How can anyone still follow the Catholic Church ?

[LadyBlaBlah]

I am not an alarmist, but really, after the way they have treated their children, how can we take their religion seriously?

There are so many other points, but in summary, what a total disaster they are.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8381119.stm

I'm a hardened atheist but even I think you're making a teeny bit of a sweeping statement here.

If it were any other organisation, people would never support or follow again, but seeing as it is a religious organisation, people seem to be able to excuse it. Never ceases to amaze me.

That is surly the same as saying how can anyone be muslim they belive in hounor killings and treat women like shit...

I am also atheist.

Because it is individuals who have done heinous things, not the organisation. The organisation, as you term it, was founded 2 millennia ago by followers of Jesus.

Exactly bogie

I would not support them either

not suprised to see such a reactionary post.

sick isn't it

It's like saying you don't trust any teachers because a few have been found to have abused children.

Exactly, Bogie.

There are people who follow different religions do all sorts of evil things all of the time. There are also millions of Catholics who don't abuse children and Muslims who do not support terrorism.

Very simplistic and offensive op imo

Its not at all Dumble

The top clergy systematically and deliberately ignored what was going on.

So, it is like saying that OFSTED or the government repeatedly saw child abuse in schools and forgot to report it and chose to ignore it because they wanted to keep their job. And it is at that point, most people would lose their faith in the schooling system........but because it is a religion, anything seems to go.

Agree it's like saying all men are paedophiles because a few are.

Sad story though but I believe cover ups like this happen a lot especially over 20+ years ago not just in the Catholic church,

And what is worse for the Catholic organisation is that they have attempted to cover this up and ridicule their victims until even very recently. So, it is not anything like saying that all men are paedophiles, we are talking about an organisation run by people who don't really have a problem with paedophilia.

But you are still saying that the acts of individuals (albeit high officials within the church) means that the whole church is rotten. That is simply wrong imo.

Ah, priest = abuser. Good, sorted then. Don't worry about the thousands of priests worldwide who are as motivated to abuse as you are. Just tar the lot of them and every follower of the church.

And don't come back at me with some old toffee about me somehow justifying the crime with that statement because

a) that's bollocks and you know it. I'm a parent, child abuse is a hideous, unthinkable crime. No question.

b) I am hiding this thread now because I've already decided today I need to double my anti-D dose and this thread is likely to make me triple it.

Carry on with your generalisations by all means.

Agree very sad story.

But what a puerile op!!

Should we also lose faith in the idea of democracy, because those at the top of that system have frequently turned out to be corrupt? You can hate the system, without hating the ideas it is based on.

So, hate what the Roman Catholic church did, by all means, but that does not mean that their religion is automatically wrong, any more than democracy is wrong because of some MPs being corrupt.

There are thousands of good priests - saintly individuals some of them ime - and millions of lay people who abhor child abuse and whose integrity you are tarnishing. Please try to see this.

But again MumInScot - that argument doesn't follow..........the Catholic church is an organisation not a system, so doesn't compare to democracy. It compares to 'religion' and at no point have I said this makes all religion rubbish. You either like what they do or you don't. I happen not like what they stand for.

Well maybe those good people should think about who they follow and whose standards they are supporting

They are following Jesus' standards LadyBlaBlah. How could you suppose anything else from a Christian organisation?

LadyBlaBlah is right that this is about the hierarchy, not merely a few rotten apples. The guys at the very top have colluded in hiding abusers from the law and attempting to silence the victims and frustrate investigations.

It is that that makes the Roman Catholic church as an organisation so dangerous.

What a strange thing to say, in the context of the thread.

Was that to me? I hope I am not being self-centred in saying that, but edam's post seemed to be agreeing with you.

What is strange about my post? Catholics are Christians. A Christian follows the teachings of Christ. Catholics do have a somewhat more hierarchical church than other Christians, but they are not following their priests. They are following Christ's teachings.

And were those arch bishops following Jesus's standards too?

We're not talking about a few individuals here are we, we're talking about 46 priests who were basically given the green light by those in authority, the hierarchy of the catholic church to continue to abuse children, while the victims were hushed.

We are talking about an entire organization here, and let's be honest - alagations of child abuse have been rife within the catholic church for years, this isn't the first time, and given the scale of it wasn't an isolated incident.

yes it was to you Dumble. WannaBe has basically said what I meant - i.e. were they following Jesus's standards in the high levels of power??