Pope vows to bar pedophiles from priesthood
Offline Pope vows to bar pedophiles becoming priests
By Philip Pullella1 hour, 37 minutes ago
Pope Benedict said on Tuesday he was "deeply ashamed" over sexual abuse of children by priests and vowed to do everything possible to stop pedophiles entering the priesthood in future.
"We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," he told reporters accompanying him on his first trip as pope to the United States.
"We are deeply ashamed and will do whatever is possible so that this does not happen in the future," he said on board the plane to Washington.
The U.S. trip is the first by a pontiff since a wave of sex abuse scandals began in 2002, provoking lawsuits that have forced dioceses to pay more than $2 billion in settlements.
Benedict said the Church will do everything possible in screening candidates for the priesthood "so that only really sound persons can be admitted."
"It is more important to have good priests than to have many priests," said the pontiff, who will be greeted upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base by U.S. President George W. Bush.
The pope is expected to discuss sexual abuse again during the six-day trip to the United States, during which he also will pray at Ground Zero in New York and address the United Nations.
Flagging the issue ahead of arrival, he said abuse had caused "great suffering" to the Church in the United States.
"If I read the histories of these victims, it's difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give the love of God to these children," he said.
A poll released this month by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life showed the German-born pope was viewed favorably by most Americans, but was not as popular as his predecessor John Paul II.
The pope, who will also mark the third anniversary of his election during the trip, has said he hopes the visit will lead to a spiritual renewal in America.
He addresses the United Nations on Friday and has said he aims to draw attention to the need for greater peace and justice around the world.
In New York, Benedict will also make a brief stop at a synagogue to wish the city's Jewish community a happy Passover.
He ends the trip on Sunday after visiting Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. He will also say Mass at Yankee Stadium.
(Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080415/wl_nm/pope_usa_dc&printer=1;_ylt=AjsB.RtGx0rP4v31spmG9EBn.3QA
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I think he should encourage Priests to masturbate more. I mean if they're expected to repress their sexual urges they'll eventually crack and who's closer and less likely to tell than an abused choir boy. I mean we must be talking extreme levels of testosterone here. What's worse, a few dead sperm cells on a tissue or a poor little kid that's been raped. I swear Catholics are out of fucking control with their sexually repressive views.
Atheist Books
He'll bar pedophiles from the priesthood as soon as he finds out they're pedophiles.
Then he won't bother looking for them.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
If you want to be a catholic priest you probably aren't very sound in the first place.
Psalm 14:1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God"-From a 1763 misprinted edition of the bible
Argument from Sadism: Theist presents argument in a wall of text with no punctuation and wrong spelling. Atheist cannot read and is forced to concede.
I wonder how much of it is him bothered by the harm they do and how much is it him upset by negative publicity? The scandal was going on before he was even Pope - why now? Also, why not for such a bad act actually excommunicate them rather that just depriestify them? They excommunicated people for advocating positions they don't like. Maybe if they got rid of the ridiculous idea of celibacy for priests it would help - this is one of the reasons a lot of fundies hate the catholic church - since celibacy for clergy isn't in the Buybul and supposedly Jesus called the idea "doctrines of devils."
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
If someone wants to be the president of a Dungeons and Dragon's club, at least they have the intellectual honesty to realize it is just a game. My problem with humanity in it's history, that just like Scientology was born out of a book of fiction and became a religion, some moron will start a religion based on Harry Potter.
So what exactly is a holy person an expert in? The same thing a D&D expert is.
I expect the Pope to stop these crimes like I expect him to realize that swinging a mace full of steam down the isle does nothing to summon the favor of a fictional being, at best it may cause frizzy hair or take a wrinkle out of your shirt.
What will stop these crimes is background checks and criminal profiling and psychological evaluations, not rolling dice or parroting bible verses.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
One Sunday, a priest asked one of the church janitor if he would cover his Confession shift for him -- he said it was easy, since he had a sin list inside the booth which listed both sins and penance. The janitor agreed and took the booth early on Sunday morning. Soon people showed up.
"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. I have committed adultery."
"Adultery, eh?" the janitor said. "You sly devil. That'll be three Hail Mary's, plus five bucks."
"Thank you, Father."
Another person came into the booth. "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. I have embezzled money from work."
"Embezzlement, eh? Naughty, naughty. That'll be 5 Hail Mary's, plus fourteen bucks.""Thank you, Father." This was easy, the janitor thought. Another person came into the booth.
"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. I have committed the sin of oral sex.""Oral sex, huh?" He looked at the list, but didn't see oral sex there. So, he excused himself to look for help. He found an alter boy hanging out on the steps of the church.
"Excuse me," the janitor said. "What does Father Matthew give for oral sex?"
"Well," said the boy, "usually just milk and cookies, but sometimes a Snickers."
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
A psychological evaluation for someone who must believe a piece of bread is actually god in the form of human body? How does one pass that test?
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
Good point.
However, you cant lock people up for using Ouija boards who believe they actually work(just as insane a claim), but I doubt most theists or atheists would put up with that same person molesting their kid.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Thats tarnishing the good name of Snickers, but pretty funny.
The Catholic Church's Moral Compass is usually a few decades if not hundreds of years off when compared to the rest of the west.
If they really wanted to fix the problem he would appoint a commission to find out why so many priests are/become pedophiles. Not that you need a commission to find out that sexual repression and things like calling masturbation a sin are the root causes, but at least they would then be able to give a valid reason to turnover some of their idiotic rules.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
...considering that *medieval* *moralists* complained about behavior like this...
...isn't His Holiness Pope Benedict...um...several centuries too late?
This is about as spectacular an instance of "better late than never" that I've ever seen.
Conor
____________________________________________________________________________________
"Faith does not fear reason."--Pope Pius XII
"But it should!"--Me
But if they become pedophiles after entering the ministry, they'll be shuffled from diocese to diocese as usual.
Nobody I know was brainwashed into being an atheist.
Why Believe?
I'm not even Catholic. More than anything I just wanted to see how many different ways you guys could spin something like this, further proving that no matter what religious people do, it will always be flawed in the eyes of this community.
Prior to the Pope's visit: "The Catholic church hasn't even so much as apologized for its decades of sexual abuse."
After the Pope's visit, in which he...apologizes for the church's decades of sexual abuse: "Can you believe the Pope? Can you believe the church? What gall! How presumptuous of them to think they can apologize now!"
So, what exactly would be the right thing to do in your minds?
You totally misunderstand the views of this community. Obviously the Pope's apology is welcomed, but we don't think he'll ever tackle the root of the problem simply because the root of the problem is in the sexually repressiveness of the Catholic church. Maybe some priests are just naturally paedophiles, but I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that they aren't allowed to remove any of that testosterone from their bulbous scrota. This is something the Catholic church is unwilling to tackle.
Atheist Books
Pope Ratzinger was the man who wrote the official guidelines for the catholic church, on what to do when a priest/bishop, ect turns out to be a practising pedo.
Read those first. Then read his apology again.
Forgot the link. Here you go :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection
What good is the apology when you refuse to fix the problem?
Or, to put it in terms you might understand, what good is repenting and accepting God's forgiveness when you make no effort to stop sinning?
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
The offensive thing here is that the church has actively protected its priests to avoid scandal, instead of immediately distancing themselves from the offenders. That's the institutional problem. To pretend to address it by saying "we won't let pedophiles in" is a bullshit solution, because it's impossible to identify pedophiles who don't want you to know they're pedophiles.
Apologizing simply isn't enough. Punishing the behaviour would be a good start.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
Can't you just SEE strapping all those young candidates for the priesthood down on a table, with electrical aparatus attached to their nether regions, while images of young boys and girls are flashed before their eyes, just to see if they 'twitch'????
Clockwork Orange, anyone?
LC >;-}>
Christianity: A disgusting middle eastern blood cult, based in human sacrifice, with sacraments of cannibalism and vampirism, whose highest icon is of a near naked man hanging in torment from a device of torture.
Letting priests get married and have sexual relations with other adults would be a logical place to start.
Nobody I know was brainwashed into being an atheist.
Why Believe?
The one thing the media can't do is criticize the parents, but I can. How can you leave your child alone with someone who believes such non-sense and expect everything will be OK? If you leave your child alone with someone, you need to know that they are a rational thinker and can pass a reality test.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
How much reliance can be put on a man who prays to an invisible gawd to keep a promise?
People who think there is something they refer to as god don't ask enough questions.
I totally agree, but I do think this is a good sign at least.
Only if he actually puts teeth behind his words. Othersie it's woth about as much as a promise in a political campaign.
I hope I'm being too skeptical here but I'm leaning toward this being little more thatn a PR move.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin