Does roman catholicism beget sexual abuse?

[chrisrobin]

Well, the Church of England joins the roll of shame.

Church of England 'allowed child abusers to hide'

I imagine that her Majesty, as head of the church, is decidedly not amused.

Clearly religions can not help themselves from exploiting the moral authority they give themselves. When they don't have moral authority, what do they have?

All religions are prone being able to sexually abuse Children and the C of E is no exception - the Catholic Church on the other hand being world wide has been a widespread abuser over the years and the Pope certainly wasn't amused - nor did he do anything about it!
The biggest problem, and its not just churches, is the "body", be it church, financial institution or charity is more important than the child. For them its retaining the outward appearance of decency, holding its head up high in society.
Those in responsible positions have to be made aware that they "listen". Then its deciding if they are believed and not as it has always been based ion the persons position.
As a grown up I went to my personnel officer and complained that my boss had made indecent proposals to me - I was dismissed as it was impossible as he was a "married man".
I only use that as an example, but in the past the local priest, vicar or choir master had standing in the community, in highly religious areas to accuse a priest of abuse would be almost begging for excommunication.

 

[Drifterwood]

This has been common knowledge for many years, Sadly the same story can be applied to any church.

Yes, very true.

It is officially acknowledged now. Whether it is acknowledged as an institutional issue or put down to aberrant individuals is another matter.

In my eyes it is institutional, to the core of all such institutions. So, if you can't have power without abuse, do you remove the vessel of power?

 

[HorseHung40's]

When one hears of sexual abuse and the church at the same time, it often comes back to the Catholic church; however, incidents of sexual abuse have also surfaced from other religions and religious sects.

I believe that these are crimes of opportunity.

This has been enabled by the assumed authority of these organizations over their members, and, also by vows of celibacy.

The vow of celibacy does not diminish an already existing sex drive. Without a normal outlet, those, who have made the vow, will seek out persons with whom they can have sex, and, won't discuss it afterward. Silence occurs, because the congregants believe that the church in question has power over them by refusing their departed souls entry into an eternal afterlife.

My view of an afterlife does not:
1.) Require a middleman like a religion to sell it to me;
2.) Does not discriminate against those, who are not like me;
3.) Include racists, homophobes, misogynists, hate mongers or bigots.

My view of an afterlife does:
1.) Welcome all - especially those have been marginalized in this lifetime;
2.) Resemble a spa, where all are well rested, slim, without limitations.
3.) Show everyone as beautiful and important - not just a select few.

 

[DiamondJoe]

I think you'll find it's not just the Catholics with a problem... See executive summary from this new report on CSE in the Anglican church, pp v-xiv. It's a fucking shit shower.

https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-docume...hurch-investigation-report-6-october-2020.pdf

 

[malakos]

All religions are prone being able to sexually abuse Children...

By and large, yes. And I'm glad to see when people are aware that this isn't strictly a problem with the Catholic Church.

However, it being a common problem across religious traditions shouldn't be taken as indicative of a problem unique to religion, either. There are also non-religious organizations that have had serious problems with child sexual abuse (the BSA being a high profile example: These Men Say The Boy Scouts’ Sex Abuse Problem Is Worse Than Anyone Knew). Issues of abuse definitely crop up in schools as well.

What I take this all to mean is that organizations where children congregate in a high-trust environment will be at risk by individuals who are inclined to exploit said environment. It is true that this dynamic is expressed more acutely in religious contexts than in secular contexts. That may warrant being more wary of religious organizations overall. But the problem isn't religion itself, and taking it to be may produce blind spots with respect to risky secular contexts.

Also, I don't think this issue is unavoidable with religious organizations, and knowing they theoretically can be safe places may help motivate efforts to hold them accountable.