The Vatican appears in need of a serious media consultant. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the UN, has issued a defense that boils down to insisting that implicated priests were not pedophiles but homosexuals who liked young boys — and besides no more than five percent of priests had sex with children . . . and Jews and Protestants do it more.
Tomasi made his confrontational statement following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, insisting only 1.5%-5% of Catholic clergy were involved in child sex abuse. Tomasi seems to think that the faithful can rest assured that the likelihood that the priest will sexually assault your child is only 5 out of every 100 priests. Those are odds that are viewed as more than adequate in Vegas.
He also insisted that it is more likely that your child will be abused by Protestant or Jewish religious leaders — making the Catholic Church a virtual safe zone if you are going on purely the average likelihood of a rape. That could lead to a new campaign: “Go Catholic: We are Statistically Less Likely to Rape Your Child.”
Besides, Tomasi insisted “[o]f all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90% belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17.” He insisted most of the accused priests are homosexuals who simply liked younger partners.
The angry response came after Keith Porteous Wood of the International Humanist and Ethical Union accused the Church of covering up child abuse and being in breach of several articles under the Convention on the Rights of the Child: “The many thousands of victims of abuse deserve the international community to hold the Vatican to account, something it has been unwilling to do, so far. Both states and children’s organizations must unite to pressure the Vatican to open its files, change its procedures worldwide, and report suspected abusers to civil authorities.”
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I have many celibate friends Elaine, they are not married, maybe they never will be. They are celibate by choice and still have know interest in underage children. I have heard this argument it is not very strong. Their is no “statistical correlation” that “celibacy” leads to “pedophilia”. I would love to see the data and empirical proof to substantiate this position. You will be looking in vain..
billy,
Gay people are attracted to other people of the same sex. Pedophiles are sexually attracted to children. There is a difference. In fact, many pedophiles are attracted to children of the opposite sex.
I wish the Catholic Church would consider allowing priests to marry and ordaining women priests. Maybe then there would be fewer pedophiles among their ranks.
Billy,
No, by definition they’re known pedophiles. Attraction to a child of either gender is not the same as attraction to an adult of the same gender.
Thats’ why I love this “think tank”. Divergent thinking is the order of the day.
I agree Gyges, once these priests turn “rotten”, they should be “out”! Period! How do you think this problem can be ameliorated before it even starts?
The Church should never have ordained these homosexuals in the first place.
Sadly Gyges, these known child-abusers are known homosexuals..
Billy,
By far the vast majority homosexuals are attracted to adult members of the same sex. I’ll let others elaborate on just how wrong your statement is.
A MUCH more effective change in policy would be for the Catholic church to stop putting known child abusers in positions where they can abuse children.
Many bishops don’t want to admit that “active homosexual” men are a problem because “they” themselves are homosexuals! The proclivity toward this behavior is obvious during the discernment process for men seeking acceptance into religious life or the ministerial priesthood. Notice that the majority(over 90%) of the molestation cases are committed against underage boys. I am a Catholic and I am repulsed and sickened by this ongoing problem within my Church.
Once the Church stops ordaining “homosexuals”, much of this problem will be ameliorated. Visit a seminary or religious community, it will make your head spin.
Catholics–we’re proud to be 20,000 child rapists strong! Maybe that should be the inspirational cheer before every football game?
This is just one of a number of the reasons why I’ve been an EX-Catholic for a few decades. Twelve torturous years spent in parochial school in the 1950s and and 1960s is another reason.
With a sampling margin of error rate of 3%, this could be only 2% of the clergy. In statistics, 2% is actually vero, so the situation doesn’t actually exist, right? Right?
Maybe I’ll start going back to the church then. I didn’t realize the the rate was only 5%. That makes it all ok. Maybe Polanski can use this logic in his defense: “It was only one little girl among hundreds that I could have raped and abused, so you see it’s not as bad as people make it seem”.
“It’s not our fault! They did it too! WORSE than we did!”
Could the response have been any more juvenile?
But a juvenile response is just exactly in line the sexual predilections of the criminal priests in question.
Way to go, Pope. Even Jesus would say, “That couldn’t have been a more blatant attempt to deny legal responsibility by pointing fingers. Pedophilia is against the rules PERIOD. I should have told Dad to make the 11the Commandment ‘Thou shalt not cover thine ass.’ He kept saying you bunch of stupid monkeys would be leaving your donkeys out of the barn to freeze to death in winter if he went with that wording and I see He was right. Now, for playing your vile game of Hide the Pedophile, I shall rain frogs upon the ‘Holy’ See. Tell the Cardinals to take umbrellas.”
The only difference being He would have said it Aramaic.
This is a familiar sidestep of an issue, that has become all to common these days. The problem the RCC is being challenged on is the protection of these pedophile Priests and the cover up to minimize spiritual and monetary damage. Pedophiles flocked to the Priesthood, for the same reason Willie Sutton said he robbed banks because that’s where the money was. The RCC couldn’t adequately screen out these pedophiles, but it could have rooted them out and expelled them once their proclivities were exposed.
So the Vatican admits that it has 20,000 molesters on the payroll?
Priests have extensive and trusted access to children. Some have said the average priest abuser molests 250 kids over their career, although only a fraction of those come forward or are made public. Assuming it’s only 50 victims per abuser, that’s 1,000,000 victims worldwide.
Oh well, then, Mr. Archbishop, if it’s only 5%, heck, that’s okay then.
JT,
Saw this on the news this morning: Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down…
The Texas Attorney General has intervened and will appeal. It seems to me that the Privilege and Immunity Clause, Comity and Respect for Foreign Domestic Relation Order and the silent Right to Marry. I believe arose out of Article 9 in the Loving Case and a whole host of other cases providing the impetus to change the law. Brandeis and Blackmun, both while serving at different times were great jurist. Was that not the Fundamental right to privacy that Scalia thwarts so easily?
link: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/10/01/gay-marriage-ban-struck-down
TOLERATION, APPROVAL, AND THE RIGHT
TO MARRY: ON CONSTITUTIONAL
LIMITATIONS AND PREFERENTIAL
TREATMENT
http://llr.lls.edu/volumes/v35-issue1/strasser.pdf
I am straight and same sex unions do not bother me.
Doesn’t that make you feel warm and fuzzy at night. I guess when you are that 1% failure risk of Birth Control it is just not that effective.
I guess this gives new meaning to the “Half-Nelson, Full-Nelson and Father Nelson” Where Father Nelson in Fully Engaged.