Pedophiles and the Church
I just read yet another article on the subject of this "plague within the Catholic Church", so bear with me while I rant once again.
According to this article (I think it was Le Journal de Montréal), pedophilia has been a plague within the Church all throughout history, the first record of it being in 300 something after Christ.
Now, I won't deny this, but to put this into perspective, I can pretty much guarantee you that pedophilia has been a scourge EVERYWHERE for a very long time. Not just within the Church, and most likely in higher numbers outside of the Church. As is the case today.
I have known a lot of priests and religious, and a lot of Catholics. I do not personally know any pedophile priests, nor do I personally know any victims of priests. However, one of the ex-coaches of my children's soccer club is a pedophile, now serving time in jail. (Why do I not hear anyone questioning the integrity of the soccer club?) Also, someone living across the street from us in Prince George was charged with pedophilia. That makes two people, neither of them priests.
When pedophiles enter schools and prey on students, do we blame the Ministry of Education? Yet that is where most pedophiles are found.
I think we're blowing the Priest=Pedophile story just A TAD out of proportion. To listen to mainstream media, you would think upwards of 25% of priests were pedophiles or something, when it's more like less than 2%.
The article ends something like this: if there were any institution in the world where this kind of thing should not happen, it is within the Church.
Yeah, well unfortunately pedophiles tend to pick jobs where they will be in contact with their intended victims, and not all people who enter the priesthood should actually be there. As far as I know, there is no foolproof test you can put people through to see if they're going to turn out to be pedophiles. And could someone please tell me why Pedophile Hollywood directors are not making as much news as pedophile priests? Especially since there is a code of silence there too?
According to this article (I think it was Le Journal de Montréal), pedophilia has been a plague within the Church all throughout history, the first record of it being in 300 something after Christ.
Now, I won't deny this, but to put this into perspective, I can pretty much guarantee you that pedophilia has been a scourge EVERYWHERE for a very long time. Not just within the Church, and most likely in higher numbers outside of the Church. As is the case today.
I have known a lot of priests and religious, and a lot of Catholics. I do not personally know any pedophile priests, nor do I personally know any victims of priests. However, one of the ex-coaches of my children's soccer club is a pedophile, now serving time in jail. (Why do I not hear anyone questioning the integrity of the soccer club?) Also, someone living across the street from us in Prince George was charged with pedophilia. That makes two people, neither of them priests.
When pedophiles enter schools and prey on students, do we blame the Ministry of Education? Yet that is where most pedophiles are found.
I think we're blowing the Priest=Pedophile story just A TAD out of proportion. To listen to mainstream media, you would think upwards of 25% of priests were pedophiles or something, when it's more like less than 2%.
The article ends something like this: if there were any institution in the world where this kind of thing should not happen, it is within the Church.
Yeah, well unfortunately pedophiles tend to pick jobs where they will be in contact with their intended victims, and not all people who enter the priesthood should actually be there. As far as I know, there is no foolproof test you can put people through to see if they're going to turn out to be pedophiles. And could someone please tell me why Pedophile Hollywood directors are not making as much news as pedophile priests? Especially since there is a code of silence there too?
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