Which I think is a very important thing to keep in mind about the child separation policy of the US government.
Back on priests, I find it very hard to believe that they don’t abuse at a higher rate than office workers. They have access to children, they may have selected their job to get access to children, and they may be part of a generational cycle of abuse (we all know that being abused makes you more likely to abuse, and being the kind of kid who spends a lot of time around priests makes you more likely to be a priest). But if the question is whether there is something special about catholicism that leads to sexual abuse, I really doubt it.
I very much doubt that is true. Most of us have been through a stretch of our adult lives where we weren’t getting any, and most of us never thought, “Well, I could abuse children as an alternative to finding an adult partner.” The priesthood would still be a place where you can get trusted access to children, and thus a job that attracts people who want that access.
“Hey, cardinals! I zinged this rat the other day, you wouldn’t believe it. But ONE, that rat shouldn’t have dressed that way if it didn’t want to be zinged, and TWO, the 1960’s, amirite?”
None of us should be at all restrained, respectful or shy in referring to the sexual criminality perpetrated by the Catholic Church, globally, and in particular, the horrendous and traumatising sexual abuse of children, globally.
Take off their robes and they are just a disgusting group of individuals who preyed on the vulnerable, to devastating effect.
Actually the issue is that an overly strict policy on homosexuality created a blackmail risk:
Pedophile priests could run rampant because they had leverage on gay, but otherwise law abiding priests - turn me in or punish me harshly, and I’ll out you back.
(This of course, also creates feelings of resentment and anger, which vents off in the form of institutional homophobia)
The ex-popes job description before getting promoted included finding child abusers and dealing with them (not by cover ups). He failed to do this for twenty years and is now blaming anyone but himself for this.
I wish I could believe there is a god, because I want to see Benedict XVI’s judgement. I understand that Jesus suggested it would involve millstones and the sea.
If you can’t trust the opinion of a Nazi* suffering from Alzheimer’s, whose opinion can you trust? (*Not a violation of Godwin’s law but a documented fact.)
