Umm....excuse me? You think I think this shit is 'ok'?

I don't. Nor do most Catholics I know. The only difference here is that you seem to think that this should lead them to turn their back on their church, and I think that's an unrealistic expectation given the nature of catholicism. Ordinary catholics are far more likely (in my view) to want to repair their church than leave it.

I haven't heard hordes of catholics queing up to excuse paedophilia. There are clearly some priests who've been complicit. At the top there seems to have been an institutional silence. You seem to want ordinary catholics to define their church through this scandal. Their not doing that does not render them complicit; it is not a sanction of that behaviour: knowing about it and not acting, that is complicity. Continuing to believe that the Catholic Church is the one true church is not.

Really? This shit has been going on for a long time, when were planning on getting started?

WTF are you talking about!?! I only made one statement:

I excuse no one for their actions. I do not define myself as Catholic. Let the Catholics on here respond. Good day.

edit: here is a great movie if any of you missed it. Along the same lines of the abusive environment of the Catholic Church, which btw controls the majority of the schools in Ireland.

The Magdalene Sisters

http://www.amazon.com/Magdalene-Sist.../dp/B00018D3L4

Who? The priests? The vatican? the congregations? individual catholics?

Well, hell, it's only in the last few decades we've begun to talk, as a society, about all sorts of things: paedophilia, domestic violence, rape. We all know this stuff goes on, why haven't we solved that yet?

I just think it's unrealistic to expect people to see what these priests have done, and the hierarchy's silence as defining an institution two thousand years in the making. They're inside it. They aren't going to see it like an outsider sees it.

Umm...I was responding to Jinx.

continuing to tithe (pay money) and attend masses at a church where it has been discovered, and admitted by the Pope that homosexual pedophilia is not uncommon, and swept under the rug by leadership IS sanctioning that behavior.

It would be akin to attending KKK meetings, but not attending the actual lynchings.

Yes, the individual catholics you just said were choosing to fix their church instead of discontinuing support of it.

Pedophilia is a human behaviour. Should we all stop being human because some choose to behave in this disgusting way?

I don't know any catholics who condone pedophilia. All the ones I know are appalled and are calling for answers.

I wonder what religion all the other pedophiles are? What makes anyone here think the catholic church has some exclusive responsibility for this problem? The whole of society has to deal with this.

Putting money in the plate is not condoning pedophilia. It's contributing to your local parish in order to help those who need help. Should that aid be withdrawn by good people, causing the needy to suffer more, just because some catholics have done the wrong thing? If you answer yes you probably need to consider your own values.

If the catholic church was the only game in town, you'd have half a point.

It's not.

It's unrealistic to expect someone brought up catholic to jump horses midstream if their fundamental beliefs are those of a catholic.

To understand the theology is important. Different churches have different tenets and to some people it would seem like going from christianity to muslim or budhism or hinduism if someone asked you to stop being a catholic and become C of E for example.

There are bad people involved in all churches and for that matter all organizations. Does this issue need to be addressed by the catholic church? Absolutely. It is being addressed right now.

Should people who believe the catholic church is their one true path to heaven be expected to all of a sudden change those beliefs because someone they've never met did something wrong? Personally I don't think so, but I suppose that might make sense to some people somehow.

Catholicism isnt like protestantism; you can't just choose another denomination. To a devout catholic, it is the one true Church. Not only is it the one true church; but it is the only route to God. Unlike in protestantism, in which, for the most part, the believer has a personal relationship with God, a catholic needs priestly intercession.

If they turn their back on their church, then they effectively turn their back on God. Without a priest to minister to them, they are denied the sacrament, absolution, and the last rites. Without these things, they cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

No matter what the individual, frail human beings involved in the church might do, the Church is still God's house and a priest is still necesary for their immortal souls.

Just clarify that point: for a devout Catholic, it really is the only show in town.

My Granddad was a catholic who left the church when he married a protestant lass. He died in terror, convinced that he was going to hell. He wasnt a bad man. He just hadn't had the sacrament for 50 years.

We all know there are no pedophiles involved in protestantism.

Just necrophiliacs.

Only the Catholic church has pedophiles? Its gotten me thinking
Why don't we hear about this type of abuse from/in other churches or religions?

We do. Other churches have been hit with similar accusations, although perhaps not so much. The problem with the CC is the celibacy rule.

Every time you have people in a position of authority over vulnerable other people, abuse happens.