Report: 'Thousands' of Children Sexually Abused by Hundreds of 'Predator Priests'

Billy86

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/child-sex-abuse-victims-predator-priests-pennsylvania-grand-jury-report-a8491941.html

More than 1,000 children were molested by hundreds of “predator priests” among six Roman Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania, a grand jury report revealed.

The investigation identified more than 300 priests who it alleged committed the abuse over decades.

The report suggested that the “real number” of child abuse victims was likely to be ”in the thousands”.

It added: “We believe that the real number of children whose records were lost or who were afraid ever to come forward is in the thousands.”

The report is thought to be the most comprehensive to date into abuse in the US church, but while prosecutors have filed charges against two priests, the vast majority of crimes happened too long ago to prosecute under current laws.

It is absolutely harrowing that we are still dealing with this bullsh**, with the Church going so far as to refuse to pay damages by claiming the victims 'consented'.

The fallout from this towards good, innocent priests and Catholics is also going to be sad to see and hopefully does not end up in some form of vigilante backlash with how heightened the current climate in the US is at the moment anyway. Hopefully the victims get some form of justice or closure for this horrific abuse, and hopefully the scumbags responsible get what they have coming.

Atoms for Peace

Do they shoot lasers and have a telltale shimmer?

Ipso

I wonder how many Irish names appear on the list.

PlaneSpeeking

"We believe"- so making up numbers then for effect ?

OB1Kildare

in many cases the church were just moving the problem priests around from one state to another ...creating town after town of victims. They have never in my mind fully apologized for the conduct - from those at the top to the ones preying on the school kids.....and i doubt they ever will .

ANDREWMUFC

Never ever trust a priest. Filth

Cookie_Monster

Billy86 wrote: »

The fallout from this towards good, innocent priests

:pac::pac::pac:

Canis Lupus

Billy86 wrote: »

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/child-sex-abuse-victims-predator-priests-pennsylvania-grand-jury-report-a8491941.html



It is absolutely harrowing that we are still dealing with this bullsh**, with the Church going so far as to refuse to pay damages by claiming the victims 'consented'.

The fallout from this towards good, innocent priests and Catholics is also going to be sad to see and hopefully does not end up in some form of vigilante backlash with how heightened the current climate in the US is at the moment anyway. Hopefully the victims get some form of justice or closure for this horrific abuse, and hopefully the scumbags responsible get what they have coming.

Sure the 'good' priests, if they weren't doing the fiddlin themselves were doing their best to protect the fiddlers.

What an insitution and to see people sitting in the churches on a Sunday still...

ceadaoin.

OB1Kildare wrote: »

in many cases the church were just moving the problem priests around from one state to another ...creating town after town of victims. They have never in my mind fully apologized for the conduct - from those at the top to the ones preying on the school kids.....and i doubt they ever will .

One of the priests in this report quit after years of allegations and being moved. The church were happy to give him a reference for his next job at Disney world. It's like they don't see child abuse as a problem at all, yeah let's not warn his next employment opportunity which will give him free access to kids yet again. Talk about a lack of conscience , absolute hypocrites

Tilikum17

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Sure the 'good' priests, if they weren't doing the fiddlin themselves were doing their best to protect the fiddlers.

What an insitution and to see people sitting in the churches on a Sunday still...

Exactly.

I’d love to know the exact number of priest that

A - were fiddling

B - Priests that knew lads that they were working with were at it, and said nothing.

C - Priests that actually reported other priests for doing it.

erica74

And we're rolling out the red carpet for the Pope.

The Backwards Man

ANDREWMUFC wrote: »

Never ever trust a priest. Filth

I have about as much love for the Catholic church as I do for Islam, but I have a hell of a lot less grá for bigotry.

People really need to start copping themselves on, or we're all going to suffer.

Tilikum17

ceadaoin. wrote: »

One of the priests in this report quit after years of allegations and being moved. The church were happy to give him a reference for his next job at Disney world. It's like they don't see child abuse as a problem at all, yeah let's not warn his next employment opportunity which will give him free access to kids yet again. Talk about a lack of conscience , absolute hypocrites

Where did you read that? That’s horrendous

buckwheat

This is nothing more than catholicophobia motivated church bashing. Those kids were sluts who wanted to be abused and if people want to celebrate the visit of the leader of this great institution then they should be able to do so without being constantly reminded of these trivial issues.

SnakePlissken

buckwheat wrote: »

Those kids were sluts who wanted to be abused.

Fecken hell.

ancapailldorcha

buckwheat wrote: »

This is nothing more than catholicophobia motivated church bashing. Those kids were sluts who wanted to be abused and if people want to celebrate the visit of the leader of this great institution then they should be able to do so without being constantly reminded of these trivial issues.

What a depraved thing to come out with. Banned.

whisky_galore

Glad we're in Ireland and not living in that mad country...

myshirt

I can see it at the gathering of people in the Phoenix park, and our rapping pope shouting out 'Dublin! Make some f#cking noise!' to a big roar of applause. The party will kick off until oh no
'We've got a young streaker!',
'No, wait, false alarm, its not a streaker; one of the young boys has escaped from the holding pen'


-F Boyle -


Sickening. Absolutely sickening.

biko

I blame God and Jaysus, they were the ones saying catholic priests cannot marry

rgodard80a

erica74 wrote: »

And we're rolling out the red carpet for the Pope.

Ideally to arrest him.... but unfortunately since the Vatican is it's own country he'd have diplomatic immunity I'd imagine.

Best we can hope for is that he gets struck by lightning in Phoenix park and it's labelled as an act of God.

PlaneSpeeking

biko wrote: »

I blame God and Jaysus, they were the ones saying catholic priests cannot marry

Now change that to "Mohammed" and "Married and impregnate a 9 year old" and use it to tar all Imams with the same brush.

That is just as ludicrous - apparently Catholic bashing is okay?

Billy Mays

The Vatican's response: "We have no comment at this time"


Shameful

TomSweeney

I wonder will the Pope be giving an apology when he visits next week ?
I wouldn't be holding my breath ...

TomSweeney

It's an interesting point though, the fact that RCC priests can't marry seemed to have attracted the worst deviants to the priesthood (not saying all priests).

You just don't have the same issues (at least on this scale) with Reverends.

Church of England does seem to be a truly progressive institution.

Keepaneye

Yet people will still defend their sky man organisation to the hilt.

padd b1975

myshirt wrote: »

I can see it at the gathering of people in the Phoenix park, and our rapping pope shouting out 'Dublin! Make some f#cking noise!' to a big roar of applause. The party will kick off until oh no
'We've got a young streaker!',
'No, wait, false alarm, its not a streaker; one of the young boys has escaped from the holding pen'


-F Boyle -


Sickening. Absolutely sickening.

Frankie Boyle I presume?

He obviously said this before he drank the leftie kool aid and started pontificating from the safe space of his Guardian column.

Cookie_Monster

PlaneSpeeking wrote: »

That is just as ludicrous - apparently Catholic bashing is okay?

can't we bash all religions equally?

whisky_galore

TomSweeney wrote: »

Church of England does seem to be a truly progressive institution.

Not at same scale but hey, I wouldn't go patting them on the back just yet.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/22/church-england-excluded-child-abuse-allegations-inquiry-downplayed/

Keepaneye

Why wouldn't you bash an organisation responsible for the suffering of millions of people?

Graces7

TomSweeney wrote: »

It's an interesting point though, the fact that RCC priests can't marry seemed to have attracted the worst deviants to the priesthood (not saying all priests).

You just don't have the same issues (at least on this scale) with Reverends.

Church of England does seem to be a truly progressive institution.

They had almost as much child abuse in their institutions.. and teaching against the Bible..


and see

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/

every church is guilty all over the world

Auguste Comte

Graces7 wrote: »

They had almost as much child abuse in their institutions.. and teaching against the Bible..


and see

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/

every church is guilty all over the world

Indeed the world would be a much better place without gods and religions.

Grayson

Graces7 wrote: »

They had almost as much child abuse in their institutions.. and teaching against the Bible..


and see

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/

every church is guilty all over the world

It tends to happen because people value the institution more than what it represents.

Since the catholic church has the same percentage of abusers as the general population I can't see celibacy as being a cause.

I know I'm not catholic anymore but I do think priests should eb able to marry. It's a long lonely life being a priest. And even in the bible there's a reference to it


St Pauls letter to Timothy.

A bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, of even temper, self-controlled, modest, and hospitable” (3:2) and “Deacons may be married but once and must be good managers of their children and their households” (3:12)

RustyNut

PlaneSpeeking wrote: »

"We believe"- so making up numbers then for effect ?

It would be much better if the catholic church didn't hide and cover up their criminal paedophile and sex offender staff members. People would know the truth then and not have to guess at how many innocent victims there are.

GarIT

SnakePlissken wrote: »

Fecken hell.

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

What a depraved thing to come out with. Banned.

I think you have missed the point here. I assume that post was sarcasm as it was the exact response the church used. The official church stance on the issue is the children wanted it and in some cases teased and flirted with the priests until they couldn't resist abusing them.

The actual legal defence used by the church is that the children were sexually promiscuous and consented to the abuse so they don't deserve compensation.

GarIT

TomSweeney wrote: »

I wonder will the Pope be giving an apology when he visits next week ?
I wouldn't be holding my breath ...

It's been reposted by several news outlets that he will not speak or answer any questions on the topic.

WinnyThePoo

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article216785330.html

'Australia's longest-running royal commission — which is the country's highest form of inquiry — had been investigating since 2012 how institutions responded to sexual abuse of children in Australia over 90 years. The inquiry heard the testimonies of more than 8,000 survivors of child sex abuse. Of those who were abused in religious institution, 62 percent were Catholics.'

Aren't the church refusing to cooperate and hand over information to Australian authorities.

Beta Ray Bill

Billy86 wrote: »

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/child-sex-abuse-victims-predator-priests-pennsylvania-grand-jury-report-a8491941.html



It is absolutely harrowing that we are still dealing with this bullsh**, with the Church going so far as to refuse to pay damages by claiming the victims 'consented'.

The fallout from this towards good, innocent priests and Catholics is also going to be sad to see and hopefully does not end up in some form of vigilante backlash with how heightened the current climate in the US is at the moment anyway. Hopefully the victims get some form of justice or closure for this horrific abuse, and hopefully the scumbags responsible get what they have coming.

In other news:
Water is wet

We've all known this for years. Nothing will ever change though cause people are TICK

marklazarcovic

I fully believe that the organization should be ran from the county,any and every country it has withheld evidence to cover up these crimes against should do the same, for any organization,not just religious. I mean, withholding evidence,not paying fines ..ffs I'd be in jail for ignoring tv license

whisky_galore

Auguste Comte wrote: »

Indeed the world would be a much better place without gods and religions.

I'm sure we could find other things to be cvnts to each other over.

Beta Ray Bill

marklazarcovic wrote: »

I fully believe that the organization should be ran from the county,any and every country it has withheld evidence to cover up these crimes against should do the same, for any organization,not just religious. I mean, withholding evidence,not paying fines ..ffs I'd be in jail for ignoring tv license

But who's gonna run them out of the country?
Rural Ireland is still full of Holy Joe's, Church is going nowhere.

If it was discovered that McDonalds staff had secretly been abusing kids all over the world and Management and Law enforcement knew about it and did NOTHING or that they secretly buried a load of kids in unmarked graves in Tuam OR that they basically enslaved mothers in Laundries, do you think McDonalds would still be in Business? Course they wouldn't, they'd have to re-brand or something

Now let me ask you this:
How many of you that have kids, have had their kids baptised, take first holy communion, confirmed, etc?
How many of you have got married in Catholic church?
How many of you have explicitly told your next of kin I do not want my funeral to be held in a Catholic church?
How many of you have questioned your relatives that do go to Mass about whether they should be supporting the Catholic church?
How many of you that have kids have told the school where you child goes to that you don't want them thought about Christianity?

I think you'd find the numbers are very much in the churches favor.

People in Ireland are thick as bricks.

Auguste Comte

whisky_galore wrote: »

I'm sure we could find other things to be cvnts to each other over.

To quote Steven Weinburg.


Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

Grayson

This was in the paper today

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/bishops-commitment-to-child-protection-a-lot-of-lip-service-1.3597658

The man who created child protection structures for the Catholic Church in Ireland would not do so again because of the resistance he encountered from bishops. “If I was faced with the prospect again and knowing what I know now, would I go down that route again? The answer is no. Very definitely not, ” Ian Elliott told The Irish Times.

Before his appointment as first chief executive of the Catholic Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children in 2007, Mr Elliott had been director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in Belfast and was on secondment to the Department of Social Services in Northern Ireland where he led major reforms in child protection services. A Presbyterian from Dublin, he attended St Andrew’s College before going to study at Trinity College.

Up to 2013, when his contract was not renewed by the Irish Catholic Church, he oversaw reviews of child-protection in 16 of the 26 Catholic dioceses on the island and four religious congregations.

Looking back his view of the Irish Catholic Church’s commitment to child protection is that it was “a lot of lip service”. There was “very limited commitment”. His work was resisted by bishops particularly at the beginning when “they were very resistant”, he said.

PlaneSpeeking

grahambo wrote: »

But who's gonna run them out of the country?
Rural Ireland is still full of Holy Joe's, Church is going nowhere.

If it was discovered that McDonalds staff had secretly been abusing kids all over the world and Management and Law enforcement knew about it and did NOTHING or that they secretly buried a load of kids in unmarked graves in Tuam OR that they basically enslaved mothers in Laundries, do you think McDonalds would still be in Business? Course they wouldn't, they'd have to re-brand or something

Now let me ask you this:
How many of you that have kids, have had their kids baptised, take first holy communion, confirmed, etc?
How many of you have got married in Catholic church?
How many of you have explicitly told your next of kin I do not want my funeral to be held in a Catholic church?
How many of you have questioned your relatives that do go to Mass about whether they should be supporting the Catholic church?
How many of you that have kids have told the school where you child goes to that you don't want them thought about Christianity?

I think you'd find the numbers are very much in the churches favor.

People in Ireland are thick as bricks.

None of anyone's damned business and I'll tell anyone who deigns to ask.

Graces7

Auguste Comte wrote: »

To quote Steven Weinburg.


Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

:eek: and untrue... it is disobeying "religion" that does that.:

Graces7

Just spent an hour on the Catholic Answers fCatholic News forum .. the excuses, rationalisation etc were predictable and after rattling a few lugs I escaped

Phrases like, "smear campaign" and "witch hunt.! and of course all in the past and all the stuff we have heard here so often!
And they even accused me of being.. ANGLICAN :eek:

ancapailldorcha

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

What a depraved thing to come out with. Banned.

Rescinded. Looks like it was sarcasm.

Beta Ray Bill

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Rescinded. Looks like it was sarcasm.

The best kind of sarcasm is the kind where you don't even realise it's sarcasm.

Taytoland

Irish state tax payers will be paying out for the leader of the greatest paedo gang too. Well done Ireland! A story came out recently of this happening in a Newry school and the priests in the school knew about this certain priest and his actions and STILL kept his picture on the wall until the news got out to the mainstream.

They don't give a sh*t.

Auguste Comte

Graces7 wrote: »

:eek: and untrue... it is disobeying "religion" that does that.:

How do you square that belief with the behaviour of the catholic religion in relation to child rape and molestation?

I get that no organisation can be held to account for the actions of individual members but the catholic religion through its officers, priests, Bishops, cardinals and the Pope himself have conspired to commit some of the most horrible crimes against children.

The catholic religion even today are refusing to divulge information about some of its priests ,Bishops etc who pose threats to innocent children today.

I'd suggest that if you are going to see the Pope when he lands in here that you at least have a think about his behaviour in relation to sex crimes against children and his unwillingness to do everything in his power to bring those responsible to justice and protect innocent children from being raped and buggered in the future.



And just for clarity I'm not anti catholic I'm anti religion in general, whether it's followers of the paedophile profit blowing themselves up or the representative of jesus facilitating and hiding paedophile priests etc,etc.

volchitsa

Graces7 wrote: »

:eek: and untrue... it is disobeying "religion" that does that.:

That's not entirely true though either - the reality is that all religions seem to be so vague or even contradictory that someone can find a justification for just about anything.
Take "mental reservation" - that effectively allowed priests to lie so as to protect the reputation of the church. Which is exactly why children were sworn to secret over their abuse too, thus allowing the abuser to abuse more children in the future.

Do you really think Father Sean Brady was disobeying his religion when he did that? If you do, then you're saying you know better than the Vatican who raised him to Cardinal afterwards - which would itself be heresy on your part.

Graces7

volchitsa wrote: »

That's not entirely true though either - the reality is that all religions seem to be so vague or even contradictory that someone can find a justification for just about anything.
Take "mental reservation" - that effectively allowed priests to lie so as to protect the reputation of the church. Which is exactly why children were sworn to secret over their abuse too, thus allowing the abuser to abuse more children in the future.

Do you really think Father Sean Brady was disobeying his religion when he did that? If you do, then you're saying you know better than the Vatican who raised him to Cardinal afterwards - which would itself be heresy on your part.

You have a skewed idea re heresy. And one bad example? Come on!

and earlier quote. You are radically wrong there. Nothing vague and nothing contradictory unless you twist it. Very strong, very simple and very direct.