Vatican officials defend Pope on abuse

[I Think]

Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- The archdiocese headed by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- who is now the pope -- ignored warnings in the 1980s to keep a molester in its ranks away from children, the doctor who issued those warnings said Friday.
Werner Huth, a psychoanalyst, told CNN that he specifically demanded the priest never be allowed to interact with kids again. But instead, Huth said, the church allowed the priest to return to work and even deal with children.
In 1986, the priest, the Rev. Peter Hullermann, was convicted of abusing minors. He was sentenced to 18 months incarceration, which under German law he was able to serve on probation without going to jail. He also paid a fine of 4000 deutschmarks (about $2000 at the time).
Afterward, he resumed work in the church and continued to work with children.
Hullermann was suspended last week as information about his past came to light.

[Mr Danksworth]

Let's stop saying "Catholic Church abuses" and use a proper generic term "Christian Pedophilia". This is a Christian problem covering all churches not just Catholics, the other denominations seem to hide behind this and I'm sick of it.

[Mr Danksworth]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/pope-f ... ldren,101/

[steven lloyd]

Let's stop saying "Catholic Church abuses" and use a proper generic term "Christian Pedophilia". This is a Christian problem covering all churches not just Catholics, the other denominations seem to hide behind this and I'm sick of it.

you are getting pathetically desperate with your agenda of promoting hate, aren't you ? That is some obsession you have there Danky. You need to get a lfe.

[BVulgaris]

i think there are many that are fed up with the historical repetition of such actions. I can understand why anyone would have the impulse to lash out and get angry. On the other hand, what should people do about this? (<--- real question... )

[westsidebud]

i wasnt going to weigh in here but, i do not understand how this stuff can go on, and theres very few arrests and the leaders of any church this goes on in, never outright condem the persons involved, its always owell bad person, we will just act like it never happened, i wonder if the pope was a female if things would be diffrent?

[Mr Danksworth]

Let's stop saying "Catholic Church abuses" and use a proper generic term "Christian Pedophilia". This is a Christian problem covering all churches not just Catholics, the other denominations seem to hide behind this and I'm sick of it.

you are getting pathetically desperate with your agenda of promoting hate, aren't you ? That is some obsession you have there Danky. You need to get a lfe.

Aww, did I hit a sore spot Stewie? You defenestrations make you look like an enabler.

[steven lloyd]

I don't have a real life and I'm so sad

[Mr Danksworth]

What's with the personal attacks Stewie? That's not very Bahai of you. What would Bahá'u'lláh think of you?

[steven lloyd]

What would Bahá'u'lláh think of you?

Since I'm not religious this is not a personal concern. The promotion of ignorance and hate? More of a concern, but something I recognize will continue to persist among ignorant and fear-based persons - also something I see has persisted here and hasn't gotten any less ugly to look at. Bye.

[westsidebud]

i think there are many that are fed up with the historical repetition of such actions. I can understand why anyone would have the impulse to lash out and get angry. On the other hand, what should people do about this? (<--- real question... )

my answer would be all these crimes be investigated properly and no protection from the pope or any other leader in any church . allow church leaders to marry and more women as leaders ,

it confounds me that in this day and age women put up with the catholic church telling them they cant be pope or a bishop

[BVulgaris]

now the question is, how does a foreign populous or government act on this kind of idea on something like the vatican? its a sovereign country. I assume the only way to do it is through something like the UN..... there are obvious issues that arrise, and consequences.

[westsidebud]

now the question is, how does a foreign populous or government act on this kind of idea on something like the vatican? its a sovereign country. I assume the only way to do it is through something like the UN..... there are obvious issues that arrise, and consequences.

yes there are, but if the world was to say to the vatican if your realy serius about this hand over the criminals and your records, it may mean the end of the pope or the system they have in place now, but whats more important? a flawed system or starting a new system that ends this stuff once and for all?

[BVulgaris]

I will try to take some time to post on the public response to this and how governments are reacting...

Anything outside the Vatican, there is jurisdiction. Anyone hiding inside the Vatican (like the pope when he was a cardinal and hiding from interpol) is under the jurisdiction of the sovereign country.

[I Think]

Warned About Abuse, Vatican Failed to Defrock Priest

The Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, with hands together, at St. John’s School for the Deaf in Wisconsin in 1960.

Top Vatican officials — including the future Pope Benedict XVI — did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys, even though several American bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to act on the matter could embarrass the church, according to church files newly unearthed as part of a lawsuit.

Abuse Scandal’s Ripples Spread Across Europe (March 25, 2010)
Jeffrey Phelps for The New York Times
Arthur Budzinski, at a cemetery behind St. John’s School for the Deaf, says he was first molested in 1960 when he went to Father Murphy for confession.
The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal.

The documents emerge as Pope Benedict is facing other accusations that he and direct subordinates often did not alert civilian authorities or discipline priests involved in sexual abuse when he served as an archbishop in Germany and as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer.