How do you still trust the catholic church??

Question

hi,im just wandering how do you(Catholics) still trust your church. With all of the child molestation and rape. If i was a parent i would never send my child there. also i just heard of a priest stealing 3 million from the overing over a couple of years.how do you Trust the catholic church with you children and money?

Answer 1

I don't trust 'em.

I went out of curiosity in my younger days, attending masses with my friends, and that was enough for me.

The hypocrisy of casino night in the church, and bingo also had me questioning the "religion", although I do go to casino nights, since gambling anywhere else in the state of Ohio is illegal.

The pedophile priests molesting young boys is just the icing on the cake.

Edit: The bishops that hid those pedophiles are just as guilty as the pedophile priests who committed the acts.

Jack, you're making excuses, and zero tolerance of pedophiles is what I want to hear.

I'm of the belief that those who are good at making excuses are rarely good at anything else.

Answer 2

Are Catholic priests more likely to be pedophiles than the average person? I haven't seen data to this effect. I think the media just tends to report on them more often since they're somewhat public figures.
I don't where you got your figures. What exactly do you mean molestation and rape by many? Less 1% of the total number of priests were convicted of the crime. Is that many?

Less than 1% of the 405,067 Priests have been accused. Do not blame all the Priests there are a lot of good honest Priests in the world
Look into other Churches you will find the percentage is much higher

Statistically, they're not. In fact, per capita, pedophilia is more prevalent among non-clergy. When priests do it, it just makes for a better news story.
For the same reason you find them as scout leaders, day care workers, teachers, jocks, little league, access...but they are never a majority....

They are not pedophlies. They are homosexuals. The abuse was not pedophilia, it was homosexual. The priests did not molest little girls. They molestated teenage boys. The Catholic Church made the mistake of allowing immature gay men to be priests. The American church needs to stop letting gay men be priest .

Answer 3

Here's the thing:
You confuse the Church with its followers. Unless its written in the Catechism, it's not our belief. You can't judge an organization or religion based on its members/followers. There are and have been tons of evil people on Earth: Christians, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and Atheists. Sin infects us all. First of all its an EXTREMELY low percentage of priests that have been accused of child molestation. You just hear about it because they're priests. There aren't very many, especially compared to the amount of priests worldwide(1,005,254,000). If the Church added something to its Catechism endorsing child molestation or anything of the such I obviously would not trust it. But that's not the case, the Church OF COURSE condones the actions of a few. Remember cellibacy is a huge self-sacrifice. It's extrodinary to me that anyone can take on that burden. Obviously some are overcome by sin, and nastily some of that sin is child molestation. Trust the Church, educate your children on what is or isn't appropriate, and then have no fear on sending your child to a Catholic Church or school. Remember there's a MUCH higher rate of child molestation among the non-priest population of adults than the priest population. There's a higher chance of such a thing happening from a random person(friend/spouce/etc.) than a priest. But even IF most priests were child-molesters it wouldn't be a vaild reason to me to distrust the Church, because this is not the belief of the Church. If the Church theoritically changed its Cathechism and "legalized" child molestation by priests which believe me is not happening as if violates moral law and the law of cellibacy, but IF that did happen then whatever Council made that decree made the church they were in, not the true Church founded by St. Peter by the order of Christ Jesus. Hope I answered your question.

Answer 4

The question should be: Do you still trust the Catholic clergy?

I do still trust the church but I do not trust some of those who claim to be practitioners of the faith. Besides, a church with over 2000 years of history should not alone be judged on some incidents that have only been given large amounts of attention to in the US.

I've heard of the rapid rise of evangelical protestant chruches in latin america where the clergy basically extorted millions off the already impoverished population yet have not taken fire from any source outside latin america.

If you feel doubtful about the safety of your child maybe you should try visiting a congregation lead by an Irish or Filipino priest. I can honestly say that I've had the pleasure of meeting quite a number of them and they're good people... and besides, my formerly gay uncle is now a catholic priest and only regrets one thing... not having children of his own.

Answer 5

Do you trust public school teachers? Scout leaders? Police officers? What about fathers and stepfathers? There have been cases of child molestation by all these people groups. Catholic priests are mostly very good people who are no more likely to abuse a child than you are.

And no good parent simply "sends" their child to church. We *take* our kids to church. They are with us at all times. We do send them to school, Catholic school, where there are policies in place to protect kids, like extensive background checks of all adults who have contact with kids and rules that prevent children from ever being alone with an adult.

As for the money situation, it's the same thing. You have a small percentage of people committing crimes in ANY walk of life. A priest is not immune to temptation simply because he is a priest. Priests are just guys, sinners, people who make mistakes and sometimes people who make HORRIBLE mistakes. What can I say? We live in a fallen world, and I'm not perfect, either. I try to stay vigilant, I protect my kids and I look out for my clergy, because that's how you have to do it.

Answer 6

In every population of human beings are going to a few sick or evil people who commit horrible crimes, even in the Church.

These few terrible people do not negate the faith, hope and love of over one billion Catholics.

Remember that the Church is not the Church hierarchy or the priests. The Church is God and His relationship with over one billion living Catholics on Earth and God only knows how many in heaven, all of whom make up the Body of Christ.

Remember that political scandals in nations, even up to and including the highest leaders, like President Nixon and the Watergate scandal, do not make the nation as a whole wrong, immoral, or worthless. And the Catholic Church is so much holier and more important than any nation.

With love in Christ.

Answer 7

Did you know that Protestant ministers have a higher incidence of molestation of their parishioners (children and women) than Catholic priests? Yep, it's true -- just do a Google search.

Did you also know that Protestant ministers have stolen large sums of money from their churches in the past? That is also a fact.

So should we do away with all churches because there are bad eggs in both the Catholic and Protestant denominations? Personally, I think that would be punishing the innocent with the guilty. Both Catholic and Protestant churches run homeless shelters, food pantries, clothing and furniture banks for victims of tragedies, soup kitchens, orphanages, and homes for the elderly.

I'd hate to see all those things disappear just because some clergymen have done bad things to some people. And for every bad priest or minister, there are hundreds more who love God and serve Him by caring for His people. How about focusing on the good ones as well as the bad for a change?

Answer 8

Take a look at the percentage of the population that commits molestation of a child & of those that commit rape, or crimes like embezzlement & fraud. Now take a look at the percentage of the priestly population that molested a child or committed rape, fraud or embezzelment. Depending on world population numbers or U.S. population numbers used in comparison, you will find the results weighing more heavily on the general population, & much thinner in the priestly population (looking at percentages obviously, sheer numbers would be thousands to one in comparison). You will always find someone that circumvents the rules, fails to follow the law of the land -- we are human after all & we have our failings. Priests are no different. It takes someone very special to become a priest, to devote themselves entirely to a life of God & service to others. So when you find the few who break from that devout exterior, they are the ones whom you read about in the newspapers.

I would estimate about 99 percent of all priests (maybe that's a little high -- OK, realistically, make that 98 or 97 percent then) are of the "proper" material and mindset to live a life devoted to God and service to His people. When that one percent falls out of the confines & structure of what it takes to be a good Catholic priest, the numbers of people affected by such a drastic change climbs as the story is "advertised." Yes, I continue to support the Catholic Church in every aspect of my life & more importantly, my faith.

Answer 9

The Roman Catholic church is hardly the first religious institution to be plagued by scandal. The list of abuses by church officials of all denominations could fill volumes. The thing to keep in mind, at least I do anyway, is that any and all man-made institutions are, by definition - flawed. Only God is perfect. Are there problems - you bet. But that comes with being part of the human race. My definition of "church" goes way beyond who the members of the clergy are and whatever sins and transgressions they are culpable for. Priests are human beings and guilty of sin just like you and me...but that is not the point. For me, my definition of church includes the community I celebrate mass with, participating in the sacramental life of the church, the outreach that we are involved with and developing my personal relationship with God. So, I prefer not to throw the baby out with the bath water and recognize and be thankful for all the good things that the church does. This does not mean ignoring the problems - it means accepting the fact that there are bad people in the Catholic Church just like there are across the rest of the population.

Answer 10

I am not Catholic. But I do know you are free to stay away from them if you wish. You can keep your children away from the Catholic church also. But other than that, you are sticking your nose into other people's business. Aren't you one of those who whines about fundamentalists sticking their noses into your business? Hmmmmmm?