men, 14% were sexually active with minor boys and 12% with minor girls. Although Rodriguez' book caused a monumental debate no one has challenged the reality of his numbers.

My 25 year ethnographic study of celibacy published in 1990 had drawn comparable conclusions about the celibate/sexual activity of Catholic priests in America. I stand by my findings that at any one time 50% of American clergy are sexually active. When in 1994 a BBC television reporter faced Cardinal Jose Sanchez, Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy at the Vatican with those and other figures from the study, the Cardinal's response was, "I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of those figures.""

Did anyone never notice that most poor third world countries have either an Catholic or Muslin population, corruption as a way of life, and high breeding rates. Of course, the Catholic church realizes many of the children will starve or die from childhood disease but as long as they are Catholic that is OK, enough will survive to make more Catholics. In the USA the Catholic church is making a come back. Its an ideal plan let the good Catholics Latinos pour across our open borders and Breed like Rabbits while forcing American tax payers to provide for them, that is why the Pope spoke about taking care of Immigrants and all Catholic Churches are for breaking the law and encourage Illegal Aliens and open Borders! When the next president gives the 20 to 30 million mostly uneducated Illegal Aliens citizenship alone with chain migration there will be 100,s of millions of new fast breeding, educating hating, criminally inclined , welfare loving citizens and the Nation will soon join the Third World as they breed us into poverty. But the Democrat Politicians will have the welfare votes and further their Socialist Agenda, the Republican Politicians an unlimited supply of cheap labor and the Church more millions of good docile Catholics to preach their dogma to, past the collection plate, and lots of children for the priests to play with. The only losers are current American Citizens and either Party or the Catholic church gives a damn about them!

You do know the origin of the celibate priesthood, don't you? It has absolutely no basis whatsoever in scripture- the problem was that as the church grew in wealth and power, and the second (and third, and so on) sons of wealthy and powerful men entered the church as a career, lacking inheritances, if they married and had children of their own, they would be able to pass on titles and land and wealth to their children passing it out of church control. So the origins of this problem are church greed. The funny thing is that the Catholic church has always attracted gay men into the priesthood - I once talked to a priest who had spent time working in Rome, and he said that perhaps HALF of the priests working in and around the Vatican are themselves gay. There is much less of a problem with child molestation there because there is a more open attitude, albeit very quiet, toward tolerance of gay priests.

"Homosexuality, whether male or female, IS Deviant and should not be tolerated by ANY member coming in contact with children or those studying to become ministers of God, i.e. nunneries and semanaries included."

"A climate that tolerated homosexuality was the prime reason for this outbreak of abuse."

"With all due respect homosexuality is deviance and I would never have entrusted any of my three sons to a homosexual, whether in the Boy Scouts or any other organization where boys gather in groups. When I served in the US Army there were homosexuals among us but we knew who they were and we were adults and able to deal with them and their problem. But children need protection."

--------

Above are just a few of the posts which seem to "bash" homosexuality. Yet many here rightly complain when the bashing is directed towards Catholics or the Church. Can someone please explain to me why bashing someones religion is rightly considered intolerance and prejudice but the same does not apply to bashing one's sexual orientation?

This note from Mainline Protestant is poorly informed, slanted and biased, and again pushes all the PC myths with innuendo and ungrounded implication. She has her anti-Catholic agenda and seems oblivious to facts. Ms. Mainline Protestant claims the Church as "has targeted gay men with no evidence." "Targeted"? That's a loaded and inappropriate term. Further, if she had read the investigation done by the John Jay school, it would be clear to hear that there is indeed evidence, which shows that the overwhelming majority of the problem priests were homosexuals. That's not to say they are the only source of trouble, but they are a good place to start. and much of the secrecy that she laments has resulted solely from the fact that actively gay priests have looked out for one another.

Sadly she scews facts, uses unnamed sources, and unfounded claims. The 2005 document from the Vatican certainly does not say that homosexuality is caused by biological factors, which may have an effect, but study after study shows strong environmental correlations as well. She is either ignorant of the actual text of the letter, or purposefully misrepresenting it.

She claims that "Many psychologists and psychiatrists have responded to this teaching by noting that child sexual abuse by priests comes not from homosexuality per se, but from an immature sexual identity compounded by the frustrations of celibacy and the climate of secrecy in the church about sex." Obviously no one has ever said that pedophilia is caused by homosexuality, but her statement is hogwash. No credible psychologists claim that a man is more inclined toward pedophilia because of some alleged "cimate of secrecy"--which is a myth in itself. Further, is the contention that if molesters were invited to feel good about being molesters, and invited to do it openly instead of in secret, that there would be LESS molestation?

The fact is, the Church views homosexual acts as wrong--which is her real beef with the Church, obviously--and therefore any man engaging in such activity in the role of a cleric in the church is hardly going to feel comfortable being open about that. the secrecy comes from the violation of the rule by the violator; her answer is to chuck the rule. It's not going to happen.

Her view of the 2005 letter is twisted. The letter simply suggests that men who are attracted to men and prone to act on that attraction are perhaps not best suited to a profession that has them living only among men and professing a set of vows that says that acting on their attraction to those men is wrong. In the same way, a heterosexual male who finds that he may be prone to infidelity should not live in a college dorm of young women. There are plenty of other churches or professions to which a gay man is better suited. Her charge that this letter is some effort to impose secrecy and a "climate" that will make for more pedophilia is completely nuts.

This woman simply disagrees vehemently with the Church's teaching on homosexuality, fidelity, and chastity--see her other writings. She is a woman of her times, a product of the 60's and 70's who thinks that sexual liberation in religious communities will solve the problems of people misbehaving in that area of sex. Instead of just saying that, she makes the absurd, round-about claim that the Church's teaching that homosexuality and pedophilia are wrong is what causes the "climate of secrecy" which in turn causes homosexuality and pedophilia. That is ridiculous, and perhaps even dishonest on her part.

What she fails to mention is the huge problems that the more liberal churches have had in the same area. The Episcopalians, who allow priests to marry and are lately so open as to make an adulterous gay man a bishop, and presumably do not have the "climate of secrecy" that she laments in the Catholic Church, have had major scandals, and on a relative comparison the Episcopalian church doesn't look very good. (There 30 times more Catholics than Episcopalians in the US, so on absolute numbers, the Catholic priests look much worse, but not on a relative basis.)

The fact is, if Ms. Thistlewaite, who claims to teach "contextual theologies of liberation," had a bit more facility with more traditional theology, she might understand that sin is not caused by letters from the Vatican or by "secrecy" or by teachings that sin is sin.

Wow.

The amount of hatred, on both sides, tells me that not only will there be no resolution to the possible future abuses, there will be no agreement as to why the past ones happened in the first place.

Homosexuality, whether male or female, IS Deviant and should not be tolerated by ANY member coming in contact with children or those studying to become ministers of God, i.e. nunneries and semanaries included.

What nonsense. Homosexual men have long desired young boys. Young girls are not targeted by priests in the numbers that young boys are. A climate that tolerated homosexuality was the prime reason for this outbreak of abuse.

Worth repeating and remembering:

The Current Crises (pl) in the Catholic Church--

The inappropriate conduct of many priests, the emotional stress on the victims and the resultant billion dollars in lawsuits.

The lack of talent in the priesthood.

The lack of Vatican response to the historic Jesus movement.

The Church's continuing cling to original sin and the resulting subsets of crazy ideas like limbo.

The denial of priesthood to women.

The restriction of priesthood to single men (unless you are former Episcopalian priests),

And the continued chain of Vatican "leadership" by old European white men.

Lisa: "As for child abuse, look no further than your public school or little league team or relatives to find more abusers than you find in the Church. Anti Catholic bigots are retarded...and so is the media like this "news" source."

A major difference is people don't call abused kids 'Anti-Little League bigots' for pointing out any system of abuse that might have hurt them.

so true so true!

The power-hoarding, greedy, secretive, nazi-collaborating, dress-wearing developmentally arrested woman-hating patriarchal culture continues ... and so does the abuse and the denial.

And the sycophantic uncritical pandering media continues to play their part too.

Speed: The fact is that heretofore, the *measures* he and the Church have pursued have treated the matter as Rev. Thistlethwaite describes.

Cordy scribles: "Men's thangs itch and they need to scratch it on something. If sex weren't forbidden, they'd go to a pro, or get a girl/guy friend to get that relief."

Bigots on here really are ignorant, aren't they? I shouldnt be surprised...

As for child abuse, look no further than your public school or little league team or relatives to find more abusers than you find in the Church.

Anti Catholic bigots are retarded...and so is the media like this "news" source.

Wake up - this isnt a catholic problem people.

Sorry, I meant to say:
"I cannot deny lapses of Justice as I cannot deny political conservatism on todays’ Catholic episcopal hierarchy"... when there are cases of homosexuals reaching clergy and inevitably getting in contact with unsupervised children.

As I see it, homosexuality is because the mother started dressing or allowing the kid to dress in girls clothes, growing him "girly".
Or, the kid is let to play with domineering playmates who start abuse.
Or, the kid is obsessed with sex, penis, etc. what makes it confused, without a role model.
Do not come to me with that stupidity of "genetical homosexuality" (I'm not denying hermaphroditism, other distinct ball game).
Basically, a parents fault.
Now, that a "theological" woman, starts talking of Pope "protecting" children, is a joke.
What the Pope has to see with child abuse? The Pope is a sitting duck. Specially with the dirty media demanding him to let homosexuals into the church!
This woman is just riding the snobs' wagon.

Is used recurrently, pederasty as a Catholic characteristic. I’ll just say that Satan’s Temptations are well documented, explained and dealt with during Catholicism existence, with Justice and Compassion. I cannot deny lapses of Justice as I cannot deny political conservatism on todays’ Catholic episcopal hierarchy.

See? Everybody raised Catholic, is prevented: do-not-provoke-Temptation; and unless is stupid, does not do it!
Every boy raised Catholic understands that if a clergy starts rubbing your head, you walk away. It is a NO-NO. Those "accidents" are not "mechanical". It is parents abandoning children. Period.

This "theological" woman must know this, and as such, refrain of nonsensical mimickings.
What I do see in these articles is a methodical intent to shake down Christian and Catholic-in-particular values inside the minds of the People. We all know how much the captive Media is unrelenting on this. A Satanistes' technique.
This Thistlethwaite's is no different.

Men's thangs itch and they need to scratch it on something. If sex weren't forbidden, they'd go to a pro, or get a girl/guy friend to get that relief.

The legions of little children who worship "Father" are just temptation for these horny fellows. Let them get unhorny with a consenting adult and perhaps they'll let the kiddies alone.

Are there any cases about American Catholic priests molesting young girls? I have only read about young boys, why is this?

What evidence do you need, the sex scandal was all about boys being abused by men, are you guys blind??
Its like the white elephant in the room that liberals refuse to see. Get the blinders off already. If gay men were excluded from the priesthood, this would not have happened.

I will leave James and his misconceptions about scriptural and church teachings to JohnB, who has a good handle on the difference between social attitudes and doctrine.

A while ago GaryD wrote:
"Pedophilia is about power and abuse of power not sexual immaturity and who has more power in the Catholic church at the point of contact than the local Priest."

Gary makes a powerful point which should not be obscured by his general discomfort with Catholic norms. Abuse of power was and continues to be a key factor in incidents of child sexual abuse. It is analogous to the prevalence of police brutality in some cities. A policeman is trained to maintain lawful and civil behavior in the population as a whole and can become so wrapped up his (or her) own authority that he conflates his own reaction to a disrespectful citizen with the authority of his office. In the same way, priests are trained to maintain and enforce standards of highly personal morality without relativity or gray areas. Such a man, especially if he is undeveloped in his own sexual attitudes, may conflate his own desires with the responsibility of his holy orders. It is also a way that some address the isolation of the celibate lifestyle.

You see this kind of thing anywhere that individuals are given too much unquestioned authority, whether it is a classroom, a war zone, or a religious setting.

Canyon1,

Many contemporary NT exegetes believe, based on the lack of attestations, that there was no Last Supper.

To wit:

wiki.faithfutures.org/index.php/016_Supper_and_Eucharist

John Dominic Crossan

In Crossan's view, this is the third example of a plurally attested complex from the first stratum which, although summarizing "principles or practices, themes or emphases, of the historical Jesus, stem not from him but from the liturgical creativity of the early communities" [Historical Jesus, 360].

Paula Fredriksen

Fredriksen [Jesus of Nazareth, 117-119] accepts the Passover character of the event and places the actions of Jesus in the context of messianic meals in his own ministry and at Qumran. When discussing the final days in Jerusalem (page 252), she assumes the basic historicity of the last supper narrative as a self-conscious final meal in which Jesus spoke of his impending death saying the words over the bread and cup.

Jesus Seminar rated the passages below as being not historical.

1 Cor 11:23-25

Mark 14:25

Mark 14:22-25

Matt 26:29

Matt 26:26-29

Matt 26:28c

Luke 22:16,18

Luke 22:15-20

Did 9:4

Did 9:1-4

John 6:51-58

1 Cor 11:23-26

Mark 14:22-26

Matt 26:26-30

Luke 22:14-20

John 6:26-70

Gerd Lüdemann

Luedemann [Jesus, 94-97] concludes that the assymetrical forms cited in 1 Cor 11 are older than the parallel forms of the sayings over the bread and cup in Mark. He also suggests that the eschatological prospect entertained by Jesus is a later addition, and notes that it has nothing to do with the gift of bread and wine. On the other hand, Luedemann notes that the Pauline text reflects a later development than Mark with its twofold command for repetition of the supper ritual in memory of Jesus. In the end, Luedemann decides that the differences between Mark and Paul are small enough for him to use the two accounts in determining both the content of the final meal and the ways in which the supper was understood by early Christians.

At the same time, Luedemann concludes that the portrayal of Jesus celebrating such a ritual on the night before his death is not historical. He is clear that there is "no generic relationship" between any actual final meal and the Lord's Supper understood in cultic terms. He also denies the Passover character of the supper as a Markan creation. Like Meier (below), Luedemann does accept the saying (Mark 14:25) about drinking wine in the kingdom of God as authentic. He concludes: (this saying) "hardly came into being in the early community, for in it Jesus does not exercise any special function for believers at the festal meal in heaven which is imminent. Only Jesus' expectation of a the future kingdom of God stands at the centre, not Jesus as saviour, judge or intercessor."

Bottom line: The last supper and its rites were added to the NT to add pizzazz to the life of a simple preacher man. Ditto for Mary the Mother of God. Mary was married to Joseph and Jesus was their biological son.

Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite writes,

In addition, the document includes a clear rejection of “every mark of unjust discrimination with respect to them [homosexuals]” is a very much-needed religious teaching today as state-by-state Americans try to pass legislation that will restrict or reject altogether equal civil rights for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.

Aquinas replies,

Though one cannot be completely sure, it appears from the context of this comment by Ms. Thistlethwaite that she is referring to the issue of same-sex "marriage". To refuse to radically redefine marriage for the sake of a few is NOT to restrict or reject equal civil rights for gays and lesbians, rather it is recognizing that the unique man/woman union of marriage is a private matter that has far reaching public consequences. If the Rev. thinks the Catholic Church is going to toss out marriage as a man/woman union like last week's trash then she knows very little about the Catholic faith.

What happened at the fall of man was that selfishness suddenly effected all our relationships not the least of which is our relations hip with God. They realized they were naked because for the first time they looked to their own selves rather than with love at each other and were filled with self doubt and self loathing for they saw how they compared to their creator.

JC indeed there are bad people everywhere. That's not the issue here though. The Issue here is that the Church rather than turning the pedophile priests over to the local authorities for the requisite punishment for such crimes chose to cover up those crimes and worse they compounded their folly by not transferring those priests somewhere where they'd never be in contact with young people again but put them in other positions where there proclivities couldn't help but be revealed.

That sir is why this is an issue not because there are a few bad apples among the priesthood.

James wrote: "You can couch the notion of original sin in all the mysticism you want to, Cal, but the fact is the "Fall of Man" does involve sex. Once Adam and Eve sinned, they bacame "aware of their nakedness" and one of the consequences was the requirement that humans reproduce by means of copulation."

James, this is simply ignorance...if you had even a passing familiarity with the Catholic theology with regard to sex or Genesis you couldn't write such nonsense. The "Fall of Man" and "original sin" simply refers to the human tendency towards self-destructive behavior; such behavior leads us to put our own interests and desire ahead of what is truly good. It has nothing to do with sex, except insofar as sex (like every other human good) is now misused. The 'aware of their nakedness', at least in Catholic exegesis, refers to a corruption in sexual relationships as a result of this tendency.

It's patently ridiculous to suggest, as you do, that reproduction through copulation occurs as a result of 'original sin'; what would be the function of the reproductive organs before the fall in that ? I've certainly never heard a Catholic say that, and, if they did, they would be espousing a position outside the Catholic theological tradition.

Everyone's got a axe to grind with the Church....

Anti catholics "know-nothings," like Susan, need to get a life!

Let's also not forget the role conservative American Catholics have played in pressuring Rome to use the sexual abuse scandal in order to advance prejudice and hatred against gay men. Like everyone one else they recognize that open and honest gay men at ease with their sexuality are no more prone to abuse children than heterosexual men. In fact, statistics suggest they are LESS likely. But this is beside the point with them. A similar dynamic was displayed in the battle over adoption by gay couples. Despite hundreds of studies all of which concluded gay people are as good at parenting as heterosexuals conservatives remained adamant in their opposition. In both these instances it's plain to see that the welfare of children is a secondary consideration. What's paramount with social conservatives is the promulgation of anti-gay prejudice and the marginilization of gay people. The imprimatur of the Vatican represents quite a prize in this regard.

Right on, Susan !!!!!

I hope the Pope reads these columns. He needs to.

Context, is what is missing!

Yes, abuse in the church is bad (and is being addressed); however, it is at a higher rate in public schools or other denominations...

Don't be fooled by the anti-catholic press.

How about the 12% of public schools students molested/abused by teachers before they reach 12th grade.

I would like an expose on that, WAPO, since you are so interested in protecting children.

It would be helpful to victims (and their families) of the sexual abuse by Catholic priests, if a)Catholics would stop being so defensive and b)Catholics would stop minimizing the abuse by pointing out that child sexual abuse exists outside the church.

As someone who was raised Catholic, I know (and you do too) that "two wrongs don't make a right."

This sexual abuse has been going on not for decades but for centuries.

The reason mostly males have reported the abuse is that most often, the priests had greater access to boys. But there are plenty of female victims. Don't be fooled.

My husband was pulled out of class by his predator, to work as an altar server during funerals.

When he was abused, no girls were allowed to serve.

I wish the Church would clean up the problem without continually saying, "Yes, but..." "Yes, we did it, but so did everyone else..." "Yes, it's a problem, but it's a problem in public schools, too."

When my husband was molested, there was no internet or internet pornography, his family attended Catholic schools, his father was a good provider. He had an intact family.

The priest was charming and insinuated himself into their family life and groomed my husband. I have reason to believe that his brother was also molested, but my husband has never told his siblings or his parents.

The lack of frank discussion about sexual development did not help matters either.

If you have no sexual experience, and you are at a retreat, and your parish priest becomes sexual with you, where do you go? Whom do you tell? You don't drive, you don't have words to describe the violation, and even if you did, YOUR PARENTS WOULD BLAME YOU!

So, I wish everyone would start to try to understand the victims in this story instead of continuing to treat this like the Fox News debate of the moment. Real people were hurt. The hurt continues, even among the spouses they cannot be intimate with, the children they sometimes distance themselves from, and the loss of the spiritual anchor they once had.

It is a terrible, awful experience, and it's a shame that anyone would use it for fodder to blast gays or public schools, or the victims themselves.

There are bad people everywhere, not just in the Catholic Church.

Ed My man I was stationed a bit further North than Saigon when I was in Viet Nam.

And your knowledge of church history is a bit truncated Luther knew little of The Anglican church and Calvin Less. The Hussites less still. And Without Martin Luther Your lot would still be selling indulgences and having orphanages half way between the monasteries and the convents to house the children they produced that neither could admit.

Sorry the truth hurts but the fact remains the chief article in The Roman Catholic churches bill of condemnation isn't that these events happened but how they responded to them. Castigating those who bring this truth to you isn't going to make that go away.

The input by AJOURNEYINC may not be logical. Celibacy does not seem to be the root of abuse problems or of scandal.We do not hear of married men or females being present at the last supper,when very important rites were handed down.On the contrary we have many scandals in the present day where protestant vicars have run-off with the organist,or the vicar's wife has run-off with the organist,male or female.Married protestants have frequently been involved in child and adult abuse cases. Some Catholics prefer that the priest is married only to his Church.
In addition it should be recognised that there are many more married Catholic men in line for the priesthood,if required,before females.That is a long way down the road.
It should also be clear that women are highly regarded in the Catholic church through the figure of Mary the Mother of God.Can anyone live up to that image?

What a ridiculous argument. If priests cannot get married why would this then "compel" them to turn to little boys for sexual gratification? Why not adult women? "Homophobia" or "Islamophobia"? What ridiculous terms devoid of any meaning. Can you hate gays and Muslims and yet not be afraid of them?

Allow me to say a word for the value of Doubt.

Ignorance is an unavoidable aspect of the human condition. Ignorance tempered by doubt can lead to inquiry and learning. May ignorance without doubt lead to self-righteousness and conflict?

These comments facilities allow so much ignorance to expose itself. And if ignorance finds companions, will they not become more certain, less likely to listen to doubt?

But some do attempt dialogue, for which I am always appreciative:

*******
Cal:
James writes: "How can a church that teaches sex is unholy (beginning with its preoccupation with the immaculate conception)"

Exceptionally ignorant statement, James...

Immaculate conception (birth of Mary) has nothing to do with sex - is has to do with the absence of original sin (which also has nothing to do with sex - but the fall of man)...

Sex, is not seen as "unholy" - it should be remembered that Catholics do not separate the form from function of sex - therefore, they do not degrade it as only physical or only pleasure (like advertisers or MTV or tabloids do).
****************

James' confusion of the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth may not be so exceptional to those not deeply informed on the Church. It reveals a gestalt frame/perspective of a Church hostile to sexuality, bolstered by clerical celibacy, vows of chastity for monastic orders, the de-sexualizing habit nuns wore for centuries, its opposition to technological intervention in conception.

I welcome your exposition on the doctrinal teaching of the Church on sex - that it is not regarded as unholy, but if fact the opposite - it is regarded in some sense as sacred, which is why it should not be commercialized or turned into a mere personal entertainment.

However, my adolescent experiences in the Church and it's schools argue that many have not be able to get beyond the idea that an interest in sex and sexual desire are dirty and degrading and sinful. There was the nun who told us she knew what we were doing if we put our hands in our pants pockets, and that some polished their shoes to look up the skirts of girls. There was the insistence that normal thoughts of sex were impure and required confession. Simply put, there was fear of sex and no sane way of coping with it.

When a faith regards something as sacred, the usual response is to celebrate its power and create rituals around it. The power of sex is creation; it is one aspect of how humans are made in God's image and share his power. Desire has made dynasties and felled them. Does the Church have no idea how to cope with sexuality other than repression?

Michael says "a few priests get caught.." A "few" priests, Michael? How many more didn't get caught?

Jesus is probably real proud of the Catholic apologists like Micheal for this abomination.

The assertion that homosexuality has nothing to do with the incidence of child abuse among the priesthood is very similar to the assertion that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. Both are the result of a strong need to believe what is patently not the case.

On another point the idiotic neologism "homophobia", to the extent that it has any meaning at all, would seem to describe a condition in which all of one's fears partake of a common essence. Its opposite, "heterophobia" would indicate that those fears are diverse and unrelated.

Why do people always recommend that the Catholic Church imitate the Episcopalian Church? Their membership has fallen dramatically ove the last 50 years. Married priests, women priests, openly gay priests, none of these things seems to be helping them.

I am all in favor of homosexuality being treated as normal with no cultural antagonism. Then none of them will pretend to be straight and procreate. After a couple of generations of evolution their numbers should get smaller and smaller.

All I can say is that if it happened in the Catholic Church, it's happening in other chruches as well. A few priests got caught. How many church leaders in other religions are doing the same thing, telling the children they are abusing that it is God's will and that if anything is said, you will burn in hell.

Education begins at home, even if it is education about respected authority figures and what can happen.

You can couch the notion of original sin in all the mysticism you want to, Cal, but the fact is the "Fall of Man" does involve sex. Once Adam and Eve sinned, they bacame "aware of their nakedness" and one of the consequences was the requirement that humans reproduce by means of copulation. Is it not possible that the "virgin" birth of Jesus is as much about the fact that no sex was involved as it is the lack of human involvement? I'm not ignorant of the theology--I just understand that you can't always take on face value. People do read between the lines.

This has to be one of the dumbest commentaries yet on the Pope's visit. The bishops' own report documents that more than 80 percent of abuse cases involve adolescent and post-adolescent male victims. The Pope's actions in restating Church requirements on admission to seminaries and ordering a visitation of American seminaries led by a sober bishop (selected by the Pope - not by the American bishops) show that the Holy Father fully understands what happened in the American church and the proper course for protecting minors in the future.

Celibacy in my opinion is the root cause of this fantastical and reversible problem. Yes, historically the Church did not want married priests, to protect the assets of the church from falling in to the hands of those priests who were married. Hypocrisy reigns in the Church, in South America, many of the local parish priests although not married legally, carry on as if they were married, and these are the vanguard of a new and better priesthood. In the Orthodox Churches of the Eastern rites, local parish priests can and do marry with the blessing of their particular rites, only those who wish to move further up the chain of command do not marry and it is in my mind a much better system, than the open hypocrisy of the Roman Churches disdain of woman and marriage. Ms. Thistlewaite, your article has pointed out some of the problems within the hierarchy of the Roman Church, yet in all reality, this is only the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to the positions on sexuality that are taken by any organized religion. People cannot and should not stand for the legislation of their sexuality by anyone who does not participate in the life of marriage and living with another person. Deviancy aside, it is high time that the Roman Catholic Church, put aside their petty and unbelievable doctrines of celibacy, and allow married priests and women priests to carry the message of the gospel, that being one of love and acceptance through action.

James writes: "How can a church that teaches sex is unholy (beginning with its preoccupation with the immaculate conception)"

Exceptionally ignorant statement, James...

Immaculate conception (birth of Mary) has nothing to do with sex - is has to do with the absence of original sin (which also has nothing to do with sex - but the fall of man)...

Sex, is not seen as "unholy" - it should be remembered that Catholics do not separate the form from function of sex - therefore, they do not degrade it as only physical or only pleasure (like advertisers or MTV or tabloids do).

If you are going to criticize something --- try to understand it first.

As for married clergy - there is as much abuse (even more) with Protestants and especially Jewish rabbis; however, it is not covered by the media because they do not represent the threat that the Catholic Church does to the secular elite.

What an amazing piece. This is the first article in the mainstream press that addresses the real cause of the child abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. How can a church that teaches sex is unholy (beginning with its preoccupation with the immaculate conception) expect to foster a healthy sexuality among its members. Add to that the celebacy forced upon members of it clergy, and it's no wonder they're doomed to express sex in the most unhealth of ways.
It also must be noted that although the church, to its credit, has spoken against discrimination against lesbians and gays, it has consistently worked against legislation, on both the state and federal levels, that would protect gays against that very discrimination. And they've made sure that their institutions are exempted from any protecting legislation that is passed. In Maryland, at least, they've also lobbied against expanding the definition of hate crimes to include gays. In my mind, their actions speak much louder than their words.

Is this just an American problem or do the priests in other countries have same hobby? As with most great problems, the solution is simple: Require that all priests be married. That way, if they get caught copping feels with kids, the can be turned over to a nagging wife. These men who advise their flocks on personal matters would have some idea of what they are talking about, when it comes to family life, and other real-world matters! From what I read, the idea single priests was started about 1200 AD to prevent the priest's property going to his family, upon his death, instead of the church.

What a surprise! The theologically liberal president of the Chicago Theological Seminary disagrees with the Roman Catholic church's views on sexuality. She then composed a poorly constructed pastiche of oversimplifications and factually impoverished narratives to arrive at the startling conclusion that.....the Church should change its teachings on sexuality.

It would be nice if the author familarized herself with the statistics that showed 1) that over 80% of the abuse victims were male (generally teenagers) and 2) that priests were not in fact any more likely than members of the general population to abuse children. Or even if she had read Benedict's recent (widely-publicized) statements which address precisely the issue she claims has been neglected.

Facts are awkward things; they've ruined many a good story. Perhaps, the good reverend will deign to conduct research before she issues her next call for change.

What the hell are "gay tendencies?" I know being effeminate looks like. When I was a young man,(I am black)it was looked upon as being effeminate if you crossed your legs in the same manner a woman did. Now almost everyone does it.
That just goes to show how in the dark ages religon lives. If the pope really wants to make changes, he'd get rid of the cardinals and bishops who just moved around the molesters, as opposed to get rid of them. They are just as guilty. It's called being an assessory.

How typical and hypocritical of Jack Smith to blame gays when the Church is a magnet for gay priests hiding behind their vow of celibacy with women.

This is what is most infuriating about this issues. Catholics condemn gays but look the other way at gays misbehaving among their clergy. Not all gays are molesters just as not all heterosexuals molest little girls.

The deviancy, Jack Smith, is in your heart.

Note to Benedict: Have Cardinals Mahony and Rivera cough up "Father" Aguilar or you and your Church have no credibility on this subject.

Dear Susan,

I have to profoundly disagree with your comments in the "On Faith" blog of the Washington Post. As a Catholic, I am well aware of the damage this scandal has done to our Church. The abuse done to minors has been horrendous and should never be tolerated. But the Church has taken unprecedented steps to eradicate this abuse. There have been numerous settlements, public apologies and the "Dallas Charter" with clear mandates on notification of abuse and procedures to remove abusive priests from active ministry. Sadly the only response from victims I have seen is yet more sadness and complaints like "Celibacy has failed" and "We need more than words from Pope Benedict." I don't see any gratitude from victims for the steps the Church has made. Are they so cynical that they can't appreciate what is being done for them today?

Second, the issue is not child abuse as much as homosexual behavior. More than 80% of the victims have been post-pubescent males. That is homosexual behavior, which is sadly glorified in some sectors of American society. The pope recognizes the inherent dangers in allowing gays to become priests. They are more likely to become intimately involved with other men and continue that behavior into the priesthood. This continues the moral erosion that has hurt the Church. Keeping gays out of seminary is not homophobia, but common sense.

We did not have the extent of the problem with abuse until we loosened the rules about gays in the seminary in the 1960s and now we're paying the price. They should not be allowed in seminary in the first place. We need men with healthy human sexuality to be good priests. I'm afraid that gay men do not have "healthy" sexuality. You are wrong in believing we can have gays in seminary and eliminate this crisis.

Third, we see articles and stories every day of sexual abuse of boys and girls in public schools. How many female teachers have been convicted of sleeping with their students? Why is that not trumpheted like the abuse in the Church? Where are the stories about the "crisis in our public school systems," which teach paganism and all sorts of deviant sexual behavior in so-called "sex-ed" classes. There is no proporation here.

I understand this problem is far more prevelant in Christian ministers too. Since most are married, it's funny we don't hear about it.

The problem is not the Church's culture of secrecy about sex or celibacy. That's how you on the American left and in college ivory towers see the world. The problem is societal deviancy and lack of clear sexual boundaries, a promotion of homosexual culture and lack of supervision by bishops. Please do not blame our teachings and disciplines on a crisis that affects society as well and for whom we have a solution if people would listen and learn!

www.bursakilisesi.com

yesterday i met Doctor Elvira Sematon from Austria, she was making her way to the church, with her travel guide. She was in Bursa for a few hours from Istanbul. "sema tone" is Caroll from the Sky.

she is in Istanbul for 23 April Mass at St George College. we walked with the blue line on the roads for tourist buses.

she was surprised when she met the Hot Water Bath that Swiss Hotel had managed till 2007. she is civil rights expert. i had been in an acapella chorus. well, i still can sing. i gave poems to her. we talked about Asli Erdogan and Orhan Pamuk.

being nameless is so lovely and soothing Ms Thistlethwaite, so soul soothing, it is easy to hear and to come together.

My previous input to Ms Postlethwaite on this matter seems to have cut someone to the quick.Stand up,GARYD,who may have been a scoutmaster but never a marine.Do you remember Saigon,or only sigh-gone?
The Catholic church is the only positive thing to have happened to Christianity since the founder.The other Christian denominations are only breakaways founded on the urges of an english king.They believe and vote on this or that and the other when it is convenient to believe and vote on this or that and the other.
The Catholic church meets so much opprobrium because it is a big ship,equipped with confidence to meet big waves,in the same abusive seas where smaller vesels run and cower,or hide in port.

there is a park high on the way, with a water well from Byzantine times, near a river from the mountain, which flows more in the springs with water of snows all winter long.

the water well was full in my childhood. couples were coming for wishes. families were in a fluent conversation, children were playing around cheerfully.

and also at the beginning of the way, up to the church, there was Justice Court, now it is Museum of Bursa.

and on the top of the way, there is the House of the Man i had told about, Baking Breads with Candle Light Feeding Thousands of People and Cooking Meals in the Hearth. this means that he was educating and taking the folk high in spirit, more than 600 years ago.

If homosexuality is the cause of the sex abuse scandal involving young male victims, is heterosexuality the cause of sexual molestation of young girls by older men (catholic priests and others)? The answer is No, illustrating the utter nonsense of the catholic church's targeting of gays as the cause of its sex abuse scandal.

to Susan Thistlethwaite

the church is alight all night long, every night. the garden is green, there are pavement and green grass around. the paint is yellow mixed with brown.

there is a dormitory and a high school for girls. phthisis dispensary is adjacent. and identity register department of government is near by. there is a house for kids daily care and a school for authistic children.

the high school for girls is known with tailorship, handcrafts, arts and pedagogy.

As a non-Catholic, I have never rationalized how correction of criminal sexual conduct was not aggressively pursued through secular courts, rather than being deferred to the Catholic church. Not only does that fact weaken my confidence in church leadership, it even more greatly weakens my confidence in our criminal justice system.

to Susan Thisthlethwaite

the flowers in the garden are lilac, not purple. they are lovely, soft and vivid. they are like a bunch of grape but the pieces in the bunch of grape are bells. when i hold the bunches they are like maidens who turn their face to the other side embarrassed.

"Believes the root for the problem to be gay men in the priesthood?"

What other really controversial things does the pope believe? Gravity? Likelihood that the sun will rise in the east? All the old jokes about bears in the woods?

Here in the real world, where livings are not earned from fashionably liberal foundations, I think most people to have worked out that conclusion quite some time ago.

If studies indicate that 12% of kids who go through 12 years of public school are abused at some point by a teacher, shouldn't the author pause before asserting that abuse of children is a result of the 'Catholic Church's' teachings on sexuality? As it is, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the author is arguing in bad faith. In addition to ignoring Benedict's comments on the plane, she has not provided any context by comparing abuse statistics. It's almost as if she has another agenda in mind...

Apparently the author is unfamiliar with statistics. If studies indicate that 12% of kids who go through 12 years of public school are abused at some point by a teacher, shouldn't the author provide a more nuanced picture of this situation, then asserting it's a result of the Catholic Church?

With all due respect homosexuality is deviance and I would never have entrusted any of my three sons to a homosexual, whether in the Boy Scouts or any other organization where boys gather in groups. When I served in the US Army there were homosexuals among us but we knew who they were and we were adults and able to deal with them and their problem. But children need protection.

Since 80% of the cases of abuse involved homosexual relations with puberty age boys, it's inaccurate to label the scandal a pedophilia problem. Or even a problem with 'children' being molested. It was predominantly a case of priests molesting young teenagers. Is Benedict supposed to ignore what the abuse scandal actually involved in order to sound more pc?

It's got to be tough to be a priest these days, with their access to young boys restricted because of suspicious parents that won't allow them sufficient access. That's probably the reason for the decline in vocations -- the young man who in previous generations would have become a priest is now relegated to a walk-on part on "To Catch A Predator."

weelllllll. Are you really sheddig light on what is going on or hiding it yourself.

What about the psychic sexual development of children under the care of a homosexual teacher all day for one year? If homosexuals state tht they cannoot relate to herterosexual teachers and they feel excluded, why not recognize that that is how how heterosexual children feel?

I think the presence of homosexuals in the primary and secondary grades, with children that are forming their sexual identity and whose sexuality is otherwise heterosexual will be influenced by a homosexual teacher.

It is not being nmean spirited it is being truthful and this reality needs to be addressed.

I would like to see the abuser priests go to prison. If a person can be thrown in jail for stealing someones jewels or some baby diapers then a solution for the past tresspassers of young children should all be in prison for 130 years. Then we shall see who signs up to live under the roof of the Catholic Church. If I were a parent I would follow the way of pigeons. When your children are grown and not before take them to church, with a gun. I know pigeons don't carry guns but it wouldn't hurt. I would prefer to see Pope Benedich walk through St. Patrick's in a diaper and blanky.

Why doesn't the pope just clearly outline a system of vastly increased intelligent oversight, maybe with some kind of educational component for priests? Perhaps he has done this. I don't know. What is the current system of oversight and what is the plan for culture change? Isn't this all just a basic organizational psychology and management problem?

If the Church were to openly discuss homosexuality, tolerate homosexuals, and eventually Accept them fully (without a disclaimer or an asterisk)... then priests wouldn't HAVE to be so secretive, and immature surrounding their own God-given sexualities.

Ever stop to think that the Church's view on homosexuality ("you are indeed born gay, but for Christ's sake, keep your gayness to yourself!!") is what causes the confusion, immaturity, repression, and acting out by priests?

NOT the homosexuality itself?

I know and love many, many homosexuals, and they think that pedophilia is as horrible as any heterosexual. I can't believe the "keep the gays away from my children!" trash I have seen here.

Let's love our brothers and sisters.

seems susan is also frigging gay...

Mr. O'Donnell, I make no bones about it I think the Roman Catholic Church is about the worst thing that ever happened to Christianity. Your cover up by smear does nothing to improve that opinion. The Boy Scouts have dealt quickly and fairly when Child sexual abuse has occurred within it's Ranks ditto most Protestant Churches (and not every non Catholic Church is a Protestant Church). The reason the Catholic Church has had such opprobrium heaped upon its head is not that these things happen but rather because of how it chose to deal with these things when they did happen.

Your bias seems to be too anti-Catholic,Ms Thistlewhaite,not surprising an ephemeral background.Over many years before and after 1950 there have been numerous abuses against minors,and adults.These can be laid at the door of Catholics,but also against countless protestants.Many were related to non-denomination sources,such as social-care(sic).The protestant and social organisations seemed to have no problems with celibacy.Many employees were married,and are still married.
Look further at the incidence of abuse in the boy-scouts,girl-guides,boys-brigade,military cadets,Army,Navy,Air Forces etc etc.This is not a Catholic problem,but a moral,identity thing.
Catholics at least have brought it more into the open.
If you wish to comment on these matters properly,please do not cover only items M to Z.Start at item A and give a comprehensive coverage

What would you recommend they do?

weelllllll. Are you really sheddig light on what is going on or hiding it yourself.

What about the psychic sexual development of children under the care of a homosexual teacher all day for one year? If homosexuals state tht they cannoot relate to herterosexual teachers and they feel excluded, why not recognize that that is how how heterosexual children feel?

I think the presence of homosexuals in the primary and secondary grades, with children that are forming their sexual identity and whose sexuality is otherwise heterosexual will be influenced by a homosexual teacher.

It is not being nmean spirited it is being truthful and this reality needs to be addressed.

Blaming the wrong villain as usual Susan or in this case complex. Pedophilia is about power and abuse of power not sexual immaturity and who has more power in the Catholic church at the point of contact than the local Priest.

Although it appears that this particular question was studiously avoided, the John Jay Report (Feb. 2004) commissioned by the USCCB found that 81% of child (under age 18) victims of sexual abuse by priests were male. Hence, by a ratio greater than 4 to 1, the molestation is more likely to be perpetrated with a homosexual orientation. Pope Benedict XVI - and not for this reason alone - is exactly correct in wanting to rid the priesthood of homosexuals. It stands to reason that the acceptance of one sexual disorder (homosexuality) in the priesthood will lead to the acceptance of others (pedophilia or ephebophilia). This is not to disparage any efforts at pastoral ministry to homosexuals - but it is insane and criminal to place persons afflicted with this disorder in positions of trust working with children.

Dis Ms. Thistlewaite actually get paid to write this drivel? First, she sites to "many psychologists" to make one of her points. I could find "many" who agree with me too. Then, she builds her entire argument on a fantasy. Well over 80% of the abuse was pederasty, not pedophilia. These were homesexual men abusing physically mature boys over whem they were in a trusted position of authority. Our state governments better look closely at the causes of the Catholic sex abuse scandal before too many more children are "adopted" by homosexual couples.

This biology argument as a justification for unnatural behavior is empty. What will it mean when scientists find a biological cause of pedophilia?

Let's be honest here; the overwhelming majority of deviant behavior here was male on male. Overwhelming. This is not simply a pedophilia issue, there are clear homosexual overtones throughout. Immature, homosexual men join the priesthood hoping to repress their sexuality and then seek other immature males to express it.

So we are supposed to learn about the Catholic Church from a woman protestant? I have nothing against women ministers, one of my own religious teachers was a woman. But the Catholic Church has made the choice over the years to be run largely by men. It seems unlikely that a woman protestant will give us an account of the Church which is not biased. What are we going to have next? Have a rabbi write about Islam? How fair is he going to be?

Bill L - you need to brush up on your Latin. A dictum, as I stated, is a rule based on a stated opinion - in this case, a rule governing the practice of marriage for priests and nuns in the Roman Catholic church after Holy Orders have been taken. A major reason priests and nuns renounce their vows is to seek marriage, or because of a fundamental loss of faith, or both.

Celibacy is therefore a universal Church rule to be followed regarding the institution of Holy Matrimony as it pertains to priests and nuns - quite different from a Church doctrine, all of which originate from and are grounded in revelation & Divine Law - and are matter of faith.

Likewise, the Church stand against abortion and even birth control are based on Papal principles and rules that are designed to govern the behavior of the faithful apart from (but allegedly consistent with) official Church dogma (doctrines of the faith).

A true celibate is probably born, not made - and if of a religious persuasion, these individuals often can be found in meditative and contemplative environments e.g. cloistered orders, monasteries, convents, and so forth.

Thomas Merton, the well-known Trappist monk and author who resided in the cloistered Gethsemani monastery outside Louisville, KY before his untimely death in 1961 spoke of his own personal battle with the powerful desire for love and marriage in his biographical 'The Seven Story Mountain'.

Reasonably speaking, priests and nuns should be given the option of marriage - and it is very clear that homosexuality is not even remotely associated with pedophilia (although it is anathema to the Catholic Church).

Pedophilia is considered a primary form of sexual deviancy and is very hard to treat successfully. Unfortunately there are no tests or DNA screening procedures for these tendencies before afflicted individuals gravitate to environments that allow for the relatively protected expression of these proclivities. Maybe some day.

In my years of Catholicism, including grade school with the nuns, altar boy in two churches, etc. this kind of abuse was unheard of, much less anything I experienced personally. Clearly I was one of the lucky ones.

4000 priests have been "accused" - in the past 50 years with the operative word ACCUSED. Quite frankly, that's a very small number when you put it in context.

There isn't a day in this country when some teacher in the public school system isn't in the news for sexual abuse of a student or inapprorpriate behavior - or some step-father or mom's boyfriend isn't arrested. The vast majority of sexually abused children are abused by persons in their households.

You really need to put the Catholic church's past problem in a broader context.

Catholics try to blame the culture for their clergy's pedophilia. Non-catholics, like myself, have had no impact on catholics. From the top down Catholics own this problem completely.

The author completely ignores the Pope's statement on his flight to the United States that the problem of priestly abuse of minors is related to pedophilia. The Pope explicitly stated "I speak now of pedophilia, not homosexuality, which is different." Apparently the Author's canned criticism was in the pipeline so long, it wasn't worth changing to address the actual facts.

Thank you for final putting in print that pedophilia comes from sexually immature individuals who, because of this immaturity see children as emotional equals, and NOT homosexuals. When the problem is understood in this light it is much more distressing. How can sexually and emotionally immature priests counsel husbands and wives or anyone for that matter with this state of development. The poor understanding of human sexuality within the church and "climate of secrecy" basically makes it a beacon of safety for devout individuals who are ashamed of what they are feeling and is an environment where they will never be forced to deal with their sexual identity.

The abuse of children by Catholic priests, as we all know, has been horrendous. What was a worse sin, to my mind, is the extensive steps the Catholic Church has taken to protect those priests, the amount they were allowed to continue on even after superiors knew about problems, etc. The curia, and both this and the previous pope are complicit, because the fundamental cause of what has allowed this problem to go on for generations is the whole concept of the priesthood itself, and the Church's absolute willingness to protect the priesthood, both men and institution, at the cost of broken lives. If one teaches that men (and only men . . . and people say Islam is sexist) who have been ordained are closer to God, the only ones capable of carrying out sacraments, are "Fathers" to be obeyed, are granted the power to give or withhold access to the sacraments that they teach are necessary for salvation (why can't anyone baptize, give communion, perform marriages, etc.?) and one sets up an institution that protects these men no matter what they do, and then they use their power to hurt people, and you know about it and don't change the institution and its rules but in fact do nothing BUT protect the institution, one has gravely sinned. And there has yet to be any soul searching or contrition from the Pope or the Bishops that THEY THEMSELVES are the problem.

Oops, the list of crises in today's Catholic Church was from me.

Michael Morrissey,

Au Contraire!!! Nuns have sexually abused children. "Google" the subject and see for yourself.

The problem is not "deviant" sexuality, as society's definition of "deviant" is too often controlled by xenophobia. One need not be straight to be protective of children; indeed, being straight is no guarantee of not being a danger. Witness the number of heterosexual teacher-student cases in recent years (to which too often the reaction of a "protective" society has been to congratulate the child, a boy, for nailing a hot blonde).

The problem is predatory sexuality, whether gay or straight. That takes in any relationship in which one of the parties is in a superior position--teacher/stuent, boss/employee, priest/parishoner.

I might add that the brouhaha over gay marriage fits in here as well. If indeed we accept that homosexuality is a biological fact, and if homosexuals are denied the stability of a monogamous relationship supported by society, what message does that give except that they are expected to be promiscuous and predatory?

What part of "men" targeting "young boys" indicating "homosexual orientation" eludes you? Anyone conversant with the history of homosexuality from ancient Greece to the present realize that barring a few gays who decide to ape heterosexual adult-to-adult love norms, the homosexual ethos and underpinning philosophy is one of wise older guide with beautiful-bodied youth. It is naive to want to think otherwise, thus pinning your own heterosexual mindset on the radically different gay mindset.

Thank you for your clear and logical response to the Catholic Church's homophobic mentality. Will it ever change? Your statement that homosexuality is biological seems so elemental, yet the "brilliant" men ruling the church cannot come to grips with that. Thank you for speaking out. My Catholic son told me he "did not leave the church, the church left him." What can you say to that dear child of God?

But it was for reasons of economics, not religion, that the church embraced the concept of celibacy in order to avoid responsibility for widows of deceased priests or endanger the property holdings of the church. And I suppose the hatred of women (in anything other than a subservient position eg nuns)by these strange old men also helped. Surely the sensible thing is just to ignore these superstitious people and keep our kids well away from them. Without our support and money they will hopefully just go away.

Pedophilia seems to me to be a male sexual deviancy. The dictionary defines it as an abnormal sexual desire in an adult for children.

Nuns have been teaching in the Catholic schools for years. I never read about any incident where a nun was involved in violating young girls.

We should have female priesteses.

Celibacy is the problem. Ending it would benefit the church in more ways than one. Like ministers and rabbis, priests should be expected to marry. It would certainly aid them in pastoral work, as well as discourage child abusers from attempting to enter the priesthood

As long as we consider a good thing for a christian person not to have some kind of sexual responsible active life (we still have vows of chastity in religious orders, celibacy, etc.)we will not be able to address the issue of sexuality in a proper and sensible way. We will always have inmature and criminal people in our societies, but we must do all we can to change this situation. It´s sexuality, sexual love, as such the reality which all religions must accept as a gift of God. Every person has a right to have a good sexual education and a healthy, responsible sexual life in a society of adults according with their sexual condition and orientation. Pope, bishops, priests and religious people should set an example, otherwise sexual love and sexual practices will continue to be seen as something opposed to religious faith. Why should faith be put into practise to be authentic and not sexuality if it is a gift of God?

Yonkers, New York
20 April 2008

Ms. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite correctly asserts that the failure of the Catholic Church to successfully address the foremost problem confronting it is "...because Benedict himself, as well as the Vatican leaders, do not understand the root causes of priestly abuse of children, both boys and girls."

Homosexuality is not the root cause of the problem, as Ms. Thistleethwaite suggests; and that is the fatal mistake Benedict and the Vatican leaders are making.

If not homosexuality, then what is it?

Ms. Thistlethwaite unfortunately does not give us the answer.

The root cause of the problem, in my considered opinion, is Celibacy.

Celibacy, which is strictly forbidden of its priests by the Catholic Church, is against Nature.

Why is this so?

It is against Nature because Man is endowed with the primal drive to perpetuate the species through sexual intercourse. To make sure this happens, Nature has given man the hormone Testosterone, a pair of testicles, and a penis.

Try as it may, all that the Catholic Church can and will do to prevent further prestly abuse of children, both boys and girls, will prove to no avail.

Testoterone will inevitably always trump Celibacy.

The only real and effective solution is to allow priests to marry.

Mariano Patalinjug
MarPatalinjug@aol.com

Surely it is the responsibilty of parents to simply keep their children well away from Catholic priests. These strange men are clearly not to be trusted and, according to what we now know, never have been. It is a shame to tar the innocent ones with the same brush of guilt, but surely the safety of our children comes before the hurt feelings of a few superstitious men.

For Concerned Christian Now Liberated."

I see you are now posting your same ol' musings under the "anonymous" moniker.

Try posting something new. You are undoubtedly a real pro at cut'n paste.

WaPo's story should have read, "Crises (pl) in Catholic America".

To wit:

The inappropriate conduct of many priests, the emotional stress on the victims and the resultant billion dollars in lawsuits.

The lack of talent in the priesthood.

The lack of Vatican response to the historic Jesus movement.

The Church's continuing cling to original sin and the resulting subsets of crazy ideas like limbo.

The denial of priesthood to women.

The restriction of priesthood to single men (unless you are former Episcopalian priests),

And the continued chain of Vatican "leadership" by old European white men.

the church is about one hundred steps from this computer. there is a chorus in the church. i walked in the garden and went to the door. the door was open and there was a carol sang, music was coming out of the door to the garden. there are purple flowers on the plants.

One thing that seems to have been missed in all the discussion is that this is a "problem" that the church has had since forever. By now, priests have almost come to regard it as one of the perks of being a priest, to have access to little kids to satisfy their warped cravings. For society to now condemn that behavior almost amounts to breach of contract.

I really don't know how this can ever be resolved without destroying the catholic church as we know it. The rules for priesthood result in a self selection process by those least apt to be mature individuals. I know at least tangentially probably two dozen priests and I can think of only a couple, both of them antiwar resisters, whom I would regard as being normal people. The rest were varying degrees of weird.

I suspect that there will be an outburst of calumny against Rev. Thistlethwaite on the part of deeply orthodox catholics for her comments on the issue, but the fact remains that homosexuality and pedophilia are not related. The present campaign in the church against gay priests is misdirected and given that I am sure many people have told the Vatican that it is misdirected, I have to conclude that the misdirection is on purpose, similar to Bush invading Iraq for his own reasons after being told time and again that his stated reasons were invalid.

Diagnostic Criteria for Pedophilia

Pedophilia, included in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) since 1968, continues to be classified as a mental disorder. The DSM is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals and provides clear, objective descriptions of mental illnesses, based upon scientific research. Pedophilia is categorized in the DSM-IV-TR as one of several paraphilic mental disorders. The essential features of a Paraphilia are recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors that generally involve nonhuman subjects, children, or other non-consenting adults, or the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one’s partner.

An adult who engages in sexual activity with a child is performing a criminal and immoral act and this is never considered normal or socially acceptable behavior. Darrel A. Regier, M.D.,M.P.H., Director, American Psychiatric Association’s Division of Research states, “there are no plans or processes set up that would lead to the removal of the Paraphilias from their consideration as legitimate mental disorders.”

The American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria for Pedophilia (302.2) are:

1. Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger);

2. The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty;

3. The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A.

Pedophilia generally is treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. The therapy may be prescribed alone or in combination with medication. Some examples of medications that have been used include anti-androgens and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Relapse prevention is also emphasized. However, the outlook for successful treatment and rehabilitation of individuals with Pedophilia is guarded.

© Copyright 2003 American Psychiatric Association

The Washington Post and Newsweek are both tabloid rags!!!

"Crisis in Catholic America" is how they present the visit of the pope??? (not to mention they post the worst picture of Benedict they can find for this section...)

Who owns these things?

Want good coverage of the pope's trip - head to the NYTs or even Fox...

The article of Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is inaccurate, misleading and thus vile. I agree fully with the post of 'This Reverend is Deeply Immoral'. And I cannot but conclude that Thislethwaite deliberately abuses the scandal for her own agenda. How sad. And sick.

The article of Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is inaccurate, misleading and thus vile. I agree fully with the post of 'This Reverend is Deeply Immoral'. And I cannot but conclude that Thislethwaite deliberately abuses the scandal for her own agenda. How sad. And sick.

EXPELLED the movie:

Its worth the price of admission to see Ben Stein and Richard Dawkins chat about ID near the end of the film.

Rev. Thistlethwaite:

Can you substantiate any of your wildly implausible claims here? "Near total failure to protect children?" Please. There were certainly bishops who replaced people in ministry and should not have. But the idea that the statistics bear out anything like the claims you propound here is manifestly absurd, and you should be deeply ashamed for such calumny.

Further, where is the evidence that the problem is getting worse under Benedict? That is an astonishing and ridiculous claim. The Dallas meeting of the U.S. Bishops tells you plenty about how the problem is being addressed; criticize it if you like, but at least acknowledge its existence.

The plain fact is this, you wanted to write a cry from the heart for gays in the priesthood, and shamefully used the sexual abuse crisis as a platform, manipulating the pain of the victims to advance an entirely separate agenda. Your speculations ignore basic facts, both of the Pope's own statements this very week, as others have noted, and of well known facts like the post-Dallas policies.

If you do not write an apology and a clarification for this, then I hope at least your tradition affords you the chance to confess in some fashion the grave and disgusting injustice you perpetrate here, whether by will or sheer incompetence.

Here's another fact, by the way. In 1986, under then-Cardinal Ratzinger, the Church formally acknowledged that there is such a thing as constitutive homosexuality. It came in a well publicized CDF letter to the bishops. Perhaps they don't have the Google at your theological union, or any other research tools whatever. You might want, however, to consult with a real academic or informed theologian next time you decide to put pen to paper on this or any topic. A college freshman would be expected to get such a basic fact correct. What should we expect of you?

It should be deeply embarrassing to this author and to the Washington Post, at this late hour of the Holy Father's visit to the States, to publish a piece that has been so thoroughly contradicted by his own actions, beginning with the plane ride over, on which he precisely and explicitly distinguished the pedophilia crisis from homosexuality. Couldn't manage to edit here in the age of the internets, Rev.?

But then, the Post's efforts this week have managed to highlight so many stale and addled criticisms of the Church, most of which seem to have been formulated on the day Benedict was elected and not dusted off, let alone revised, since, that embarrassment is far too much to ask at this point. I guess we can just be glad that nobody will bother devoting a special web section to the Reverend Brooks Thistlethwaite's next trip anywhere, and rightly so.

There is a buty in sex. Dirty attachments with sex are due to our personal experiences. Let education play its part to help us understand truths about sex.

This bishops' own studies indicate that homosexual priests were at least one hundred times more likely to abuse the young than heterosexuals. Whatever the issue of the "fact" of being gay, that's the fact of the homosexual clerical abuse scandals.

Source: John Jay Report, released by the US Catholic Bishop's Conference

The author is embarrassing herself by engaging in circular reasoning and double speak. She knows well that homosexuality is indeed the problem. Homosexuality is, by definition, deviant. Once a person gives in and indulges such deviance, there is nothing to stop that person from extending the deviance and pursuing opportunities that provide the least challenge.

For a priest, the easiest prey is a child of his parish, or school, or wherever he works. He wihses to pursue deviant sexual behavior, but wishes it to be secret. He also wants to minimize chances for rejection. A young boy is the perfect candidate.

The author likely knows this, but her alliances with the LGBT community force her to come up with almost laughable arguments.

Other denominations and other social organizations do have the same problem. The Catholic Church is a large entity so 1% of our clergy as a big number. Clericalism and official secrecy made matters worse, though, as they moved known abusers around from one parish to another with too little accountability for too long a time.

I am personally in favor of married and women priests but they are not the solution (maybe to other problems but not to this one). The people in the pews grew too accustomed to "letting father do it" and were not involved enough. This is still the situation in some places but I have met and worked with many priests and religious who take very seriously their role as servant, not master, of the congregation.

Prespective, priestly celibacy is not a doctrine! It is a practice. Nor is it the crux of the problem! The John Jay study, along with others show that the average child molester is the married man.
Other denominations do indeed have the same problem! They are not as large as the Catholic Church to bring media attention.

It is progressive attitudes that brought this failure of priestly commitment! The "whatever floats your boat" and judge nothing attitude along with the disrespect of holiness among the Catholic leadership is the crux of the problem!

The Church dictum against priestly marriage is the crux of the pedophelia problem - a doctrine that has flown in the face of human nature for all these years. We see this problem nowhere else in Christiandom to such a magnitude.

The Episcopalians and the Russian/Eastern Catholic traditions are offshoots of the Roman Catholic faith traditionally and doctrinally speaking, but do allow for priestly marriage. End of problem - this is another Church doctrine that is anti-productive and perversively anti-human in the extreme.

This problem will not go away until the doctrine against priestly marriage goes away. Benedict is an ultra-conservative and this visit is a total smoke screen against the pressing reforms that are needed in Roman Catholicism.

For all the pomp and circumstance, nothing will change until a progressive Pope is elected. The Church will continue to lose membership in the modern West until such time as this occurs.

Speed, I think the point of the column is that Benedict has, indeed, been saying all the right things and acting as if he understands the problem profoundly -- at least during this trip. She is hoping, as are many faithful Catholics, that his actions in addressing the problem will go beyond what the Vatican has done officially so far.

I trust that the pope will provide the worldwide leadership that is needed in this area. After all, this did not only happen in the United States, where we have a culture that is comfortable questioning authority (not always a good thing, but a net positive in this case).

It was so tragic that the one institution that had the best chance of slowing the rush to war in Iraq was busy with a sex abuse scandal in March 2003. Until we invaded Iraq, I thought the priest sex abuse scandal had begun and ended in the 1980s with the many cases that were brought to light then.

Catholicism is the antisemitism of the left? Not if you define your terms accurately. Antisemites hate Jews. Leftists don't hate Catholics. Leftists, like me, may be strongly critical of Catholic doctrine and practice, or of the Church's political and ideological positions. That does not equal anti-Catholicism or anything akin to antisemitism. It means that ANY ideological system is open to critique, including that of the Catholic Church.

on this Monday, i met a paper on the door of the french catholic church in the very center of this city, Bursa, and tomorrow at 11 AM there shall be a mass, the priest is protestant.

once a year a catholic priest comes for a mass, also for the churches in the surrounding villages. there are individual germen couples in the municipility, we come together and i show addresses on their guide books. there are teachers of English too.

Sun Express has flights here, we are with St George and St Nicholas, also St James the Reader and St Matthias of MAy 14th too.

Knife is to my throat first, then to other throats, with rich velvet in my mouth. in this city was Velvet first woven. the softest and thickest cloth a tailor could weave, with the Talent of Andreas.

"the Man Who Bakes Bread with Candle Light and Cooks Meal in the Hearth" is in Bursa and Malatya too.

for the spiritual cancer in the ministry, Abrahamic "Son of Jacob" Israelian Faith, i had offered Joseph Ratzinger to put his own sculpture to the Stick for the Ceremony. he shall then know who Abraham "wrestling with the angel, sweating and chilled to be a child" is.

is this the basics of Baptism? iron to steel first then to sword in fire and water. a different version. from the "knife and sword" family.

PS - it is said that anti-Catholicism is the antisemitism of the Left....

Did you pay attention to the pope's comments on the plane, Susan?

He stated that the problem was pedophilia NOT homosexuality...

I guess actually listening to the people you criticize would diminish your bias/stereotypes and, for a "liberation" theologian like yourself, that would never do.