ROME — Defending itself against a growing child sexual abuse scandal in Europe, one that has even come close to the brother of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican said Tuesday that local European churches had addressed the issue with “timely and decisive action.”
In a note read on Vatican Radio, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, cautioned against limiting the concerns over child sexual abuse to Roman Catholic institutions, noting that the problem also affected the broader society.
A wave of church sexual abuse scandals has emerged in recent weeks in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, adding to the fallout from a broad abuse investigation in Ireland.
A situation that needs immediate and clear rectification.
ReplyDeleteNo society or group can withstand the damage inflicted by these kind of behaviors if left unaddressed.
I know there will be those who will point fingers at 'yenem' and insist their are distinctions between communities. This is a very dangerous idea, that somehow crimes and abuse in one community are different from crimes and abuses in another- and that we are in a position to pass such judgment.
If anything, we need to set the example on how to deal with abusers if we are to claim any kind of higher morality.
It is interesting that the Vatican spokesman uses the same logic as his Jewish counterpart Avi Shafran that the secular society has a bigger problem.
ReplyDeleteOne of the the stories i saw, i cant recall which RC Priest, said that celibacy was the cause of abuse.
ReplyDeleteWhilst the Torah encourages marriage and procreation, Rabbinica Judaism has become more "catholic" in its restrictions on heterosexual behaviour. Eg separation of the sexes; no female stimuli , eg voice, vision; isolation of men with young bouys and male students; leniency in homosexual behaviour ( eg physical and emotional contact).
One must then ask if these "extars" are the problem rather than the cure?