My folks pointed out this article in The NZ Herald today and I thought it was a good time to post on it, what with a TV programme on the other night (which I didn't see) devoted to the wrongdoings of Catholic Priests.
I am Catholic; but of course I am just as disturbed as anyone else (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) by the abuse of children at the hands of priests or by anyone.
A visiting Cardinal, Theodore McCarrick from Washington DC who is here for a Eucharistic Convention, brings a little more perspective to the issue.
He raises some points: that it's not just the Catholic Church that this is happening in.
In one respect I can understand why; Christians are supposed to be 'better' than the rest of the world; we are supposed to represent Christ and to follow the things he taught, but we can slip up - sometimes horribly. We aren't perfect; we're just trying hard to be.
I do wonder though, as the Cardinal said, just how bad the Church is compared to the abuses of children in the rest of society that we never hear about in the media.
The Cardinal goes on to say -
A priest who abuses a child is not acting for God or his church.
I am Catholic; but of course I am just as disturbed as anyone else (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) by the abuse of children at the hands of priests or by anyone.
A visiting Cardinal, Theodore McCarrick from Washington DC who is here for a Eucharistic Convention, brings a little more perspective to the issue.
He raises some points: that it's not just the Catholic Church that this is happening in.
"Unfortunately it is existing in religious bodies that have married clergy to, at least, the same extent, from what we have been able to figure out"Of course, this does not in any way excuse the actions of those who have abused, but it did make me stop and think. This abuse is happening all through society but the media takes a certain perverse delight in taking aim at the Church or any other Christian society (there was a similar story regarding the Salvation Army a few years ago).
"When all is said and done, you are still talking about less than one out of 25 priests over a period of 60 years.
"When civil society finally accepts the challenge of making its own statistical survey as carefully and thoroughly as the Catholic Church has, I think we will find that the statistics of the Church are nowhere near as bad as the statistics of the rest of society."
In one respect I can understand why; Christians are supposed to be 'better' than the rest of the world; we are supposed to represent Christ and to follow the things he taught, but we can slip up - sometimes horribly. We aren't perfect; we're just trying hard to be.
I do wonder though, as the Cardinal said, just how bad the Church is compared to the abuses of children in the rest of society that we never hear about in the media.
The Cardinal goes on to say -
"Now, having become aware of it, we have tried to do the very best we can to ensure that it doesn't happen.I, for one, hope so. I'm not 'jumping ship' though, any more than would an All Blacks fan because of the behaviour of one of their teammates beating his wife.
The Church has accepted responsibility for what has happened and apologised from its very heart to all those people affected.
Sexual abuse was much less likely in the Church in future because all candidates for the priesthood now had to undergo psychological tests for potential abuse, a priest who abused a child would be instantly dismissed, and children were now educated to be alert for any improper behaviour by adults."
A priest who abuses a child is not acting for God or his church.