Vatican 'clarifies' cardinal's homosexuality abuse link

[brooklynite]

Source: BBC

The Vatican has sought to "clarify" remarks made by a senior cardinal, who linked homosexuality with paedophilia in the abuse scandal facing the Church.

A spokesman provided "data" to support the claim, but also said Church leaders were not trying to make assertions of a "psychological or medical nature".

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said it was homosexuality - not clerical celibacy - which lay behind the abuse of children.

Earlier, France condemned the cardinal for making "an unacceptable linkage".

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8620135.stm

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Well, now that they've "clarified" things with "data", I certainly feel better.....

[MajorChode]

1. Yes, that makes it crystal clear

Especially when you look at their "data", collected by none other than the Catholic church itself which actually shows he's quite full of shit. Kinda pathetic when you can't even pay your own researchers to support your half-fast assertions.

[SkyDaddy7]

2. Praise Jesus!

We have the truth!:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Bluenorthwest]

3. So I was just reading about raped and pregnant girl vitctims

of systemic clerical abuse at the hands of RCC priests. Wonder how they explain that stuff, all the heterosexual child abuse, of which there has been plenty in the RCC.

[Moonwalk]

10. I'm sure the church will say that it was still homosexuality. You know how gay men--

--hate women and so are likely to rape girls? Or maybe they'll say that little girls look like boys to homosexuals? :sarcasm:

If they're not going to let facts or logic enter into this in the first place, why should the little hiccup that priests abusing girls make them change their minds?

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

4. but some priests were convicted of molesting girls...

So were they really cross-dressing lesbian priests? Or what?

The College of Cardinals seems to have learned much from repugnants (or perhaps it is the other way around...)

When at the bottom of a deep hole, they beg pray for a bigger shovel to keep digging.

[and-justice-for-all]

5. Thank you France and FUCK YOU Catholic Church!!

[laconicsax]

6. Six months ago, they denied that pedophilia was a problem.

They even made an ad hoc definition of pedophilia that excluded rapist priests. Instead, they said that the rapists were ephebophiles. Now I guess they're pedophiles again.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/28/sex-abuse-religion-vatican

They haven't budged on the homophobia though.

[CatholicEdHead]

8. It is how they have definied it to scapegoat from the start

This has not been new, I was banned at Catholic Answers Forum for speaking out for a moderation in homosexual issues. The conservative wing of the Church does it this way to keep their belief that the "Church Can Do No Wrong", so hence an outside force came in and caused all the problems, in this case the gays. To them all gays are pedophiles to save the institution.

It is beyond insane and I am glad this is getting more press to marginalize the view.

[Kelvin Mace]

7. Why is the Church not being prosecuted under RICO statutes?

Oh, right, because it's a church.

[Matilda]

13. Well, here's a start, from the UK:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/12/2869790.htm

Neither Dawkins nor Hitchens cut much ice with me, but Geoffrey Robertson is a very, very good QC. He's an
Australian, who lives in London and has taken on many high-profile Human Rights cases. And very often wins. He
doesn't play around; if he's taking this on, he's serious, so it's going to be interesting to watch the fur fly
when he starts issuing writs.

[No Elephants]

14. +1 Vatican crime syndicate.

[AngryOldDem]

9. That bullshit was debunked YEARS ago.

Also, statistically speaking, just as many girls have been abused by priests as boys.

The true problem is, they are so hard up for bodies that they will take those who have NO business being around kids, or people in general, for that matter. The pool of prospective priests is shrinking, so they're scraping the bottom of the barrel and taking those who are psychologically unfit. This, instead of doing the logical thing of opening up the priesthood to women and married men, good people who genuinely want to take an active role in service to the Church. That wouldn't necessarily be a panacea to sex abuse (look at the rest of society) but it sure as hell would make the priest pool healthier.

I am sick and tired of the Church blaming everyone but ITSELF for this tragedy. And I truly think the days are numbered on that tactic because it just ain't workin' anymore. The more they flap their gums, the more they discredit themselves and the institution in the eyes of the world.

EDIT: Typo.

[defendandprotect]

11. Let's make clear again:

Hawaiians, for one nation, have celebrated homosexuals for being adoptive parents in

their culture -- and the care they have given children.

--------------

From "same-sex -- marriage in the United States
Focus on the Facts" -- Sean Cahill, PH.D
Lexington Books -- 2004
See: Footnote

A 1998 Study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 90% of pedophiles are men, and 95% of these individuals are hetereosexual.

Research has indicated that gay men and lesbians are less likely than heteeosexual to sexually abuse children.

Perhaps the most egregious and damaging claim promulgaed by anti-gay groups is the claim that homosexuality is intrinisically linked to pedophiia and child sexual abuse.
The social science research on sexual orientation and child sexual abuse clearly disproves the claim that homosexuals are more likely to molest children. A 1998 study in the Journal of the American Medical Assocation found that 90% of pedophiles are men, and 95% of these individuals are hetereosexual. One researcher explained this statistic by noting, "Gay men desire consensual sexual relations with other adult men. Pedophiles are usually adult men who are sexually attracted to pre-pubescent children. They are rarely sexually attracted to other adults. In fact, research has indicated that gay men and lesbians are LESS likely than heterosexuals to sexually abuse children. Two studies that examined the sexual orientation of convicted child molesters found that less than 1% in one study and 0% in the other were lesbian or gay. One psychologist reviewed the existing social science literature on the relationship between sexuality and child sexual abuse and found that "a gay man is no more likely than a straight man to perpetrate sexual activity with children." Further, "cases of perpetration of sexual behavior with a pre-pubescent child by an adult lesbian are virtually nonexistent."

Gay rights activists, like all advocates for children's welfare, oppose child sexual abuse and support equitable age of consent laws that help prevent and punish such abuse.

At least 110,000 children are waiting to be adopted in the US. Approximately 588,000 children are currently in foster care. Barring gay men and lebians from adopting or foster parenting decreases the number of potential suitable homes for children in need.
Children who remain in foster care for much of their childhood, as do tens of thousands of American children, are more likely to have emotional problems. Some children in foster care live in 20 or more homes by the time they reach the age of 18. Barring gay men and lesbians from adopting or foster parenting is not simply unjust and unethical; it also decreases the number of potential suitable homes for children in need.
Research shows that children raised by gay and lesbian parents are not disadvantaged vis-a-vis their peers raised by hetereosexual parents.

Footnote 65 -- p.123
A review of 352 medical records of children evaluated for sexual abuse during a 12-month period at a Denver chidlren's hospital found that less than 1% had been abused by a gay man or a lesbian. Of 269 adult perpetrators of child abuse identified among the 352 cases of abuse, only two were gay or lesbian. The vast majority of the children in the study (82%) "were suspected of being abused by a man or a woman who was, or had been, in a hetereosexual relationship with a relative of the child." And the review concluded that in this sample, " a child's risk of being molested by his or her relative's heterosexual partner is over 100X greater by someone who might be identifiable as being homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual."
Jenny, C., and Roesler, T.A. (1994)
Are children at risk for sexual abuse by homosexuals? Pediatrics. 94(1).p.44.
In an earlierstudy of convicted male child molesters in Massachusetts, none of the 175 men were found to have an exclusively homosexual adult sexual orientation orto be primarily attracted to other adult men.
Groth, A.N., and Birnbaum, H.J. (1978).
Adult sexual orientation and attraction to underage persons.
Archives of Sexual Behavior.7(3).pp.175-181.

Also : The right-wing "Family Research Council" notes/confirms findings that "almost all child sexual abuse is committed by men."

[IndianaGreen]

12. The German Pope must resign!

He was involved in the cover up from the time he was an archbishop in Munich.

[No Elephants]

15. It's neither celibacy nor homosexuality, ffs. Why are folks so terminally stupid?

Since when does celibacy alone make a little girl or a little boy more sexually appealing than, say, Angela Jolie?

Since when does homosexuality alone make a little girl or little boy more sexually appealing than say, Brad Pitt?

Celibacy and homosexuality are both entirely separate issues. Millions of peope are celibate without raping anyone of any age, let alone children. Millions of people are homosexual without raping anyone, let alone children.

[Democat]

16. Homosexuals raping boys and GIRLS?

This Pope has been a disastrous leader for the church. At some point you'd think they'd ask him to quit so they can get a leader who understands crisis management.