https://www.dailykos.com/news/PennsylvaniaReport News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Sun, 26 Jan 2020 12:58:06 +0000 Sun, 26 Jan 2020 12:58:06 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) https://www.dailykos.com/story/2018/8/17/1789098/-The-Pennsylvania-Report-about-Child-Sexual-Abuse-by-Catholic-Priests <p>I’m almost 64 and a life-long Roman Catholic.  I still regularly attend Mass on Sundays.  I’ve never known anybody who said he or she was sexually abused by a priest, and I certainly was not myself.  For many years on this forum, when people have painted in broad brushes about how the entire Catholic Church is a den of pedophiles, I’ve fought back and said I think the great majority of priests are completely honorable and holy.</p> <p>The recent report from a Grand Jury in Pennsylvania about 70 years of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the state has totally knocked me to the ground.  The numbers are staggering!  If it was 300 priests they could identify over 70 years in one state, then if you extrapolate it to all states, and to all countries, and back for centuries, you’re talking about millions of victims!</p> <p>I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m considering leaving the church.  This will consume me with lots of prayer and worry.  To me, leaving the church of my earliest childhood would feel almost like ripping my heart out.</p> <p>Obviously, this should be the inflection point where the church abandons the rule of celibacy for priests.  Incidentally, Jesus never preached that, and it’s nowhere in the Bible.  It was introduced as a church rule in the 1100s.  It could be changed by a short order from Pope Francis.  I’m VERY disappointed that he hasn’t spoken out clearly about this!</p> <p>I recommend this ferocious op-ed by James Martin, S.J., the editor of the prestigious Jesuit publication America:  <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/opinion/the-virtues-of-catholic-anger.html" target="_blank">www.nytimes.com/….</a></p> rss@dailykos.com (Timaeus) celibacy PennsylvaniaReport PopeFrancis RomanCatholicChurch SexAbuse _1789098 Sat, 18 Aug 2018 01:49:43 +0000