Vatican Fails Understanding of Human Sexuality

when religion fails
March 23, 2012

http://whenreligionfails.blogspot.com/2012/03/vatican-fails-understanding-of-human.html

Recalling the revelation of horrific incidents of sexual abuse by members of the Irish Catholic clergy the Vatican on March 20th released an eight-page summary of the findings and recommendations of the visitation to four archdioceses, religious institutes and seminaries in Ireland. A Vatican-appointed investigation of the church in Ireland recognized serious shortcomings in the handling of accusations of the sexual abuse of minors, yet found that bishops, clergy and lay faithful are doing an "excellent" job in creating safe environments for children today. While similar sentiments were issued forth by the Irish primate, Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, others representing the victims were obviously disappointed by the report. Maeve Lewis, executive director for the Irish centre of sexual abuse, “One in Four’, criticized the report, insisting that "the Vatican is still not accepting responsibility for its role in creating the culture of purposeful cover-ups of the sexual abuse of children." adding that "while we welcome the findings of the visitation that the Irish church now has good child protection practices in place, we feel it is a lost opportunity to address the role played by the Vatican in perpetuating the policy of protecting abusive priests at the expense of children."

According to independent experts such as Richard Sipe and Tom Doyle the Vatican has now embarked on a new strategy to handle the ongoing the abuse crisis by:. 1)reducing the time for filing claims 2) reducing the amounts paid to victims 3) forcing SNAP into bankruptcy through costly legal battles 4) distancing itself from any involvement in protecting abusive priests 5) blaming various bishops and religious superiors outside the Vatican for their lack of insight into the mounting crisis.

The choice of Cardinals Dolan to lead the Irish investigation by the Vatican was no mistake. As recent as 2011, Dolan endorsed a press release, reproduced on the Archdiocese of New York website, in which the non-profit support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests as a "phony victims' group". Anyone familiar with SNAP will immediately recognize the pitiful efforts the Vatican is conducting to put the blame outside the institution.

There is way too much evidence now that both John Paul II and Benedict turned their backs on the victims until forced by the media beginning in 2002 to respond to the ongoing sexual abuse crisis. More than US $ 2 Billion have been paid out to the victims in the USA not out of sympathy but as a means of avoiding legal action.

We Catholics may not be the best informed people but we are certainly not stupid.

Meanwhile an even more disturbing report involving the Catholic Church in Holland was filed by the BBC News March 20th. as follows:



Up to 11 boys were castrated while in the care of the Dutch Roman Catholic church in the 1950s to rid them of homosexuality, a newspaper investigation has said.

A young man was castrated in 1956 after telling police he was being abused by priests, the newspaper reported. The justice minister is investigating the role of the government at the time.

Last year, an inquiry found thousands of children had been sexually abused in Dutch Catholic institutions since 1945. Dutch MPs called for an inquiry after the report was published in the NRC Handelsblad newspaper at the weekend.

'Serious and shocking'

Henk Hethuis, a pupil at a Catholic boarding school, was 18 when he told police in 1956 he was being abused by a Dutch monk. He was castrated on the instructions of Catholic priests, NRC Handelsblad said, and told this would "cure" him of his homosexuality. Hethuis died in a car crash in 1958.

The same happened to at least 10 of his schoolmates, the newspaper said.

Dutch Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten called the allegations "very serious and shocking" and said he would investigate the role of the Dutch government at the time.

The Dutch Catholic church has said it is willing to co-operate with an investigation to find out whether the media reports are true, Reuters reports. A commission of inquiry last year said Catholic officials had failed to tackle the widespread abuse at schools, seminaries and orphanages. The commission - headed by former cabinet minister Wim Deetman - found tens of thousands of children had suffered abuse ranging from inappropriate touching to rape.

It condemned what it called the church's cover-up and culture of silence.

NRC Handelsblad said the commission received a complaint about the alleged castration cases in 2010.

Dutch MPs are to ask formally for a parliamentary hearing with the head of the commission, former cabinet minister Wim Deetman, to ask him why he did not include the information in his report.

Is it now time for the Catholic Church to re-examine their teachings and understanding of human sexuality?