So far in his celebrated visit to America, His Holiness has expressed shame and regret for the massive sex abuse scandal and the way it was handled. But he also said it was sort of America's own fault.According to Breitbart: ...He urged efforts "to address the sin of abuse within the wider context of sexual mores" as well as a reassessment of "the values underpinning society."
"What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?" the pontiff said on the first full day of his US visit.
"Children deserve to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships. They should be spared the degrading manifestations and the crude manipulation of sexuality so prevalent today."
They should also be spared a religious hierarchy that protects the priests that abuse them.The Pope has yet to explain what the Church is doing to expel pedophile priests, and he continues to stand by bishops who covered up the abuse for years.
The truth is, the abuse that went on in the Catholic Church is not "society's" fault. It's the Church's fault. That's why the Church has had to pay out $2 billion in claims. And that makes it ultimately the Pope's fault. The church scandal is not something he can pass off on internet pornography.
For us, the Pope's visit has raised some major questions:
1. How rude is it to attack our morality on his first full day here? President Bush picked him up from the airport.
2. Does anyone know why Benedict's teenage affiliation with the Hitler Youth is excused by his being, in the BBC 's parlance, "not an enthusiastic member"?
3. Any clue why the Pope's autobiography is written through the eyes of his cat Chico?
4. Finally, how seriously should we take what the papers are calling the Pope's "chiding" of American society and its role in the church scandal? Do we as a nation really share some of the blame for the Church's crisis?
Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 14)
91. The Lord Jesus continues His presence and His work of salvation in the Church and by means of the Church, which is His body. ... Therefore, ... the unicity of the Church founded by Him must be firmly believed as a truth of Catholic faith. The Catholic faithful are required to profess that there is an historical continuity between the Church founded by Christ and the Catholic Church. ... With regard to the 'many elements of sanctification and truth' which exist outside the structure of the Church, that is to say, in those Churches and ecclesial communities which are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church, it must be stated that 'they derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church.' - Vatican Information services
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Jane??
I quess it's ok to threaten children with excommunication? As long as they can get salvation elsewhere?
I see why you don't want to argue this point, it's indefensable.
mac at 1:24PM on Apr 18th 2008
92. God's existence is hard to prove or disprove. What is easy to debunk is the bible and those who proclaim it to be the word of god. It clearly is not since all stories are plagiarized from earlier stories of other gods that existed before the catholic god was created. Sexual immorality is a made up idea of early religion used to control populations and to remove matriarchal societies in order to replace it with a patriarchal society for inheritance purposes. Therefore sin does not exist except for those who cling to this religious ideology.
goddess1prevail at 1:24PM on Apr 18th 2008
93. "Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away"!
Mark 13:30
janesophie1 at 1:29PM on Apr 18th 2008
94. mac
"'they derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church."
Any salvation obtained by Churches and ecclesial communities is through the Catholic Church. It does not say that ony Catholics can be saved. All grace in the world comes through the sacraments. I have read the document, believe the document, and preach the document.
janesophie1 at 1:39PM on Apr 18th 2008
95. goddess1prevai
Justifying sin is not new. I stand by my statement.
janesophie1 at 1:42PM on Apr 18th 2008
96. 9. How is it that the Roman Catholic Church, which says it is a Christian church not follow the requirement set in Titus 1:6 which requires church leaders to be married men while that church has unmarried church leaders from the pope on down the church ladder to the local priest? Some say it has to do with leaving assets to the church after the death of a church leader. The same requirement in Titus can be similar to the requirement for Old Testament Jewish priests to be married men. That is something to think about. I think the Roman Catholic Church and its leaders should be rebuked publicly by true Christians for its failure to follow Scripture. Let such Christians do so in word and mouth including the use of sign language for the deaf as well braille for the blind.
Do you have any other hate to spew about the Catholic Religion?
Michael Trippiedi at 4:06PM on Apr 17th 2008
David at 2:01PM on Apr 18th 2008
97. Give PEACE a chance; "let it begin with 'ME' i.e. don't criticize another man/wo-man 'til you've walked a mile in his SHOES. Go figure what you want to be FREE FROM/FREE FOR...
...God grant WE be a free association of peoples (regardless of gender identity) embracing the 'gifts' of 'Faith', Hope, and Love; modeled on the concepts of 'church' as understood by the 'universal' Judeo-Christian Tradition (embracing ALL world religions); using the 'services' of each according to one's ability, and accepting ALL with respect , compassion, and sensitivity (not considering place(s) in society celebrating 'unity with diversity' while 'trudgeing' one's particular road to Happy destiny enjoying God's Peace with each other....doing estimable acts for ourselves and others. Let go, and let God be the judge!! and please God may Israel, Christian, and Islam nations unite , NOT ignite!!
Grant Lee Divins at 8:05PM on Apr 23rd 2008
98. It amuses me when so-called christians feel comfortable attacking a faith they know very little about and assuming that 3 or 4 passages from the bible taken out of context makes it ok.
David at 2:05PM on Apr 18th 2008
99. David, 95, These are the same people who think it is normal for Church leaders to marry 13 year olds. The Bible tells them so. Don't waste your breath with this crowd.
IRONBLUEEYES at 2:25PM on Apr 18th 2008
100. Hellooooooo-
This is a worldwide problem-
sometimes smart people say stupid things-
He needs to take responsibility and just say what he is doing to prevent future molestations i.e. RAPE and ASSULTS and BATTERY.
c at 5:04PM on Apr 18th 2008
101. The pope reads English very well, but chose to give his U.N. speech this A.M. in French. A subtle insult to America.
Bob at 2:47PM on Apr 18th 2008
102. janesophie,
Your point does not address pedophilia. Nor does it address the popes invoking crimen sollicitationis in 2001 over the allegations.
That is the problem, not some silly salvation statement. Why do you dodge the issue?
mac at 2:53PM on Apr 18th 2008
103. Justifying sin is not new. I stand by my statement.
Sure, you are religious and believe in sin. You don't believe in other ideas of god or how the world should be because of your taught religion, just like others don't believe the church is the voice and will of god. Stating that sin does not exist is not justifying sin. In order for me to justify it I would first have to accept the existence of sin.
"Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away"!
Mark 13:30
Perfect example. These words attributed to Mark, no one knows who wrote Mark. Even so, there is no way to ever prove these to be the words of god. Mark is a very choppy read. It ends abruptly in many places and it is believed to be a copy of the agnostic Mark that takes the resurrection of Jesus is a symbology. This symbology representing the movement of "god's sun" though the sky a custom of the ancients for thousands of years now preserved in stories of the bible. This is what you learn when you study religious history, astrology, linguistics, anthopology and archeology. The bible is the perfect example of how ancient memories are preserved and anthropomorphized.
goddess1prevail at 3:01PM on Apr 18th 2008
104. "100. The "pedophile scandal" is not being driven by evidence or not very much by law enforcment investigations but rather by old anti-Catholic canards that are being dug up by greedy lawyers."
Jesus fucking Christ, you're calling these abuses made up? The tens of thousands of victims would disagree quite vehemently. As would their therapists and family members.
Piss off.
brandon at 3:21PM on Apr 18th 2008
105. Like many reporters, you have chosen the story you want to report, and molded the facts around it. Quoting phrases and isolated sentences is a great way to do this. Providing a link to the full, in-context text of his statement might keep you more honest in the future.
The truth is that pedophilia is a problem all over America, not just in the Catholic priesthood. American children are molested in Protestant churches, Jewish synagogues, Hare Krishna orphanages, and to a frightening degree in public schools. The pope would be neglecting his pastoral duty and lying by omission if he neglected to address the wider problem while speaking of the problem within the Church.
Sleeping Beastly at 3:34PM on Apr 18th 2008