"Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn repeated a warning this week that he has leveled at lawmakers for months: If the statute of limitations on child sex-abuse lawsuits is temporarily lifted, as pending state legislation proposes, a cascade of very bad things will happen.
His Roman Catholic diocese and others will go bankrupt. Bishops like him will be forced to close churches and schools. And wrathful constituents will punish the politicians who, in his view, will have made this all happen."
Jesus would declare bankruptcy, close up shop, rebrand himself and start a new movement under a different name.
If you’re selling a great product that everyone must have, why does branding matter? Sure, it’ll take some time to recover his original momentum, but the product should sell itself, no?
It seems like there is a stereotype of pedophile priests.
I wonder if there is ACTUALLY a higher percentage of priests that are pedophiles in comparison to other jobs. If so, I wonder why that is? Perhaps it’s because some pedophiles that were raised in a Christian society and were taught Christian values would like to gain a closer relationship to god, so that he will save them from their sinful urges? I think that might be the case. I’ve also noticed that many very religious Christians (many, not all, not most, but many, as in much more than one that I’ve seen) seem to behave a bit similarly to homosexuals (in manner of speech, interests, movement, etc.). These people may be actual in-closet homosexuals, or they may only behave similarly but for different reasons, but if a lot of them are actually in-closet homosexuals, then I’ve always thought that it might be for the same reason. If you grow up with urges to do things that you have been convinced were wrong (whether they are wrong or not), you are probably likely to strive to rid yourself of your constant sinful-urges, and do so by trying harder to live your life in a manner that you have been convinced was right (whether or not the manner actually is right), and hopefully, with the power of your righteous life, your sinful urges will disappear.
To avoid conflict, this was not meant as an offense to any group of people, and is not meant to hint at my opinions on Christians, homosexuals, pedophiles, atheists or any other group of people. It is merely an attempt at offering a potential explanation for why things are the way they may appear to be. If anyone wishes to argue about any of my statements, please keep this in mind.
Catholic Church operating a Pedophile Protection Racket
The Bishop and the Catholic Church are trying to avoid paying for their sins.
No one has said priests are more likely to be pedophiles.
But the Catholic Church conspired to protect priests from persecution, and discouraged parents from reporting whenever it came to their attention.
As a consequence of the Catholic Church operating a Pedophile Protection Racket, these priests went on and on and on molesting children. Whereas another pedophile without protection would occasionally have to cool it or do some jail time, these men were simply transfered to another parish where they could continue victimizing children at top speed.
There are MANY victims out there, seeking justice, and the Catholic Church has always supported, and continues to support, Injustice for Victims of Pedophile Priests.
Maybe that is because the men don’t measure up to the culturally appreciated he-man image…?
They should just get married. Man was told by God to reproduce, so why should men, especially if they are God’s priests, not produce offspring? It is just silly to prohibit them from being married. Hey, the first “pope” was married, and he talked with Jesus face to face.
The fact that these priests are not married and thus do not have that outlet for their passions does not mean they are any less guilty for acts of pedophilia. They still have wronged the child, themselves, and everyone else involved in the mix.
To clarify, I was not suggesting that that is what they should do. I was suggesting that THEY may seek a closer relation to the lord so that they can feel as though they may be saved, and so that they can feel better about themselves in regards to their own righteousness and general security in other areas. Not saying it’s going to help them, I’m just saying that may be why they may turn to Christianity. From what I’ve seen, people will often do all they can to ignore truths about themselves that they do not accept, and if that means becoming a priest and speaking against others that have the same inner-demons, then they will do it.
Why do u pick on Catholics? The same issues follow Jews, Islam,Buddist and Mosulem religions. The Bishop is only stating facts ;not preventing a cause of action.
Paul said that marriage was more or less a distraction to serving God full time and whole-heartedly. (For a woman, she would have to be concerned about her husband’s needs and therefore could not give herself fully to certain Christian work.) However, Paul did not say that marriage was wrong. He would prefer that everyone would be like him, but did not command a celibate life.
Why would Jesus have gotten married if he knew that he was going to die before he reached mid-life?
Well, to be fair, you should follow the link if you want to read the full “justification” part that I left off of the quote. (It’s common in written communication to state a conclusion upfront before providing support for the conclusion.)
All I saw were further quotes from the same story, and some interpretation of said story. I didn’t really read anything that appeared to be independent thought and/or analysis of the issue in the context of contemporary society. Kinda left me hungry for more.
What kinda raised the red flag for me was this passage: “To despise celibacy, therefore, is to undermine marriage itself”
That kinda reads like “either you support the war, or you support the terrorists”
I don’t think that was the point of the article. The point is to oppose the two extreme positions and say that celibacy and marriage are both good according to the Bible and a Catholic point of view.
Here is the larger context of what you quoted. The “therefore” refers to the previous sentences that say that “celibacy presupposes the goodness of marriage.”
