If he's the head of a Church operating in any country, he can be called upon to testify in that country's courts. If the bishops say that they are doing what they are told and the Cardinals say that they are doing what they are told, then no one else can be held accountable other than the man in charge. Yes, I'm sure they would invoke diplomatic immunity, but if the church thumbed its nose at enough angry countries, those countries have ways to make the church pay for it. Do these abuses not happen inside the Vatican as well? I guess we will never know since they aren't likely to police themselves. Their history shows that they do not do this.
would also letting openly gay priests serve help? seems to me, in society in general (and i have no proof or stats to back it up, just my perception) that the male pedophiles that are gay are not open about their sexual orientation and repress it, are the ones with it coming out in very warped ways. i have to believe there are a lot of gay men serving in the priesthood that dont commit these atrocities. or is that allowing something that is considered too big a sin for the church to allow? that's probably an even longer shot than allowing women priests, or priests to marry. i dont know the answer. all i know is the church has to address this somehow. by continuing to cover it up and just allow priests to quietly move to another parish (or do nothing at all) the church is committing an even bigger sin by allowing it to continue.
yeah, good luck with that. you act as if rational solutions are actually on the table. of course. the religion instills the folks with self hate for having their gay ass desires, and they figure the priest path is a good way for them to forget their evil urges altogether, which of course they fail at doing. human males that would voluntarily be celibate dont really exist. only a deviant would choose this path. there is nothing we can do about it. just keep your kids away from the cult.
I have been cathloic my whole life. I was born into it. My mom is very devout.My wife was born into the faith also. Both of us are starting to doubt if we should continue to be cathloic and raise our son in this church. The failure of the church to get this under control will cause many to question the church as we have. It must be hard to keep an eye on all the priest all the time but cover ups are not excusable.
I have to question the wisdom of establishing a precedent for indictment of heads of state. President Bush is more responsible for thousands of deaths in Iraq than the Pope is for cases of abuse. World Courts and organizations wielding global authority over sovereign nations will only come back to haunt the US. I think it is better to leave the Pope alone and hold the bishops responsible for their diocese. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure at some theoretical level each bishop is soley responsible for and is considered the final authority in his diocese. Besides, if teachers abuse kids I can see you firing the principal but going after the Secretary of Education seems like a stretch.
I find it hard to believe you are basing your adherence to the catholic church on the behavior of the priests. Judas was one of the disciples for goodness sake. He saw Christ in the flesh and still betrayed him. Are you suprised that human failures continue? The church is based on Christ's authority....not the behavior of the priests.
Bomb the Vatican? Man we wouldn't make any friends that way. It is mind boggling that they don't take this seriously. However, I think it speaks to the personality types of the people who get that high up in the catholic church.
i think at that point they just become like all other politicians. sad, but imo, that is what it turns into.
When it come to the level of crimes against humanity, heads of state will be held accountable. Well the OP was referring to a person directly answerable to the Pope and put in charge of addressing worldwide Church pedophilia by the Pope! if this turns into a criminal investigation, any legitimate inquiry would have to question the Pope.
