Comments on: Pope: You are still not helping!

By: Crudely Wrott

Crudely Wrott — Thu, 13 May 2010 23:17:36 +0000

Slipping and sliding,
Peeking and hiding,
Seems so long ago

[/vaguely recalled lyrics to a song from back yonder-Sam something-or-other’?]

So. In the game of name the blame there’s only one rule: it’s anyone else but me who did it. I didn’t do it. They did. Them. Not me.

How convenient. And magic to back it up. And magic to back it up.

By: Paul Murray

Paul Murray — Thu, 13 May 2010 02:53:22 +0000

I wonder what has happened to their other strategy: blaming it all on Teh Ghey?

By: Paladin

Paladin — Wed, 12 May 2010 07:05:04 +0000

What kind of world do we live in, if priests don’t have the right to bugger little children without being oppressed?

By: bethK

bethK — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:55:52 +0000

I agree that labelling child rape as “sin” rather than “crime” serves the RCC’s agenda in several ways. As Greg noted, it keeps it on it’s own soil and as Irene pointed out it subtly renders it as “within the church” not “of the church” but rather of “humanity”. Therefore responsibility of the institutions of the RCC is diminished and the source of the problem is dumped squarely back on “Eve”. They have taken the trick of using sin to mitigate personal responsibility and applied it to a whole institution. The next step may well be to imply that society is so dirty from giving civil rights to the “wrong people” that the RCC only got the hem of its vestments dirty because of our mud. Others have been there already.

By: Irene

Irene — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:23:26 +0000

Another problem with this papal labeling of the Church’s history of child abuse as “sin”: not only is sin the business of the Church itself (and hence, doesn’t warrant external solutions), as Greg posted, but in good old Abrahamic tradition, “sin” is the basic state of being for all humanity. There are greater and smaller sins, but everybody is tainted. So, it looks like Benedict is still trying to confuse the issue by refusing to make distinctions between the offenders and the victims, here.

For instance, when the Pope calls “sin” the crimes committed by a child rapist, remember that for the RCC, being angry with the Church (even with just cause, as in the case of child rapists) is a sin too.

By: chuck13

chuck13 — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:23:03 +0000

so what if they purge? They’ve been binging so long they csn’t possibly het this out of theit system

By: Namnezia

Namnezia — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:58:18 +0000

I had the same reaction. FIrst I read a headline saying “Strongest words from Pope condemning sexual abuse to date” or something like that. Then when I read the article my impression was that he is still considering these calls to stop abuse as “attacks on the church”. He still seems more concerned about stopping the attacks on the church than solving the real problem.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:20:16 +0000

Part of the problem, I think, is that the issue is somewhat hidden behind the euphemism “sexual abuse”, when terms like “molestation” and “rape” are more appropriate.

So the problems facing the church come from within. No shit. To “do penance” and “accpet purification” means “turn the cases over to police as soon as possible and stop protecting the offenders and accept responsibility for the problem instead of blaming the devil or sin for the issue.”

Yeah, I’ll hold my breath for that.

By: NewEnglandBob

NewEnglandBob — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:57:01 +0000

Yes, time to purge, starting with Ratzi, more Archbishops and all the guilty priests – then charge them and prosecute them.

By: Pierce R. Butler

Pierce R. Butler — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:39:53 +0000

[The Church has] a very deep need [to …] accept purification.

I sense a major Purge coming…