Why does it seem to be always Catholics?

[bekisman]

Why does it seem to be always Catholics?
I'm not knocking Catholics -(Atheist) BUT it seems to be everywhere.. now in Belgium..

Belgian authorities have raided the headquarters of the Belgian Catholic Church during an investigation into child sex abuse claims.
A spokesman for the Brussels prosecutors' office confirmed that the palace of the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels had been sealed off. Police also raided the home of retired Archbishop Godfried Danneels.
Belgium is one of several countries in which a stream of abuse claims have shaken the Church.
Brussels prosecutors were looking for material relating to allegations of sex abuse, a spokesman for the prosecutors' office said.
"This is a case that the Brussels prosecutors' office received recently, containing a statement of facts in relation to alleged sexual abuse of minors by a number of people within the Church," said Jean-Marc Meilleur.
"The object of the searches is to verify the declaration and eventually gather evidence about these declarations."
At the home of Archbishop Danneels in Mechelen, just north of Brussels, police did not question the cleric but took away his computer, according to his spokesman, Hans Geybels.Mr Geybels said police had also asked the archbishop to accompany them to the cathedral in Mechelen because they had heard that there might be files there.
Separately, the offices of an independent commission set up to look into cases of sexual abuse were also raided.
An inquiry into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Belgium has been running for several years.
In April, the then-bishop of the city of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, resigned after admitting that he had sexually abused a boy earlier in his career.
In recent months, allegations of abuse levelled against Catholic priests have surfaced in many countries.
There have also been accusations that Church authorities in Europe and North and South America failed to deal with cases openly or properly.
Pope Benedict XVI himself has been accused of being part of a culture of secrecy, and of not taking strong enough steps against abusers when he had that responsibility as a cardinal in Rome.
However, his supporters say he has been the most pro-active pope yet in confronting abuse.
The Pope pledged in April to "bring to justice" Church officials responsible for abuse.
The Vatican also made it explicit that sex abuse cases should be reported to police if required by law.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10403961.stm

[Gronnuck]

Why is the Catholic Church so reticent about this issue? For too long the church has policed itself but in this 21st century it is not good enough. The priesthood has no right to set itself above the law or anyone else. It’s time all Catholics stood up and said, “Enough is enough” and purge itself of its paedophiles and abusers. To do anything less is to betray God, the Church and the Children.

[Tubthumper]

I reckon it's what happens when you have a religion, which has been instrumental in establishing a society, but has overstayed its welcome by a long time.
No doubt in my mind that our nation (and all the others round the world) would not have been battered into shape had it not been for the influence of religion and the christian church. People need a purpose for living once they are aware of the wider world; to feed that, provide minimal education and exert control you simply set up a church that feeds those needs with tales of all-powerful gods, threats of eternal damnation, legends & stories, funny costumes , nice songs and impressive buildings with shiny things in them. Oh and an infallible bloke to push out the good news. In a language they can't understand.
It takes a few centuries, but once you have the powerful convinced (by the order and control, and by the taxes they can collect) you use their soldiers to further impress the natives (you'll get disembowelled if you follow any god but ours) you can have it pretty well stitched up. Your nation settles down earning you money, they flock to church on their day off, to get told what to do (and what will happen if they don't!) and everything's dandy.
That's where the problems start. The contractors you brought in to sort your country out are still there, and they're sending a good whack of your country's tax revenues back to HQ. The people ask why the bloke in the robe is fat while their kids are starving. The boss in Rome keeps coming up with weird ideas that don't suit your country. The local agent keeps fiddling with the kids because he's not allowed a girlfirend to fiddle with.
Henry VIII had the right idea, the minute the church starts trying to tell you what to do in your own country, turf 'em out, set up one of your own (with new songs and costumes) and off you go. And that's fine, because people still need churches and religion.
But the catholic church (in the big sense) is too big. It still thinks it can tell nations what to do, because it actually believes that god tells it what to do.
It has papal infallibility, no-jollies rules for its priests and nuns, total disconnect from its congregation, and considers that it must keep its secrets if it is to survive. But it has huge amounts of investment power and what government wants to be seen to challenge god?
As a church it's an irrelevant tool of the powerful which has been allowed to flourish for far too long. It should be broken up under UN control into discrete national churches, which adhere to the laws of the nations concerned and work for its citizens. And its workers should be allowed to behave like normal human beings, that way they would stop molesting bairns.

[onecalledk]

the catholic church is run by men who think they are above the law. A religion that states that priest cannot marry and must be celebate was never going to work. Man was put on the earth to procreate.

The power that the Catholic church has is vast, too vast and perhaps it is now beginning to crumble as people can see past the fear that the church spreads. The amount of money and wealth that they have is immense, all at the expense of those who follow the church.

Visiting catholic countries you see how poor the local people are yet they have churches with solid gold altars and give what little they have to the church. Blindly following a religion that keeps them in chains and pushes them further into fear.......

There will no doubt be more of these cases appearing all over the world. NO ONE is above the law, no one . Perhaps these are lessons for mankind in trusting and believing without asking. If you believe in god then why should you be dictated to be another man who believes in god as to what god wants you to do ?

We ALL have access to god, The Pope is no nearer to god because he is the Pope. As we are all beginning to see they are all mortal men who are as open to greed and corruption as the next man ..... A cross round your neck and a set of robes does not make you a saint nor someone who should be trusted completely and totally ......

Power feeds on fear ........

K

[Tubthumper]

... If you believe in god then why should you be dictated to be another man who believes in god as to what god wants you to do ? Because you will be ridiculed, cast out, tortured or murdered (and subject to eternal damnation) if you don't comply? ;)

We ALL have access to god, The Pope is no nearer to god because he is the Pope.
Wonder why god doesn't do something about kiddy-fiddling priests?

Power feeds on fear
Power relies on fear. In the case of churches, it's a combination of fear of the unknown (ie god, death, after-death) and fear of the consequences of non-compliance (ie expulsion, ridicule, torture, death, after-death etc) that get them where they are, as the people 'in charge' of a nation need that to exert influence. But then the quest for power and influence becomes a race for adherents, so the power doesn't wane, and the ones in charge forget what and who they're supposed to be doing it for. Any fiddled kiddies are just an unfortunate part of the collateral damage in the campaign to 'follow the word of god'.

It would all have withered away years ago if it wasn't for the money, and the power... it can't be about the drink, girls or drugs after all, how else can they get their thrills?

Nowadays I wonder if the power is purely financial. maybe the conspiracy theorists should be switching their attention away from just the zionists! :eek:

[bekisman]

Because you will be ridiculed, cast out, tortured or murdered (and subject to eternal damnation) if you don't comply? ;)

Wonder why god doesn't do something about kiddy-fiddling priests?

Power relies on fear. In the case of churches, it's a combination of fear of the unknown (ie god, death, after-death) and fear of the consequences of non-compliance (ie expulsion, ridicule, torture, death, after-death etc) that get them where they are, as the people 'in charge' of a nation need that to exert influence. But then the quest for power and influence becomes a race for adherents, so the power doesn't wane, and the ones in charge forget what and who they're supposed to be doing it for. Any fiddled kiddies are just an unfortunate part of the collateral damage in the campaign to 'follow the word of god'.

It would all have withered away years ago if it wasn't for the money, and the power... it can't be about the drink, girls or drugs after all, how else can they get their thrills?

Nowadays I wonder if the power is purely financial. maybe the conspiracy theorists should be switching their attention away from just the zionists! :eek:

"follow the word of God".. not having a belief myself, I do find it hard to understand those who do, but hey, it's a free-world, but when a religion seems to be known for certain very evil things, I despair.. in the distant past, did not the Catholic Priests marry?, was this stopped for financial reasons?.. But the Vatican is surely not helping itself in their criticism. 'The lady doth protest too much, methinks' springs to mind.. One wonders what terrible revelations will transpire (this time) :(
The Vatican has stepped up its criticism of raids by Belgian police investigating alleged child sex abuse, calling the detention of priests "serious and unbelievable".
Police in Leuven seized nearly 500 files and a computer from the offices of a Church commission investigating allegations of sex abuse.They also searched the Church's headquarters, the Brussels archdiocese in Mechelen, north of the Belgian capital. Prosecutors have said the raids were over alleged "abuse of minors committed by a certain number of Church figures".
A Belgian bishop has confessed to molesting a boy, becoming the first high-ranking prelate to be directly implicated in child sex abuse since the outbreak of the global scandal enveloping the Roman Catholic church.
Shortly after the Vatican announced that the pope had accepted his resignation , Roger Vangheluwe, the bishop of the Flemish city of Bruges, said that before he took over his diocese "and for a short time afterwards, I sexually abused a young boy close to me".
Will Priests Ever Marry?

The rules about clerical celibacy will not change any time soon. John Paul II helped ensure this by making great efforts to foster and encourage very conservative forces within the Catholic Church, perhaps with an eye towards preserving his legacy. Pope Benedict XVI certainly isn't going to shift into a more liberal direction. Then there is the fact that world Catholicism is not as liberal as many think.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10425090.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10425090.stm)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/23/belgian-bishop-admits-molesting-boy (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/23/belgian-bishop-admits-molesting-boy)
http://atheism.about.com/od/romancatholicism/a/celibacy_2.htm (http://atheism.about.com/od/romancatholicism/a/celibacy_2.htm)

[Gronnuck]

The practice of celibacy in the Catholic Church was part of the reforms resulting from the Council of Trent in 1562. However the Pope and his successors were given the authority to modify or change the original decree.