Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will pay $660 million in lawsuit settlements.?

Question

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will pay $660 million in lawsuit settlements to almost 500 people who were allegedly abused by clergy affiliated with the diocese.

How could God allow this to happen in a place of woship? What are your opinions on this with regards to placing your trust in your church?

Answer 1

God can't change the actions of an evil person. He can't reach down and hit the person on the head and say, "don't do that." The evil person does what he wants to do.

As for these evil priests, they were doing something they wanted to do and didn't care that they were destroying innocent lives. God had no control over them. They were not acting as God's representative. Anyone that purposely hurts a child, especially to satisfy their own pleasure, is pure evil!

Personally, I think Cardinal Mahoney also not been acting as "God's Representative" in this area. He has allowed this abuse to continue for many years. He seems to care more about the reputation of his church than for the innocent children that were molested.

I probably shouldn't express my opinion on this since I'm not Catholic. I just feel really bad for the children that were molested.

If this had happened in my church, I would have a hard time trusting anyone. However, I have heard of rare cases where inappropriate things happened. The individuals were dealt with swiftly and were turned over to the police.

I think that's what should have been done to these evil priests.

Answer 2

God NEVER said the Church would be shielded from Controversy.

Biblical teachings tell us that, in spite of the fact controversies can and do occur in the Church, we can still trust the Church's Infallible teachings of Faith and Morals:

Matt. 13:24-30 - scandals have always existed in the Church, just as they have existed outside of the Church. This should not cause us to lose hope in the Church. God's mysterious plan requires the wheat and the weeds to be side by side in the Church until the end of time.

Matt. 13:47-50 - God's plan is that the Church (the kingdom of heaven) is a net which catches fish of every kind, good and bad. God revealed this to us so that we will not get discouraged by the sinfulness of the Church’s members.

Matt. 16:18 - no matter how sinful its members conduct themselves, Jesus promised that the gates of death will never prevail against the Church.

Matt. 23:2-3 - the Jewish people would have always understood the difference between a person's sinfulness and his teaching authority. We see that the sinfulness of the Pharisees does not minimize their teaching authority. They occupy the "cathedra" of Moses.

Matt. 26:70-72; Mark 14:68-70; Luke 22:57; John 18:25-27 - Peter denied Christ three times, yet he was chosen to be the leader of the Church, and taught and wrote infallibly.

Mark 14:45 - Judas was unfaithful by betraying Jesus. But his apostolic office was preserved and this did not weaken the Church.

Mark 14:50 - all of Jesus' apostles were unfaithful by abandoning Him in the garden of Gethsemane, yet they are the foundation of the Church.

John 20:24-25 - Thomas the apostle was unfaithful by refusing to believe in Jesus' resurrection, yet he taught infallibly in India.

Rom. 3:3-4 - unfaithful members do not nullify the faithfulness of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

Eph. 5:25-27 - just as Jesus Christ has both a human and a divine nature, the Church, His Bride, is also both human and divine. It is the holy and spotless bride of Christ, with sinful human members.

1 Tim. 5:19 - Paul acknowledges Church elders might be unfaithful. The Church, not rebellion and schism, deals with these matters.

2 Tim. 2:13 - if we remain faithless, God remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself.

2 Tim. 2:20 - a great house has not only gold and silver, but also wood and earthenware, some for noble use, some for ignoble use.

Jer. 24:1-10 - God's plan includes both good and bad figs. The good figs will be rewarded, and the bad figs will be discarded.

1 Kings 6,7,8 - the Lord commands us to build elaborate places of worship. Some non-Catholics think that this is controversial and the money should be given to the poor, even though no organization does more for the poor of the world that the Catholic Church. We create our churches with beauty because Christ our King lives in the churches in the blessed Eucharist.

Matt. 26:8-9; Mark 14:4-5; John 12:5 - negative comments concerning the beauty of the Church are like the disciples complaining about the woman anointing Jesus' head with costly oil. Jesus desires that we honor Him with our best gifts, not for Him, but for us, so that we realize He is God and we are His creatures.

Matt. 26:10-11 - Jesus says we have both a duty to honor God and give to the poor - a balanced life of reverence and charity.

Answer 3

I think its wrong to expect payment because one has a sexual encounter with another human. That the other human was an ordained minister is of little consequence, they are still human. That any church would imagine payment in dollars aa a way to not change its stance on not allowing its ordained ministers a wife is ludicrous. They are supposed to know about sin and help others avoid its pitfalls and how can they when their living in denial of love? So the church must change something or die because its not changing anything by paying the offended.

Answer 4

I believe its unfortunate what happen. I however believe that child abusers come in all forms, Principles, Cops, Bus Drivers, and unfortunately Priest. I don't think there is a "test" they can give people to weed out these sickos so until they do they'll be lurking around the corner everywhere.

Answer 5

Do you Honestly think that with the Catholic history of torture, murder, rape etc, God would have anything to do with that organization? It's like saying that he is the leader of the Mafia! Jesus told us who would be the 'true christians' and he said that their actions would speak for themselves.

Answer 6

they will refuse to pay it as they have refuse to pay their supposed taxes to the government.. The place is s not a place of worship for the true christian religion. Catholics are not true christian. They only pretend to be christians.
jtm

Answer 7

the priests were men not gods. it calls into question many church policies - celibacy, homosexuality, cover-ups, etc

Answer 8

You're about 3 weeks too late...check "similar questions".

Answer 9

The question should be What's next??