Irish priest finds 'tsunami' of cases as he leads Vatican abuse battle

[MineralMan]

https://www.irishcatholic.com/irish-priest-finds-tsunami-of-cases-as-he-leads-vatican-abuse-battle/

Irish priest finds ‘tsunami’ of cases as he leads Vatican abuse battle

The Irishman who leads the Vatican office responsible for processing abuse complaints has revealed that if he were a layman with a son abused by a priest, he’d probably stop going to Mass.

Msgr John Kennedy also said that his office has seen a record 1,000 cases from around the world this year, including from countries it had not heard from before.

“We’re effectively seeing a tsunami of cases at the moment, particularly from countries where we never heard from (before),” according to Msgr John Kennedy. The Dublin diocesan priest is head of the discipline section in the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which processes the cases.

{snip}

“I suppose if I weren’t a priest and if I had a child who were abused, I’d probably stop going to Mass,” said Msgr Kennedy. “I’d probably stop having anything to do with the Church because I’d say, ’Well, if you can’t look after children, well, why should I believe you?’”

It's a global problem, but this priest offers one solution that all Catholics can take to heart, I think.

[Cartoonist]

1. That's three ifs and two probablys.

He still needs convincing?

[MineralMan]

2. He's in a tough spot, isn't he?

If the priest leading the investigation into child sexual abuse is saying things like that, perhaps ordinary Catholics should be re-examining their loyalty to that church. Many are. Empty pews are the result, and shrinking coffers might also be.

I'd rather that priest made a broader statement regarding all this, but his statement is a start, at least, in the RCC hierarchy. It is long past time for a shakeup of the entire organization. Long past.

[Major Nikon]

11. The if specifies he would have to be personally affected

So much for empathy

[Farmer-Rick]

3. My son was never abused by Catholic priests

And I quit going the minute I heard the allegations.

All Religion is very dangerous to children.

[MineralMan]

4. Yes, and I'm sure you're not alone.

And you're right about it not being just Catholic clerics who are at fault. Similar things happen in many denominations. The power of a religious leader to do terrible things to innocent children is frightening. That so many have done those things is horrendous. That others protect them is horrifying.

[Farmer-Rick]

5. Well said.

[Pope George Ringo II]

6. I'll give him this much:

He's got a better grip on the problem than the Vatican has generally shown. He's at least acknowledging that the real problem is that his church chose to look after the child molesters rather than the children. Clearly I'm going to disagree with him on whether his organisation can and should be fixed, but at least he appears to have grasped the mistake. That's appallingly rare just among the worshipers , let alone the clergy.

[MineralMan]

7. Well, I consider it to be very unlikely that his discovery

will lead to any changes. All of this has been known for how long already?

Really, only wholesale changes to the structure of the RCC hierarchy can do anything about the problem. It is the hierarchy that has enabled such behavior for centuries. The secrecy, the unwillingness to punish wrongdoers, the systematic covering up of such a heinous thing...all are in play and are endemic in the culture of that hierarchy.

It is a "divinely-privileged" male hierarchy, and that is the source of the problem. The problem will not be fixed until that is no longer a description of it. I see no hope for that kind of broad change, however.

As long as lay children are considered to be of no value, it will continue.

[Pope George Ringo II]

8. He's definitely the exception. At least he appears to be.

And there are solar orbits which are less bound by tradition than that church, but "baby steps" as the saying goes. It may take us a few hundred more years, but we'll drag them kicking and screaming into the 19th Century yet.

[3Hotdogs]

9. Why don't they also visit physical, non-sexual abuse.

I witnessed a kid, about 12 years old, having his head slammed against a tile wall. Kid was removed by ambulance.

[MineralMan]

10. Sure, and how about all those kids rapped on the knuckles

with a ruler by Sister Mary Margaret? That's physical abuse, too, that wouldn't be tolerated in our public schools.

It's about "original sin." We're all horrible, sinful creatures. That's the lesson. So, children must have the sinfulness beaten out of them, or so the theory went, and still goes in some circles. "Spare the rod and spoil the child."

Religion can be a very, very ugly thing, it seems. We're better off without it, I'm certain.

[Act_of_Reparation]

12. Because there isn't enough manpower on this planet to do that kind of work.

Pretty much every Catholic of my parents' age or older I know had been physically abused at school. Shit, I was assaulted by a teacher at school, and that was in the early 1990s.

[3Hotdogs]

13. Yeah, but there would be $$$$$ in the suits and lawyers like money.

[Act_of_Reparation]

14. Yeah, they do.

But I bet they like sleep and food, too. Some even might like their families.