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Re: ‘church allowed abuse by priests for years’ August 20 2002
Dear Boston Globe, in regards to the article published by Spotlight, I would like to applaud the teams extensive research and braveness to release such a controversial article. I believe the style of reporting was done in a way that will negatively change the public opinion towards the catholic religion for the right reasons. The catholic church is a powerful institution especially in Boston, which has remained as a private sector, hence why I believe they were able to keep these horrific secrets under wraps for so long. Again I would like to thank this newspaper article for making the secrets of the catholic church a public sphere of information. The evidence provided by the Spotlight team and graphic nature of the article encourages people to come to a democratic decision. A decision that what John J. Geoghan and many others did to vulnerable children while in positions of power and authority will not be supported by the public.
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The reason why, I believe this article will be accepted by even those who are catholic is because of the factual evidence provided. As the spotlight team revealed nearly 87 different priests who have molested and abuse children, they were also able to meet with the all of the victims. Providing such well supported evidence, against such a powerful institution I am positive will allow more victims to come forward and shine a light onto the abuse of power towards vulnerable children. As the spotlight team did not attack for the religion itself, rather the structure of the institution and the lawyers who defended them. I believe those who are religious will still be taken back by the article but hopefully come to the realization that the abuse of power in any institution would not be
I am a Christian and I don’t disagree with the author. But, whenever you are making your case for your side. One should always present the opposing argument. This article fails to do this. It actually makes a lot of statement like this:
Rausch, Thomas P. "Chapter 9: A Truly Catholic Church." Towards a Truly Catholic Church: an
Through the years from the medieval ages up until now, the Roman Catholic Church has always had a major influential presence in all walks of life for European people, whether it was for taxation, the establishing of laws, the rise and fall of monarchs, and even daily social life. Furthermore, the Catholic Church held such power that they could even appoint and dispose of great kings with just the writing of the pen. However, their power started to wane once human curiosity overcome ignorance and blind obedience. For example, the Enlightenment Age brought a series of shocking blows to the Church’s power such as disproving the Church’s theory of geocentricism and presented an age of questioning and secularism. In essence, by looking at the Church’s
In the article “Christianity and child abuse – the survivors’ voice leading to change”, Kennedy (2000) argued how children’s Christianity background can cause additional concerns in the issue of child sexual abuse. Kennedy justified her argument by presenting the fact how spiritual concepts like “the evil/sin of being abused” (126,127,129), “God’s will” (127,129), “sources of God’s grace” (128) have been wrongly used to warrant perpetrators’ inhumane acts. Moreover, she pointed out that both the subliminal messages children perceived of these concepts (128) and “silencing factors”, such as “the doctrine of forgiveness” (131) and no pre-marital sex (130) in Christian context, lead to further shame and guilt in children (131,132,133,134). Apart from the spiritual side, Kennedy also criticized Christian churches’ intention of protecting its own reputation rather than solving the issue (133). Christian communities practiced an unjust demand of forgiveness from the victim and a patriarchal culture (135). Also, Christian communities failed in offering objective policy guidance (136) and ensuring active implementation of the policy document (137). Kennedy ends the passage by prompting the idea that state and church should tackle the problem hand in hand (139), and the engagement of more practitioners with sound religious and psychology understanding (139).
Malone, Peter. “Catholic Analysis of ‘Doubt’ on Independent Catholic News.” Catholic Analysis of ‘Doubt’ on Independent Catholic News. N.p., 2 Jan. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Cardinal Altamirano, former Jesuits priest is the Pope’s representative who is send to inspect father Gabriel’s mission (Saeger 394). The Portuguese wanted these mission closed so the Guarani Indians community are no longer protected by the mission. The Pope felt that he may lose Portugal’s support if the mission were not closed. Due to the fear of losing Portugal’s support, the Pope sends Altamirano to convince the Jesuits to close the mission. Altamirano was instructed by the Pope that if the Jesuits were not convinced to close the mission, then Altamirano would have to close the mission himself. This passage shows that the Church is corrupted. Altamirano never came to decide whether or not the mission will remain under the church’s protection. Instead, he came to convince the Jesuits to close the mission. If the mission were to remain under the protection of the Church, then the Guarani Indians community would have been safe from the slave traders. Altamirano visits the great Mission of St Miguel and the Gabriel’s St Carlos Mission. When Altamirano visited St Miguel and the Gabriel’s St Carlos Mission he was amazed at the success in converting the Guarani Indians to Christianity. Even though Altamirano was amazed, he ruled in favor of the colonists in order to protect the Church. However, he knew that he was wrong and should have ruled in favor of the Jesuits (Saeger 405). Altamirano did as he was instructed, there...
During the Great Jubilee year, John Paul II gave a relevant speech of apology on behalf of the entire Catholic Church for the serious sins committed by its members for over 2,000 years. Since John Paul II did that, he wished the Church to enter the new millennium with a clean slate, allowing it to speak to and discuss freely with the other religions of the world, including the cultures and nations from a place not only of permanency but also of moral and religious power, having acknowledged in specific ways the crimes, from time to time unbearable, committed by its human origins throughout history. These apologies were hardly accepted, and common apologies for sins committed against the Church and its members have not been imminent. “Catholics distinguish between the holiness of the inevitable sinful nature of men, including the men who serve the Church stated by Thomas E. Woods Jr.”
Sexual abuse is a growing concern in society today. So many people are hurt by the actions of other people when they abuse them, especially in a sexual manner. The Catholic Church is also now being targeted for sexual offenders. Priests have been charged with sexually abusing young boys that are involved with the church. The church has been looking the other way on this issue for many years. The children as well as their family are being hurt and its time something was done to prevent the further exploitation of young boys in the Catholic Church.
The church confesses that it has not professed openly and clearly enough its message of the one God… The church confesses its timidity, its deviation, its dangerous concessions… The church was mute when it should have cried out, because the blood of the innocent cried out to heaven… It did not resist to the death the falling away from faith and is guilty of the godlessness of the
In 1993, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, aged ten at the time, abused and murdered a two-year-old boy, James Bulger. There was media uproar about the case with the two boys being described as ‘evil’, ‘monsters’ and ‘freaks’ in the media (Franklin & Horwath 1998). There were many references to evil in the newspapers; with the telegraph stating that Thompson’s nickname was ‘Damien’ (from The Omen) and declaring that Venables birth date was Friday the 13th. The majority of society was united in the belief that these two boys were the epitome of evil and it was the media that nurtured this belief. ‘Newspaper reports were unequivocal in their denunciations of Thompson and Venables as inherently evil, prompted perhaps initially by Justice Morland’s description of the murder as an act of unparalleled ev...
Rossetti, S. J. (1996). A tragic grace: the catholic church and child sexual abuse. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=JAgyfIkgNSoC&dq=A+tragic+grace+:+the+Catholic+Church+and+child+sexual+abuse+/+Stephen+J.+Rossetti.&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Even up until now, the controversial issue of homosexuality is still apparent and widely discussed in many countries all over the world. Although many people are becoming more open minded and less skeptical about homosexuality, many more are still reluctant to accept the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) communities as equals. Whilst many may argue that their religion absolutely forbids same sex marriages, thus, rejecting the idea of homosexual relationship, many of them feels it is their right to make the gays and lesbians straight again. For instance, in South Africa, many males practice corrective rape. It is a form of hate crime towards lesbians in order to ‘cure’ them of their homosexuality in order to change them into heterosexuals (Strudwick, 2014). This proves how sick and twisted the minds of homophobes are. As a Catholic myself, even though I was taught that same sex relationship is wrong and not natural, I do not condemn homosexuals or look down on them. In fact, I even have friends that are gay or bisexual. It is good that more countries have now implemented new laws to protect the LGBT community. This ensures the lower crime rate and discrimination of the LGBTs. Despite the fact that a few European countries and several others have legalized same sex marriages, there are still rejection and objection from some parties particularly from the Roman Catholic Church (Bingham, 2005). Why does the Church have such strong objections? Through my research, I will discuss on the views and teachings of the Catholic Church on homosexuality and same sex marriage.
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 21, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org
Humans come in many shapes and sizes, different ethnicities, and they also have strengths and weaknesses. Identifying each other’s strengths and weaknesses are important in a society because it helps us read people and balance each other out. The major weakness of man is abuse of power and the major strength of man is leadership. Throughout the Bible, there are many stories that portray abuse of power and leadership.
...faith in the God who creates the world, people will always fail to grasp the idea behind the Catholic Vision and Imagination. Furthermore, although God remains always present in the midst of His flock, one can easily lose the awareness and consciousness of this Presence that accompany all human being. When people forget what is to be a Church, that community that is to be formed and lived is also lost. However, there remains the tradition, images, and architecture that speaks and transmits a voice beyond themselves that definitely calls people to relate their desires for depth and truth to the living God.