But you do understand the fact, that the Catholic church knows and roots out people like these mentioned, it's just a little fact, that nobody wants to trumpet it away, because while it's their duty to prosecute the criminals, they don't want to loose believers in the catholic faith.

Unless you think there is a conspiracy and the Catholic church directly looks for criminals and purposefully uses them because of their behavior and criminal acts?

Although I am sure there were abuses in these orphanages this is going back 70+ fricken years!Can you imagine how many stories we could dig up if we took every record of every abused person from every institution in America.It would be interesting if we took the abuse cases from just one mental hospital in the 70 plus years and see if the paperwork reached the moon and back.Considering that it was almost exclusively Catholics who ran the majority of orphanages in America through the years it is hardly surprising to hear that there was abuses in them.We are probably talking ten of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of orphans that the Catholics took care of every year.Out of those who said they were abused how many of them are just making it up out of spite and a quick payday?

I think we need to take into consideration the millions of other orphans who went through these Catholic orphanages and did not get abused and were treated with love and respect.It seems to me that there has been a vendetta against the Catholics in the last few years,and anyone that was so much as spanked by a Catholic is suing no matter how far back it goes.

Before my fellow Anti Christian Anti Catholics take a flamethrower and burn down the church I pose these questions to you.

What about statute of limitations?The Catholic church is paying these people despite legally not having to because their statute of limitations has run out.This good well gesture gives the Catholic church a lot of credit because it wants to make things right.Some of these cases go back 40 or 50 years.


Citation: Crim. Pro. Law § 30.10
The statute of limitations for certain offenses against a child will not begin until the child reaches 18 years of age or until the offense is reported to a law enforcement agency or statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment, whichever occurs earlier. The offenses included are:

Sexual offense
Incest
Use of a child in a sexual performance
The statute of limitations for sexual conduct in the 1st or 2nd degree is a period within 5 years after commission of the offense.
Generally, the following statutes of limitations apply:

For a class A felony, there is no statute of limitations.
For any other felony, it is a period within 5 years after commission of the offense.
For a misdemeanor, it is a period within 2 years after commission of the offense.
Civil Actions
Citation: Civ. Practice Laws & Rules § 208
The statute of limitations will not begin for a minor entitled to file a claim until he or she reaches 18 years of age if the limitations period otherwise prescribed for the claim runs for 3 years or more and ends no later than 3 years after the minor reaches 18 years of age.
The statute of limitations for filing a claim that has a limitations period of less than 3 years extends for a minor entitled to file a claim for the period during which he or she is under 18 years of age.
The statute of limitations period will not last beyond 10 years after the cause of action arises.

That's such a cop out to lump the entire church together.You have over 1,000,000,000 (1 billion)members of the Catholic church.There is a Catholic church in every town in America and probably every town in Europe.How many churches is that?Hundreds of thousands?How many people have been victims of these churches?Probably less than 1%.Even if it was at 1% that number would be 10 million claims.We all know everyone who was ever has been abused is coming forward and to date I doubt the claims have passed ten thousand.

Take any other religion,country,society,what ever and use 1,000,000,000 people as your defense and see how many of them end up abused after 70 plus years.

The Vatican knowingly protected from prosecution and promoted pedophiles as well as allowing them to continue to work with children.

This is not a mere assertion but has been found to be fact in courts or law, judicial and even church inquiries.

Cop out?

Sorry but to deny it is the cop out.

The tithing of every catholic supports the efforts and actions of the church. Funny, Catholics object to their tax dollars support informing women that abortion is a legal option but don't mind their money supporting and promoting pedophiles?

Good faithful people in congregations all over the country are watching their churches close their doors in part because of the cost of financial settlements ordered to victims. Still...the church continues to shelter monsters.

Each person in every congregation that does not demand action and accountability for these monsters carries some degree of guilt but none more than the monsters themselves and the Pope who has chosen to protect them.

It is an institutional obscenity.

I say this as a former Catholic and as a person who's family is entirely Catholic. The Pope in allowing this is a monster...a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Funny too by the way that you would rather argue with me just because well...you have a burr in your saddle than admit what most of the world...including many members of the church itself readily admit.

I feel very sorry for you.

Abuse in the Catholic church

By Neil Schoenherr

Feb. 25, 2004 -- On Feb. 27, the John Jay School of Criminal Law released its report on the abuse of minors by priests from 1950 to 2002. The report demonstrates that more than 10,600 children say they were molested by priests since 1950. The alleged abuse involves at least 4 percent of U.S. Roman Catholic priests.

Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., professor of religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on the Catholicism, claims that the sex-abuse scandal is "far-and-away the most serious crisis to confront the American Catholic Church in its entire history."

"What is clear is that for decades American bishops have shuffled pedophiles and other abusers of minors from parish to parish in hopes of keeping the scandals hush-hush. This act alone was and is a felony cover-up," Flinn said. "Spiritually, the bishops have failed their flocks."

The Bishops' Own Scandal
by Frank K. Flinn

The sex-abuse scandal is far-and-away the most serious crisis to confront the American Catholic Church in its entire history. The cause of the scandal lies at the doorstep of the American hierarchy, and ultimately at the doorstep of the Vatican, which directly appoints and retains every bishop in his diocese. Had justice taken her full and ample course in the sex abuse scandal, not just abusive priests but many, if not most, American bishops by now would have spent time behind bars.

Because the bishops have escaped the severity of the law so far, they have yet to realize the extent to which this scandal was an event of their own aiding and abetting. They still seem unable or unwilling to hear the tough words of Jesus: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:5). Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston and Bishop Thomas Dupre of Springfield, MA, are among the very few bishops who have been forced to resign because of the scandal. Instead of indicting the abusing--that is the right word--bishops, prosecutors around the country have exacted rules of disclosure and imposed review boards on dioceses. Basically, the bishops themselves have been let off the hook.

On Feb. 27 the John Jay School of Criminal Law released its report on the abuse of minors by priests from 1950 to 2002. For years the bishops have been trying to reassure their flocks that only 1% of priests engaged in this heinous activity. The report shows that the number was 4%. The report excoriates the American bishops for failure to deal with this problem in a proper manner. It does not talk about the sexual predation of adults, especially women. The abuse took place in 70 out of 90 dioceses in America. Critics, particularly critics from various survivor groups, claim that the figures are grossly underreported and the abuse may have taken place in all dioceses.

What is clear is that for decades American bishops have shuffled pedophiles and other abusers of minors from parish to parish in hopes of keeping the scandals hush-hush. This act alone was and is a felony cover-up. Secondly, bishops have secretly paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in order to buy the silence of abusees and their families. Now multiple millions more are being paid out of church coffers in legitimate damages. The hush-up payouts were not necessarily criminal, but it is clearly unethical to the highest degree for church leaders to secretly divert monies donated for the support and furtherance of the church to cover-up schemes. Spiritually, the bishops have failed their flocks.

The root cause of the scandal is that there has been a serious decline in the number of priests in America and worldwide since 1960. Meanwhile the Catholic population has grown at a steady pace. Bishops have been hard-put to find priests for parishes. Instead of putting pressure on the Vatican to expand the categories of potential priests (married people, and, heaven forbid, women), the bishops have succumbed to the self-defeating Vatican demand for priestly celibacy in the Roman Church and the prohibition of female ordination. The Vatican is somewhat hypocritical on these issues since it permits uniate Eastern-rite priests to be married and has accepted many convert Lutheran and Anglican married pastors into its priesthood. Throughout history brave bishops fought Rome when they were convinced the papacy was upholding wrong policies and teaching suspect doctrine. Sadly there are no brave bishops in America today. It was out of cringing fear that bishops kept shuffling abusers around in hopes that somehow things would work out.

Perhaps the most serious charge behind the scandal is theological. Bishops view themselves as hierarchical leaders, vicars of Christ to their dioceses. Because they have held themselves above the fray, they were blinded to sin and scandal when it stained their own robes. The purpose of bishops is to serve the church, not the other way around. The purpose of the church is to serve and foster the Kingdom of God. When Catholic bishops fail to provide the sacraments to the faithful, they put the church in grave spiritual peril. If they cannot feed their flock, they cannot serve the Kingdom. American bishops are in default. Regrettably most act like corporate managers, not servants of the servants of the Kingdom.

Some think that the John Jay report will put the bishops back on the straight-and-narrow path again. We should not get our hopes up too high. In his first interview to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 22, 2004, as the new archbishop of St. Louis, my own bishop, Raymond Burke, said his first order of business is "to organize our parishes and Catholic schools." Not a word about repentance. Not a word about preaching the Kingdom of God. In fact, he did not once mention the name of the Man from Galilee.

http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/729.html

I've read that St. Louis has more Catholic schools/churches then any other city. We've had our problems with pedophile priests. People even have cut back on their offerings because they were tired of their money going to the lawsuits.

Our Archbishop Burke was moved into a Vatican position. He's known here for holding the record for importing pedophile priests into his dicose - some had felony child molestation charges.

It needs to be stopped.

It's a terrible thing, but one has to realize the size of the Catholic Church.
These incidents are few in that comparison!

These alleged victims are between 50 and 80 years old so evidently they are old accusations.

My family is Catholic. I am one of 9 children and none, I mean none of us has ever seen or experienced the abuse or child molestations you all seem to willing to portray as wide-spread, and we have been members of the Catholic faith in 4 different States. If we expand the history to include nieces, nephews, etc (great nieces and nephews) you could up that to 20 states!

Fanta,

It's been happening in St. Louis and all over.

There are so many victims under the age of 50 and 80. And so what if they are that old anyway?! They were still victimized. The victims now have to be concerned about HIV. I've yet to read about this happening in other religions in my city.

Years covered: 1950 to 2002.

Percentage of bishops who provided information: 97% 3

Total number of allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests: 11,000.

Number substantiated: 6,700 (61%).
Number unsubstantiated: 1,000 (9.1%).
Number which were not investigated because the allegations were made after the priest's death: 3,300.
Number of priests who served during the interval: 110,000.
Number of priests alleged to have abused children: 4,450.
Percentage of abusive priests: 4.0%
Number of priests who are currently serving: 44,000

Number of cases of abuse per priest:

Most priests were accused of a single event
1,112 priests (25.0%) had two or three allegations
578 priests (13%) had four to nine allegations.
133 priests (2.9%) had ten or more allegations.

Age of the victims:
Almost 6% were 7 years of age or younger.
16% were 8,9 or 10 years old.
78% were 11 to 17 years old.

Factors contributing to the abuse problem, as stated by the report:

Failure by the hierarchy to grasp the seriousness of the problem.
Overemphasis on the need to avoid a scandal.
Use of unqualified treatment centers.
Misguided willingness to forgive.
Insufficient accountability.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/clergy_sex20.htm#sur

Are you Catholic?

rapists and pedophiles aren't created by religion. it is in the person. there are tons of rapists, pedophiles, incest, etc not connected with religion.

I don't know the laws of Ireland....but there are laws in the US that will convict these people. but the law needs the victims to come forward BEFORE the statute of limitations is up. after that...even the laws hands are tied. and I agree that the Catholic church has paid to these families even though they aren't legally bound to

This is the wisest statement i have heard yet...

drivin....thank ya kindly

I never said they were created by religion...I said they were harbored by the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church chose at it's highest levels to cover up the crimes of pedophiles, to let known pedophiles continue to access children, to deny in courts of law that abuses were taking place even when they knew it had taken place, and to shelter priests who had abused children.

These rat bastards belong in prison. I mean good God??? Some of you people here defending the Catholic church are the same people who say pedophiles should be hung.

And the argument about the abusers being a small percentage of Catholics? Sorry but that's irrelevant.

A priest...but the very nature of his position has a heightened obligation to do right...he is after all..or is purported to be..a Man of God.

Stop for a minute and look at the monstrous nature of this crime.

The relationship that exists between priest and parishioner is considered so privileged and sacred that a priest cannot be forced to bear witness in a court of law. The priest ministers to his flock and is a position of divinely directed authority. Furthermore the Pope is the voice of God on earth. This is what Catholics believe.

I find it sicken to know that the Pope, who is again...for Catholics the voice of God on earth, can establish a policy to protect adult men who molest, rape and damage irrevocably children who are placed under their religious, moral and physical care in the name of God.

It's only slightly more sickening that anyone would argue it is okay in any way just for the sake of argument.

$crew your sacred cows...this is one more instance when I truly hope there is a judgement day that holds all men accountable for their actions.

Of course they're not created by religion. But the Catholic church needs to quit hiding them and let them face their punishments. St. Louis didn't like what our previous Archbishop did here - bring them here from other areas. California didn't want one and we got him even though he was a known pedophile. Another one was from Canada. Why are there still active priests in the church and around young boys when they are known pedophiles? That's my gripe. It needs to be stopped.

Why do you ask that?

wnx...I know it does happen. I'm certainly not blind to that fact, but in this country they are innocent until proven guilty. if the victims don't come forward ASAP, then they can't be tried in a court of law. any evidence is out. there have been false accusations as well. so unless it is investigated...who can say?

The victims came forward here.

Here's some of what was going on here:

http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_press_releases/2005_press_releases/012505_importing_predators.htm

then they should be investigated ASAP. priests (as far as I know) don't have immunity. if the D.A. finds enough evidence...not even the church can hide them

I do know there are those (priests and regular people) that have been falsely accused and it ruins lives. even the fact that they are accused can be damaging.

that is why it is so important for victims to come forward immediately so everything is still fresh

We had a case here two years ago. The teenager came forward.

It is understandable if a male child doesn't come forward very quickly.

Did you see this link? I added it when I edited:

http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_press_releases/2005_press_releases/012505_importing_predators.htm

hopefully if there are priests found guilty of this that people would find a new church

but I do know thre are other factors. I know there are those that are guilty...but in this country they have to be tried to prove guilt or innocence

example of possible fals accusations....remember Michael Jackson's scandals? I will be the first to say something is off with that man. But there were parents that took money isn't of prosecuting. IMO...that seems fishy. If my child was molested...not only would I want justice but to protect that person from doing it again. no amount of money could buy my off. not to mention there is always a civil trial for money.

there are so many reasons for false accusations that the true ones get lost. not too mention the jokes about priests molesting children don't help. I have never thought these jokes were funny. that crime is nothing to laugh at.

so the real victims won't come forward because of those that falsely accuse people. and the accused are already branded....by the jokes and public opinion. even when found innocent...they are still branded. there are guilty that get away with it and innocent sent to prison until the conviction gets overturned and somewhere in between....justice for the guilty and innocent happen.

but that is why it is so important for a trial