Catholic Priest Abuse Victim: "Why Can You Be a Child Molester and a Priest?"

By Kira Brekke
Huffington Post
April 14, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/14/church-victim-responds-to-pope_n_5147250.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

[with video]

Pope Francis asked for forgiveness last week from those who have been sexually abused by priests and vowed to make changes to prevent future assaults. However, one victim said an apology doesn't solve such a deeply entrenched issue.

"There is a design flaw in the system of the Catholic Church that allows for this kind of behavior to go on and continue," Peter Isely explained to HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri."We’ve been through this cycle of apologies many times over the past years with popes, and so it’s hard to really not be somewhat skeptical about it."

Earlier this year, Pope Benedict defrocked more than 400 priests over the course of two years for molesting children, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. As a result of this systematic issue, Isely said he always asks priests and clergymen just one question:

"I ask them, ‘Look, you can’t be a woman and a priest, I’ll buy that for the moment. And you can’t be a married man and priest, I’ll buy that for the moment. But why can you be a child sex offender or a child molester and a priest?' It’s the only occupation that I know in civil society in which you can sexually assault and abuse children and [be allowed to remain] employed and working with children and families in that occupation around the world. That is what has got to change."