JOHNYJ

The Media in general is anti-Catholic. When the Catholic churches pedophilia scandal broke. The Media took the oppurtunity to Bash the Catholic church. Bad as what had happened was,the Media made it worse ! There was no attempt at balance.
In any other story there would be some sign of Balance. There was no attempt to see how bad pedophilia was in other religions, or among married clergy.
The media is anti-Catholic because the Catholic church is not liberal,it still has permanent beliefs. Unlike some churches that let contemporary fads decide what they believe.

freethought6t9

The media coverage of these scandals was not directed at the individual priests guilty of this heinous abuse of power. Rather it was at the institutional attempts to cover these crimes up. If any institution, religious or otherwise, were guilty of this the media would crucify them.

I would rather believe that rather than being anti-catholic the media are in fact anti-paedophile. Look at the outpouring of sympathy and support at the time of the popes death.

And when policies of the Catholic Church contribute to over-population and the AIDs pandemic (specifically in Africa) by their continuing war against contraception and safe-sex then I want the media to call them on it.

debate_junkie

Should the Catholic Church have not been called on the amount of chances pedophile priests were given to molest the boys in their care? Should the Catholic church have been exempt from facing the music of the empidemic they've created?

The fact is this... the church was DERELICT in their duties before God, and before man in NOT seeking the authorities to deal with this problem. All the while, as they covered this up, they began to point a finger to the rest of the world and "pick out the speck in their eyes".

Hypocracy has NO place within ANY religion and if the media did not expose such hypocracy, would they not be derelict in their duties. I still find it funny, all the while, after the scandal broke, the bishops etc denying Pro choice Catholics communion. *just shakes my head and signs off*

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JOHNYJ

freethought6t9 # 2
Pope John Paul II was a diferent kind of Pope.He was a celebrity,he flew around the world like a Rock star. Catholics were surprised by the Media coverage his death got.
Liberals will look the other way when it serves their ends.
Mainline protestantism and reform judaism especialy have only friends in the Media.The idea that the Media would subject their friends to the examination the Catholic church got,is a joke.
Yes the Catholic church was dead wrong in the way it did and is handling the scandal,but. Fair is fair.

debate_junkie

When has a scandal as big as pedophile priests been uncovered within the Protestant and/or Jewish Synagogues? You're trying to say the media would never subject either groupt to the type of scrutiny the Catholic church got, and yet, to my recollection, neither of them have been known to send homsexual/pedophile priests to other churches, knowing full well they have another avenue to perpetrate their crimes.

ILikeDubyah

I agree with you on this bias. I actually did my own little test to see. If you go to google & type in "clergy pedophile" EVERY page they comes up is a report or article on Catholic Pedopliles, However, if you type in a specific religion (other than Catholicism) and the word "pedophile", just as many pages come up with stories & articles of abuse in those churches. Where are the national news reports on those scandals?
I believe the media targets the Catholic Church because it's easy. You have 1 central figure in charge that you can blame (the Pope), whereas in other religions, it's harder to pinpoint a scapegoat.

At my Parish in Villa Park, Il, about 8 or so years ago, the Pastor was arrested across the state line for trying to pick up a 12 year old boy at a McDonalds. Now, while I believe that he should have been defrocked, he wasn't, but he WAS removed from the parish & re-assigned to a ministry that only deals with other priests. (He was punished, too, but I can't recollect how.) I think the reason that the church doesn't bring in the police in these matters, or bails out the priest in custody is because, although pedoplilia is against the laws of man, it is also against the laws/rules of Our God, which in the church's eyes is far worse than breaking the laws of man...and who better to deal with the problem than the institution that has a direct line to the Almighty? Granted, the Church has it's shortcomings when it comes to dealing with this issue, but so does the law. Go online & see how many registered sex offenders live in your neighborhood, in my opinion, they shouldn't even be allowed out on the street. When it comes to priests who are caught, that's exactly what happens. They're monitored constantly, and kept away from children.

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freethought6t9

The pope was never made a scapegoat of the paedophile scandal, and by the way, the scandal was not the abuses themselves, rather the cover-up by the church and putting these perverted priests into other communities where they could once again begin abusing children. If you show me other religions where there have been numerous systemic institutional cover-ups of child abuse then I will be glad to concede to your point. A 'liberal' media would be be biased toward all religion, not just catholicism.

ILikeDubyah

Beg pardon..., I have heard on at least 2 news stations that "the Pope allowed it to be covered up." I don't think he's been made a scapegoat as much as "The Church" ..."The Church" Denies this, "The Church" says that, "a Vatican Spokesperson" says this, Ant the Pope is the head of "The Church" , so one would naturally assume they're meaning him.

....the scandal was not the abuses themselves, rather the cover-up by the church and putting these perverted priests into other communities where they could once again begin abusing children.

I don't think I've heard of a case where a priest was "found out", then moved to another Parish, and then "found out" again...example, please. (I already said what happened to the one they caught from my Parish, and the outcome was not re-circulation)

You won't find studies or statistics about other religions having "numerous institutional" cover-ups, as no one has really looked into it. However, the second more than 1 person at a time comes forward, I'll bet the media will jump all over it & discover more. The media IS biased toward all religion, it's just, as I said, easier for them to take on the Catholic Religion, right now.

ILikeDubyah

Another reason you're not going to find "widely institutionalized" coverups among other Christian religions, is because they lack the size of the Catholic Church. Roughly 30% of the entire US population is Roman Catholic (1 Religion), VS the 58% of the country that Calls itself "Protestant" which is literally hundreds of smaller religions, lumped together. Why will you not see widespread abuse & coverup in a church "Christ's Church of the Valley"? Because it's congregation is only about 10,000 people, and it's only locations are in the Phoenix Area. Make sense?

freethought6t9

Your point makes perfect sense and does in fact strengthen my argument as the story was not the individual cases of child abuse but the institutional cover-up therefore you couldn't have the same story in regards to other more splintered religions.

I never said a priest was moved to another parish and began offending again, just that they were moved, which is bad enough in my opinion. But as you asked:

Evidence suggests that many instances of child abuse by clergy were not one-time, isolated incidents. Shielded by a church culture of secrecy, some deviant priests preyed upon numerous victims during multiple parish assignments. Four priests in particular stand out for the number of abuse claims or the seriousness of the charges against them.
• Now-defrocked priest John Geoghan allegedly preyed on young boys in a half-dozen Boston-area parishes for decades. He is serving nine to 10 years in prison for fondling a youth at a pool in Waltham; a child rape charge and many civil claims are pending.

• Up until his death in 1989, the Rev. Joseph Birmingham allegedly befriended and then abused at least 50 boys over a 29-year career as a priest in the Boston Archdiocese, even as archdiocesan officials ignored numerous complaints against him.

• The Rev. Paul R. Shanley ran a "street ministry" in Boston in the 1960s and '70s, allegedly taking advantage of youths who came to him for guidance. He is awaiting trial on charges he raped four boys at a Newton parish.

• The Rev. Ronald H. Paquin is the only Boston-area priest who has admitted guilt in a criminal molestation case, and is serving 12 to 15 years in prison for rape. He also has acknowledged molesting several boys during his ministry at parishes in Haverhill and Methuen.

Church records have revealed stories of many other repeat abusers, including priests who traded drugs for sex with minors, fathered children, and physically assaulted their victims. In the case of almost every predator priest, church officials had reports of abusive behavior, but allowed the priests to remain in ministry, documents show. In many cases, accused priests were sent for brief periods of psychological evaluation, then returned to parishes -- where they abused again.

Satisfied?