Why does the Catholic church show so much concern for fetuses, but didn't do the same for victims of priests?

Question

OK listen, this is a legitimate question so please put your inner offense meters aside and judge it on the merits. Now, the Catholic defense of the unborn and hatred for abortion can certainly be seen as a noble goal, regardless of what one's personal beliefs are. So I guess I would call that institutional compassion for potential victims, if you will, of abortion. But then, with pedophile priests, the church abruptly shifts gears and does the opposite, showing a glaring lack of compassion for the victims of pedophile priests. How can an organization that so tirelessly fights for unborn children show such scorn and lack of compassion for victims of pedophile priests?

Answer 1

i doubt if the catholic church would promote the abortion of children sired by their priests.. but i understand their reasons to be discreet about these things..

Answer 2

I think the Church has a long history of hypocrisy.  It must be one of the 7 sacraments.

Basically, abortion is a political issue.  Pedophilia isn't.  Everyone "knows" it's wrong, and so when it happens, you just have to cover it up or try and lessen the damage (to one's reputation).  Abortion, however, is on the table.  It's always religions job to beat morality into us, but it doesn't mean they'll be moral.  It's simply a way of gaining and maintaining power.  Imagine if you were the authority on what is and isn't moral.  Would that amount of power make you a moral person?

Answer 3

I applaud you!

Answer 4

"But then, with pedophile priests, the church abruptly shifts gears and does the opposite, showing a glaring lack of compassion for the victims of pedophile priests."

What is it going to take to please those of you who constantly bring up this issue? The primary cover-up was done by Cardinal Bernard Law, a man that I  knew when he was the Bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese (Missouri.) Many of us were deceived into thinking that he was a good, caring man -- only to see our cherished mental picture of him crumble when the scandal broke.

I am not even remotely suggesting that the hurt caused by the betrayal of our leaders (and in some cases, friends) is anything like that of the victims of pedophile priests -- that would be ridiculous. That kind of abuse is life and heart scarring and not to be put in the same category as the harm done to the trust of lay Catholics everywhere. But the fact is that the scandal *did* harm every faithful member of the Church, whether by the closing of beloved parish churches to pay for priests' misconduct or by the loss of trust in those that we looked up to as leaders and teachers.

Now, instead of remembering the time that Cardinal Law plopped his biretta on my head when I jokingly asked him why Bishops wear "Jewish beanies," all I'll ever think about is how he betrayed the trust of so many millions of Catholics. There are more victims of this scandal than those who were abused. . .and that would be those of us whose faith, love, and trust in our leaders will never quite be the same.

Edit:

This is the first time that I've ever said any of this in public. Thumbs-down if you must, but this is coming from my heart.

Answer 5

Maybe because they do not want to admit that they have desires also. It seems to me they want everyone to think that priests are perfect and above desires.

Answer 6

i agree 100%. Well put and hope you get a satisfactory answer.

Answer 7

Im not a catholic but, what do you want to do exactly, nail the pope to a cross and put it on television and reinact the crucifixion to punish the church for this?

Seriously, this has been a problem yes, but seriously we are all humans, we all make mistakes and I dont know what more you people want.

It just seems like vultures going to dead carcasses with the s*x scandal in the church.

I am just getting sick of questions like this with obvious anti-catholic sentiment.

Answer 8

i  agree  with you !

people  generally  dont  want  to  say  sorry.they  feel that  an  admission  of  guilt reflects  badly on  them. the  catholic  church  is  no  exception!

as  fr  being  against abortion,  they  are  condemning  people  who  exercise  this  choice. they  much  prefer  to accuse  others  of  sinning!    

Answer 9

Agreed.

Answer 10

In some cases, especially in the past, this has been true...anymore everything I've seen shows extreme deference being paid to victims and alleged victims.  Can you give DETAILS of how this lack of compassion is played out?

Answer 11

Ask an official of the Catholic church

Answer 12

The Catholic Church and individual priests are not equivalent. It's just like a country with a constitution that condemns stealing, plunder, and corruption which has corrupt officials as its leaders. Also, let us not assume that all priests are like this or if the Church is aware of the crimes of the priests you are saying. if you're really curious about this thing, you can analyze it using Erving Goffman's "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life." These priests are not the only ones who are guilty of hipocracy. All institutions...all of us are.

But yeah, I agree with your point.

Answer 13

Yup, you have a real good question there.They were just shifting them around from parish to parish so they could get more boys I guess. What they should do is throw them the h**l out of church on their butts and have them put in jail in the COMMON population, where they would be taught what it's really like.Priests are no different than any other pedophile and should be treated the same.There are many things wrong with the rc church, I should know, I am an ex-catholic.

Answer 14

The answer is this: The priesthood traditionally attracts people with aberrant sexual tendencies, but who are committed Catholics, and who therefore see no acceptable sexual future for themselves, and therefore see celibacy as the answer.

These people are then cloistered for years, decades sometimes, in seminaries, monasteries and the like, where their sexual maturity is stunted and their sexual nature oppressed, and then they are let into the world.

In this world, they are unequipped to survive sexually. In this world, they and their superiors see the "s*x drenched secular culture" as the problem, and their own sexual failures, large and small, predatory or no, as the fault of that culture, and themselves as the victims of it.

Answer 15

if i gave my real answer, i'm sure i'd get my account deleted.  

agree.  

BB )O( STB

Answer 16

   Becaust  they  do  not  see the abuse  of the  children  going

  on,  but  they  and  we  do  see the murder  of  unborn  human,s.

Answer 17

I guess it depends on what you mean by a lack of compassion.  What should the Church do for the victims?  I think we live in a culture that thinks being a victim gives you a right to make demands...they are the new heroes in our culture.  It is terrible what has happened, but it is not a lack of compassion that is at issue.    

Answer 18

Not speaking as a Catholic, I know many within the Catholic community who are demonstrating great compassion towards those victims of abuse, through both prayer and actions. I would also say this: I don't see anyone condoning pedophilia. But I see many in our culture condoning the legality of abortions. They are both wrong, and should both be opposed in my view. And to my knowledge, Catholics are doing this.

Edit: I am not trying to sugarcoat the wrongdoings of the Catholic church in this area, but only to show, with God's grace in mind, that there are many who are realizing the wrongs done and are now doing the responsible thing. And it seems to be seeking not to "wash its hands" clean of the issue anymore, which is what we do by forfeiting our governing rights with respect to the abortion issue and leaving the decision up to others - even as Pontius Pilate did in the case of Christ.

Answer 19

And I suppose you're the kid who pointed out that the emperor had no clothes to, huh?

Answer 20

Huh????? The Catholic Church is assisting the victims of these evil pedophiles. The Catholic Church is the only ecclesiastical group that is, in spite of the fact that it is less likely for one to be a victim of a Catholic priest than a non-Catholic clergy, family member or school teacher. Why did you single out the Catholic Church as your target of hatred as we are the only charitable ones towards victims? We are the example that others should follow.

In Christ

Fr. Joseph

Answer 21

It's only the fetuses that play into their agenda. Stem cell research uses very old technologies. From inverto fertilization, the same labs, same procedures. Yet they say nothing about invetro.  

Answer 22

Because the priests run things.  And they don't have to worry about abortion, because alter boys can't get preggo.

Answer 23

Paedophilia is the result of unnatural and unreasonable 'morals/standards/fears/sheltered from outside influences' or the likes, ingrained in generation after generation. If you are brought up with these rules (sorry, I can't find better words to describe right now) then thats what you know and don't question. Thats until nature kicks in. I agree with the guy who mentioned immaturity and so on. Outwith the church it may be due to disfunctional upbringing and or chemical imbalance in the brain. nature/nurture... one is certainly not 'well balanced' if they have a tendancy towards kids. who would choose if there were a choice. you're not mentally stable if that makes sense. the film 'the woodsman' is interesting if you can stomach it. there again there are some plain and simle nasty, violent pieces of scum that don't try to help themself and don't give a d**n. on the abortion debate, if you were 13/14 year old virgin and violently raped and battered and pregnant/suicidal and at least suffering post traumatic stress, from a poor background....would it be wrong to abort? tragic for all concerned, your life  shredded and the heartbreak too...i wouldn't have a clue how to deal with/cope/choose whats for the best for all. people have to think about these issues from a different angle. imagine that wee girl was your daughter, abortion=evil? the answer to your question is mamoth and it's far more complexed overall. i'm up for seeing/listenig/considering others opinions. its so difficult to understand.

Answer 24

what are you, Anglican? nice try.

Answer 25

The catholic church has owned the sexual abuse crises, has paid out billions with a b of dollars to the survivors (we don't like to be called victims), has paid for counseling for the survivors, and has implementd mesures at the parsih level which all must be certified in to identify surviors avoid abuse and to report abuse.

You don't know what you are talking about.

Answer 26

Oh, you guys are sooo right. They gave the little boys they raped money, and sent them to a shrink! That totally fixes everything! They still do it, you know. They haven't stopped because they got caught. It still happens. But oh, wait, they'll give them money too! It'll be all right.

If those men are going to heaven, I hope it's to a gated community where they can't leave.  

Answer 27

The Catholic Church handle the pedophile scandal very poorly indeed. With that said I don't see a connection.

The Catholic Church has taught since its inception that abortion is absolutely wrong and against the will of God. It will continue to teach that.

A few rogue priests raping boys has nothing to do with Church teaching. While horrible and defenseless, these priests were not acting with Church authority. They were committing crimes of their own accord, they were not carrying out Church doctrine. There have been Popes who were abominable as people and did cruel things but it does not change what is held and taught by the Church. They are responsible alone for thier actions. The Church made the mistake of trying to cover up and hide these sorry excuses because it thought it could help them, reform them, make things better. It was a mistake.  

Answer 28

I agree. I know the answer but can't say it here...hmm

Answer 29

Your question is based on a wrong assumption.

Have you seen the Pope when he was in the US?  He talked in great length about it, he even met with some of the victims and the families.

Did you know that the Catholic Church has taken extensive steps to prevent this in the future?  I am talking background checks of ALL adults that work with kids, along with Classes that teach us to recognize the signs of abuse and instructions to call police if there is a potential problem?

You obviously didn't know that, yet you jump to the conclusion that the Church shows no compassion?

You should also know that the instances of abuse among the clergy is by far lower in the Catholic Church now than any other denomination, and far lower than School Teachers or Little league Coaches!

But that does not get reported.  It is only a story if it is trashing the Catholic Church.

I strongly encourage all other faiths to take similar action, some are, some are not.

So, in short, there is no switching of gears, and no lack of compassion for the victims of the abuse.

Hope this helps if you want more information, check out WWW.Catholic.com

EDIT: "Clearly the Catholic Church has the biggest problem?"  Clearly it DOES NOT, but it is the most publicised.  If you want to make a blanket statment, that is correct try:

Clearly this is not ONLY a Catholic Problem, it happens in Schools, and in YMCA's and in the Boy and Girl Scouts, and in other faith groups.  We as a society need to stamp it out WHEREVER it is and put Pedophiles in Jail, whoever they are.

That would be much more fitting to the facts in this world.

Oh, and to Atom, who said that the Catholic Church is in favor of in-vetro fertelization, WRONG again.  I really wish some would check their facts before making a wrong assumption, it just makes you look silly!

Peace, and God Bless you all.

Answer 30

More needs to be done period, and pedophila is never justified under any circumstances.

It doesn't matter where you are more likely to be molested. The fact that you are more likely to be molested outside of a church does not suddenly make it ok for someone who's in a church to molest you. Statistics will not erase the pain and evil attached to these acts. No matter how many numbers you throw out there.

This would be like saying, your more likely to be murdered in a warzone, then in a church, but if your murdered in a church, that since you could have easily been killed elsewhere, thats ok. After all, the church is a holy place.

Pedophilia is evil period, and its not less evil just because priests are not the only ones who have ever done it.

This is not a mere monetary issue. Sexual abuse scars the soul of those who are victims, especially when it comes from someoone that they are supposed to trust, someone who claims to be in persona christi.

Answer 31

That is a very good question, unfortunately, I don't have an answer for this.  I agree though.  How can they care about unborn children but do so little about the s*x abuse scandal that has plagued and continues to plague the Catholic faith?  I guess they don't have the priorities straight.