What is deal with all the scandals in the Catholic religion.?

Question

i have nothing agianst catholics but i would be intrested in getting an opinion from a catholic on this subject. is this just a sign of the times or has this been a problem that has been coverd up for years.

Answer 1

There are 1.1 billion Catholics in the world. Each one of them is a human being and a sinner, even the priests, bishops, and pope.

With this number of people, there will always be somebody who is stupid, sick and/or evil.

The media also seems to give extra coverage to anything bad that happens in the Church.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Well, I think the key problem with the child molestation scandal wasn't the activity of the priests themselves, although that was horrific enough. It had to do more with the wholesale covering up of these crimes, paying off the victim's families, and then quietly moving the priest to another parish where he could do the same thing all over again. And this didn't happen a few times. According to the Church's own reckoning, it happened with thousands of priests over the past 40 years.

That's not to say that clergy of other denominations could not do the same thing. But I think it's safe to say that, if similar action of a clergy was uncovered by just about any other denomination, the offender would have been defrocked and reported to the police immediately.

In fact, even after the scandal broke and the US church admitted guilt, Catholic churches in other parts of the globe have committed similar outrages. In fact, a Salesian priest in Australia pled guilty to child molestation last year. But before he began serviing his sentence, the church whisked him away to Tonga which had no extradition treaties with Australia. Which means the church is not really repentent, the most important requirement to be forgiven.

Answer 3

People incorrectly assume that, since God Himself founded the Church and that He Himself is perfect, that the people in His Church must be perfect too.

These people have to remember that we're all sinners; clergy and laymen alike. People are not automatically shielded from sin when they become priests or nuns. They encounter the same temptations, and sin, the rest of us do.

Catholics and non-Catholics alike need remember that while the Doctrine of the Catholic Church is sound, the people who populate the Church are not. This should not be surprising to anyone with an iota of honest knowledge of the bible. "The tares grow among the wheat."

There has never been an age when the Catholic Church was not under some threat; from inside the Church as well as from outside.

Logically, there's no reason why the Church should still be in existence after some of the events the Church as endured in the past, particularly the early persecutions. Yet, the Church not only survives - it thrives!

Elegant proof of a Divine origin through God.

Answer 4

Welllll.... I work for an insurance company that insures an Archdiocese. We have many claims dating back to the 60s and 70's. Federal Court passed the law recently that the statute of limitations can only go back 2 years, so 99.9% of these cases are getting thrown out.

I don't understand why the catholic church is the one getting the blame. we're not the only religion to have "men of god" molesting children. I wish the media would open their eyes to that and start covering the other pastors and reverends of other religions and their accusations.

I don't take it as a sign of the times. I take it as someone being very bored and starting crap that could possibly get them some money.

Answer 5

Which scandals (plural) are you referring to?

If you mean the scandal involving priests committing sex abuse against young people, that's old news. I don't mean that it was a news item three years ago -- I mean that the vast majority of the sex abuse you read about happened at least 20 years ago.

There are very, very few cases of this happening right now. That's why, whenever we read of cases of sex abuse involving Catholic priests, the story invariably reads something like, "The 43-year-old man alleges that Fr. So-and-So molested him when he was 12 years old."

Do the math there, and we're talking about an over-30-year-old case. Most of the cases are like that.

This means that in recent years, the Church has cleaned up its act in ways that other institutions working with kids have not.

The public-school systems' record when it comes to sex abuse makes the Catholic priesthood scandal look like a walk in the park.

Yet for political and agenda-driven reasons, it's the Church that gets singled out for a problem that, tragically, exists in all segments of society.

Answer 6

I think that when any human orginazation has been around as long as the Roman Catholic Church, there is bound to be some trouble. Personally, I think that these issues HAVE been covered up for years, however, I believe that the recent scandles will prevent further abuses.

Despite all the trouble, I chose to become Catholic last year. The politics should not affect my choice of spirtuality.

Answer 7

As a Catholic, I am very disappointed in the Church hierarchy for covering up these abuses. As shepherd's of His flock, they have allowed wolfs to prey upon the weakest of the lambs.

The "why" of it will have to be decided in their own conscience.

The Lord can forgive all sins. I pray that the sinners seek forgiveness and repent. That said, I still have no problem with those individuals receiving an secular punishment as a means of atonement. The can remain as Priests. There are many congregations that are under-served. Prison ministries for example. Away from children.

Finally, at times, the institution of the Church supports us, it's members. At other times, it's members sustain it. I believe now is that time. Maybe it is time for some of the dogma of the Church to be relaxed.

God's peace to you all.

Answer 8

Muslims kill themselves because they believe that they are sacrificing their lives, Mormons were able to marry more than one person, other religions believe in harsh punishments for sinners such adulterants or murderers... Every religion has it's flaws. Catholics priests are seen as molesters and are stereotyped because some were caught. It does not mean that they all do it.... What do you believe is so wrong with our religion? I can pick out so many things about every other religion but for some reason Roman catholics seem to be the ones that get portrayed as wrongful believers or that we believe in things that are now being proven as truthful in church but we are not supposed to talk about them.... Every religion has its own beliefs and not everyone will understand it especially if you did not make your communion, or confirmation, or get married through a church. I am 22 years old and there are still some things that I do not understand about Catholicism....

Answer 9

There are scandals in any group. The Catholic Church has some tenets which don't fit the ideas of the modern journalist, e.g., opposition to abortion. This makes them a rather opportune target, and anything which would be on page 27 about some others, tends to be front page news.

Answer 10

I think there was some 'hint' about it since the 1960's when the 3rd Letter of the Fatima was supposed to have been disclosed to the public... Rumor had it that the lineage of the papal office was reaching its own 'end of days'. But take that with a grain of salt since it remains a rumor up to now.

The cover up has been around for eons... Why do you think our historians called it the "Dark Ages"?? Lots of things were HIDDEN from the common man by the great and powerful church back then... and even now.

Peace be with you!