To those of the Catholic faith: How do you feel ?

Question

about having 1.5 billion dollars of your tithes going towards paying off the settlements for the molesting of (mostly) young boys whose lives were ruined?
Your children!
And the church would just move the offenders to another parish!

Wow!
No sympathy for the victims here!
I see the Catholic church has probably covered this in a sermon!
Well, there have been some victims that won't just be moving on with their lives-it wrecked them so bad that they've killed themselves.

Answer 1

I am not Catholic, I am Mormon but I do know it is not the good God fearing people of the Catholic faith that the problem lies with. Tithing is the new sacrifice that the lord has asked his people to do. The reason why is to show that you are more interested in God than money. He also blesses you with more than you paid in tithing. Ask your self have you ever seen any one who starved because they paid tithing? I believe it shows great love for the lord and true faith that they do pay under those conditions.

Answer 2

I feel very blessed to be a Catholic and yes, there have been SOME abuses by SOME members of the clergy over the past 20 years but that in no way negates all the holy and wonderful priests and religious who have dedicated their very lives in service to Jesus Christ, for His people and His church. Those issues have come to light and are now being taken care of and the offenders being called to answer for their horrendous acts, which is as it should be. The past cannot be changed but the story doesn't end there. God can bring good out of even the worst of situations so the fact that someone's life is ruined is not an issue in that sense because it is only ruined to the extent that they do nothing but lament the situation. They can find positive meaning in their lives if they are so inclined to do so. It is so much easier to blame a priest for your life being a mess than to look within and know you can change things with God's help. I think a lot of the "victims" are content with living in hatred and being victims for the rest of their lives and doing nothing about it. God alone can heal their wounds but most prefer to sit in their self-pity and collect money. Many claims have also been proven false. Some priests have done this horrible thing, but many others haven't and have had their lives and reputations ruined as a result when they were innocent of bogus charges against them.

Answer 3

It grieves me greatly that these bishops acted so irresponsibily. Now whenever someone sees a priest, they automatically think "child molester."

It also grieves me that the victims would drain the church of resources needed to feed the poor and minister to the needy. They have gone from victims to plunderers, no better than the priests that abused them.

Money will not heal their wounds.

It also grieves me that outsiders would use this tragic event to persecute the church.

Perhaps if the American Bishops would start following the pope's lead instead of trying to blaze their own trail this would never have happened. I'm sure bishops in other parts of the world would have handled it better.

Answer 4

Angered as I do not believe most of these are real. I was abused as a young child and trust me you do not forget nor do you ask for monetary payment. That is the same as prostitution. As for any young boys that were truly abused then I do feel horrible for them and pray for their healing. It does not have to ruin your life. As for the Churches treatment of the priests then no I think things could have been handled differently. Perhaps sent to a remote monastery for their lives as penance when and if they are guilty.