I don't wanna believe it but I have heard it from a variety of sources including friends and the Ranting Gryphon. Anyone KNOW if its true.
2007-04-20 10:59:47 · 18 answers · asked by crazytoad11 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
Um yes they have. Though the numbers seem to be down this year. WHY is this question in this section??????
EDIT: HERMANN. These were not Homosexual pedophiles. These were pedophiles. It is a class unto itself, it has nothing to do with the sex of the child, it had to do with their sick tendencies towards CHILDREN. Try reading sometime. It will do you a WORLD of good.
2007-04-20 11:02:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately, yes it is true. While the media, and somewhat more malicious sources want you to think it's the entire Catholic hierarchy that is at fault, the facts dictate that only 6% of clergy are in any way involved with the clergy sex scandal. Granted, that is still 6% too many but, again, the facts are not nearly as forboding as the anti-Catholic spin doctors lead people to believe.
2007-04-23 07:53:37 · answer #2 · answered by Daver 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, they have. But one has to understand that just because they are priests, it doesn't mean that they are perfect. Many people out there have mental illnesses such as that and others. The media also thrives on focusing on the negative, and since it is a hot topic lately, it will be exposed in such a manner. This has actually been going of for hundreds of years, but the Catholic church hid it, as did the victims.
2007-04-21 03:20:29 · answer #3 · answered by alimon72 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it's true. It's especially problematic because the church will move them around, so they don't just damage one community, they can damage many.
I'll see if I can find a link here hmmm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cases_of_child_sexual_abuse_in_the_Roman_Catholic_Church
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_sex_abuse_cases
There's 2 for you.
Basically priests aren't immune to sin. We actually had a priest here in my city that was about to go up on charges for child sexual abuse and he died before they could.
But they're a minority, and the problem is with the church's dealing of it, moving them around, not really accomplishing much. They need a better way to deal with it.
Most catholic priests are fine though, and don't deserve to get lumped in with the abusers. If you do this, it's profiling, and it's not fair to the good priests that do lead by example.
So it's not worth losing your faith over a few bad apples.
PS: As a sidenote, homosexuality and pedophilia are different, never confuse the 2, they're not interchangeable.
2007-04-20 18:29:56 · answer #4 · answered by Luis 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Catholic here:
Have a small number of priests molested children? Yes.
Have a number of protestant pastors molested children? Yes.
Have atheists molested children? Yes.
Have Muslims molested children? Yes.
Have Jews molested children? Yes.
Why did I bring up so many different people? I'm tired of people stereotyping priests as child molesters. I also want this labeling to stop and for people to pull their head out of the anti-Catholic propaganda and realize that people of all races and all religions are guilty of pedophilia, even women.
My point? We need to grow stronger in our faith and pray to put a stop to this sin that damages so many lives with so many people.
God bless.
2007-04-23 18:17:38 · answer #5 · answered by Danny H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some have been convicted of it. Others have been protected from prosecution by the Catholic Church.
Take note that not all priests molest children and hermann is wrong about homosexuals and pedophilia.
2007-04-20 18:12:02 · answer #6 · answered by castle h 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am from the UK and such a lot of them, not just catholics have been thrown out of the church and sent to prison for molesting children. You are supposed to put your trust in these people but they let you down all the time. One of the biggest abusers of children is fred phelps in the states and he is a pastor.
2007-04-20 20:05:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Haven't you ever seen any of the stories on like Dateline or 20/20 or any place like that? A lot of times the priests actually admit it once they are confronted by autorities or their victims. My theory is this - years ago before there was a lot of pedophiles who went into the priesthood to try to "fight the urge" Also, being gay wasn't acceptable like it is now, so a lot of gay men went into the priesthood for the same reason. Ultimately, some of them ended up abusing teenage boys because that's what they had access to. Because of how strict society was back then we ended up with a lot of future abusers in the priesthood. Now that it's acceptable to be gay, have you noticed how much of a shortage of priests there is!?! Also, pedophiles are able to get their sicko needs met through internet porn and abduction/molestation so they no longer go into the priesthood to try to "fight their demons" (With regard to the comment about gay priests, I am in no way "gay bashing" - my brother was gay (he died in 1995) and catholic and this was his theory to begin with!!)
2007-04-20 18:36:06 · answer #8 · answered by AGT 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are some leaders in every denomination that molest children. Yes, some are Catholic priests. But not all molesters are homosexual. Most child molestors are heterosexual men.
2007-04-20 18:30:23 · answer #9 · answered by Busta 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes they do, but keep in mind that most heterosexual males are sexual predators and pedophiles. Homosexuals rarely molests boys or girls.
Now that there has been few of them now, things are getting slightly better. But they are still there.
Never, ever, ever, ever lump pedophiles with homosexuals. That is a terrible myth meant to spread hatred and violence.
2007-04-20 18:38:33 · answer #10 · answered by mystic_lonewolf22 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋