Posted by Diarmuid (194.125.220.45) on April 29, 2002 at 07:54:43:
In Reply to: so i just have to say something about this. posted by sarah67zillion (172.172.136.213) on April 27, 2002 at 00:38:18:
Here in Ireland, we've had the same slew of revelations. the rapist priests themselves get jail, but the Bishops who knew about it, and didn't call the cops about it, don't.
I think the immunity comes from confession: a priest cannot be legally compelled to speak about what he learns in confession. It's the worst possible sin: worse than raping and murdering the Pope.
BUT, if he learned about the abuse from complaints made to him by victims, and he didn't alert the authorities, then he can and should be jailed as an accessory.
Though, a small question: how come the victims chose to complain to the priest's boss instead of the cops? If you're attacked by a McDonald's employee, you tell a cop, not his manager.
: im sure we've all heard about this whole catholic sex crime scandle thing happening, right?
: without kicking open a door to personal attacks, what does everyone think about all this?
: i personally am confused. theres been reports of all these priests who are known serial child abusers and rapists. so all the head catholic big boys got together over seas to discuss how to handle the whole fiasco. the major question being, "should priests be allowed to practice if they molest children, even if they only do it once?"
: what the hell is going on? at what point did priests become immune to JAIL? why aren't the accused being prosecuted? afterall, they have been accused of a CRIME? have they even been arrested?
: and further more, the catholic church has, for several years, concealed evidence of countless child abuse cases. isn't that conspiracy? why are we allowing conspiritors to leave the country? i could have sworn the USA set up a justice system so that when we know who the bad guys are, we can catch them and not let them go. sure they're holy and all, but they are still human and they broke the law.
: i guess my question is: if we went to all that trouble to make laws against child abuse, why aren't these cases being dealt with legally?
: oh this has to be annagramical huh? ok um, enneagramically, what type do you think the pope is?
: sarah.