To be totally disgusted by this

[SilverySurfer]

edition.cnn.com/2019/02/25/australia/cardinal-george-pell-vatican-conviction-intl/index.html

and hope he rots in prison. How many more are there yet to be identified? Rotten to the core.

Where is your Aibu??
I find it unlikely that anyone with an ounce of morality would disagree with you.

Yanbu. But you know that.

My AIBU is in the title.

I would really be interested to hear from anyone who is Catholic whether things like this shake their belief, how they deal with it in their local church - ie is it ever discussed with their priest or mentioned in sermons? I'm an atheist so have little knowledge on the subject.

I'm not catholic, but I am Christian.

The fact that some men offend in disgusting ways comes as no surprise to me. The fact that some men who offend are in the church- again, no surprise.

I have little faith in the church- it's a group of people like any other, prone to all the failings people have.

I have faith in God and try and live my life in accordance with His guidance. What other people do doesn't affect that.

Keep alert, they're everywhere.

Keep alert, they're everywhere.

I assure you're they're not despite what the scaremongering press would have you believe. There are no more dangers to our children now than there were when I was a child. In fact, if there is an increased threat, it isn't from outside the home, it's in their bedrooms in the form of a phone, tablet or computer.

Of course be vigilant (particularly online) but treating every person as a potential predator isn't a healthy outlook.

Oh, not another one

I imagine the Treasurer with have quite a bit of influence too, so just don't expect the church to take appropriate action anytime soon ...

Not surprised at all

Another quote from CNN last December: "Pope Francis has removed three cardinals from his small council of advisers for reasons of advanced age, the Vatican said Wednesday, though two also have been the subject of allegations relating to sexual abuse or covering it up"

Pell was one of those three and I believe Francisco Errazuriz from Chile was the other one being investigated, but their removal appears to have happened during the very month that Pell was convicted

And then they claim it was because of "age" ... do they think folk are completely stupid, or is their arrogance such that they expect their word to be taken on trust anyway?

I would really be interested to hear from anyone who is Catholic whether things like this shake their belief, how they deal with it in their local church

I was brought up catholic. Though I don't consider myself religious at all.

But why would it change their beliefs? Some men, in positions if power are abusive. We know this and if you think this is the only religion this happens in, then you are very naive. The catholic church should have done far more, far faster.

But I bet in 20 years it will turn out that plenty of religions are way behind and still actively covering this sort of thing up.

It's not limited to the church, is it?

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_paedophile_dossier

The Conservative Party have been ignoring and burying child abuse allegations for years.

Im catholic. It doesn't shake my belief in God but does reaffirm my disgust for the predators who take advantage of powerful positions in society.

The man who abused my childhood friend was her uncle. In the same way as above, it didnt make me question my faith in my family but it did highlight to me the danger of trusting all men, especially those with unchallenged authority.

I do wish the church would be more transparent in the way they handle these, and did far more to tackle it. Nonsense like retiring due to age is slmost as bad as taking no action at all.

why would it change their beliefs?

Doesn't that depend on what's meant by "beliefs" in the context? If it's in a chosen deity that's one thing, but I'd suggest it's quite another where belief in a man made organisation's concerned - even where they try to claim infallibility

It's true that other religions aren't exempt from this; the CofE is handling thousands of accusations, hindus, muslims, jehovahs witnesses and jews have also had issues and no doubt others too. But since abusers can be found anywhere it's not just about the actual offences - it's also what the organisation does about it when they're uncovered

And all too often their attitude stinks

There are scumbags in every walk of life, these disgusting men don’t only opt to be Catholic priests OP

Why would it affect my belief? My faith isn’t to do with the politics of the Vatican.

But you can believe in God and teachings of the catholic church and still accept that some people within the church will be predators and they that need to change how they handle this.

Believing in something doesnt mean that you look past their huge failings.

OP, be honest. Did you really think anyone was going to say YABU? Or were you just hoping to shoehorn a topic you find interesting into a higher traffic board?

ComeMonday
What does it matter anyway

I'm a Christian but not Catholic. I think the church failed in their Safeguarding in the past (they are very strict now).
Having done a Child Protection course at work we were told paedophiles go to great lengths to gain access to children - they can spend years befriending a family, marry into families, get a volunteer position in sports/scouts etc, get jobs in schools and in the past become a member of the clergy.
I think it's important to note these were paedophiles who were searching for access to children and found weak protection systems in place in churches. It isn't really because they (pretended??) to be Christians it's because they found an easy way to access children.
The church has now implemented very strict child protection procedures.

It hasn't shaken my faith. There are sadly paedophiles in atheist, Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, sporting etc etc communities.

What is important is that all communities put in place child protection procedures and victims are cared for.
We also learnt on the course that most paedophiles were child abuse victims themselves when they were young, which I found very sad.

People willing to abuse children are in all walks of life. It is terrible this was not publicised before and during the trial. Disgusting in fact as it shows there is still a lack of transparency. Offenders are opportunist s and will exploit this. If I as a member of the general public know this, why doesn’t the church??

My FIL is RC and told DH this morning that it was Gods grace that the treasurers role ended last week so it will not actually inconvenience the church. Yes, that's the import thing you fucking sociopath.

Jimmy Savile was a Roman Catholic Knight. Says it all.

It's all very well pinpointing the clergy - but this ie is it ever discussed with their priest or mentioned in sermons? people in positions of power &/or authority do this :

doctors
nurses
teachers
police
MPs
scout leaders
Musicians
TV personalities
the judiciary
and dare I mention parents/step parents/extended family

I do think attacking one source of abuse whilst largely ignoring others is foolish and it stigmatises everyone else in that role.

Believing in something doesn't mean that you look past their huge failings

And yet that's precisely what the church itself has done time after time

Even the last abuse survivor sitting on the Commission for the Protection of Minors felt forced to resign, citing lack of cooperation from the Curia ... that same Curia which many hoped would be thoroughly reformed after Benedict's mysterious resignation

I'm always reminded of watching Cormac Murphy O'Connor being interviewed years ago, and being disturbed by his obvious loathing of the reporter for having the presumption even to question his appalling judgements and deceits

And I'm sorry, but despite the endless prattle and proclamations, I simply don't believe that anything has really changed, or that the will exists to protect anything at all except the church's own position

Yes YABU, I completely agree with his actions said nobody ever and you obbiously knew that would be the case...

I would really be interested to hear from anyone who is Catholic whether things like this shake their belief, how they deal with it in their local church

I am a lapsed Catholic. One previous priest disappeared from our parish and members assumed he was ill. Once the criminal case was completed we were told the truth and people were shocked and disgusted with the man.

The same thing happened at a school I used to teach at and it was handled in exactly the same way.

Tbh, I have never felt inclined to trust or believe in people just because of their job so there was no belief to be shaken.