Priest Allegedly Taped Having Sex with Teen

[Toulouse]

Are there any priest who haven't been embroiled in a sex scandal?

 

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/18/brazil.sexual.abuse/index.html?hpt=T2

 

Should the "celibacy rule" for priests be changed?

[CowboyUp]

End Celibacy Rule

 

I truly believe that if priests were allowed to be married and pursue male/female OR male/male relationships, the systemic abuse of Catholic children would be greatly reduced.

 

Not for a moment do I think an end to celibacy means and end to child abuse. But I believe the abuse would be greatly reduced by changing this archaic Vatican 'law'. And if ending this ONE 'law' saves ONE child from being sexually abused, I think its well worth it.

[+ Lucky]

The news is also full of reports of abuse in the Boy Scouts, and a cover-up there. So, it is not just the Church. In the past there seemed to be a culture where this was not taken as seriously as it would be today. Many of the people being faulted for their actions as administrators 20 or 30 years ago would act quite differently today.

[+ deej]

Yes, a lot has changed in the last 30 years.

 

The Church, the military, the schools, and the Boy Scouts (similarly closed societies, actually) are having scandals but it's because victims are more willing to speak out and demand justice than they used to be.

 

Remember, when you and I (and a lot of those reading) were young'uns even Cancer was whispered if the word was even said aloud. Rape and abuse victims were often encouraged to keep their "shame" secret, and if they did report it to police they often weren't taken seriously. ("Oh, she had it coming.")

 

I honestly don't think the abuses are new. I think society has just finally become willing to have them exposed and dealt with.

[+ Charlie]

I agree with deej. Back in the early 1960s, a cousin of mine, a single, middle-aged eagle scout leader for many years, was accused by a couple of scouts of having attempted to fondle them during a camping trip. The boys told only another scout leader, who told the scouts' administration. There was no police involvement, and the administration told him they would not expose him, provided he got married, and stopped taking the scouts on overnight trips. He immediately did what they asked, and no one but a few family members ever knew what had happened to cause him to suddenly marry a woman he had known as a platonic friend for years, and to lose interest in the camping trips that had been his great pleasure for so long.

[JackTwist]

Interesting story, Charlie. Seems like the Boy Scouts Headquarters and the Vatican are alike in the sense they think they're above the law and as long as they keep scandals covered-up, they will just fade away. Remember when the church requested that they be responsible for punishing the priests with no intervention from the outside?