Vatican Blasts Priest Sex Abuse Raids In Belgium

Vatican Blasts Priest Sex Abuse Raids In Belgium

www.npr.org

The Vatican on Saturday stepped up its criticism of raids carried out by Belgian police investigating priestly sex abuse allegations, with the No. 2 official saying Saturday that the raids are unprecedented even under communism.

The raids this week targeted the home and office of a retired archbishop and also the graves of two prelates.

"It is an unheard-of and very grave fact," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, said Saturday. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Rome, Bertone lamented that bishops were held for nine hours without food or drink.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Now, does this raid go beyond the legitimate requirements of justice or is the Vatican attempting to claw back some ground after being rocked by sex abuse allegations?

I personally believe that we are still at the tip of the sex abuse iceberg and that abuse did and continues to run deep within the church.

Has the pope done enough and has the Vatican more secrets to hide?

www.npr.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

The popes probably guilty too, they should investigate him he's probably got micheal jackson in the basement with a whole lotta boys haha

So I guess they are going by the ole, "better late than never" motto eh?

Sorry, after decades of even popes covering this up, how can anyone trust the people in charge of the catholic church.

I understand in Roman times that boys were used for pleasure and women for pro-creation due to them wanting to have sex but not 50 children.

It seems like this tradition was continued after the practice died off, as priests still wanted to have sex but couldn't marry or be with a woman.

Something needs to radically change for this church to survive.

South and Central America need to wake up and realized they aren't catholics, that they are the decedents of the proud Incan, Mayan and many amazing civilizations.



[edit on 27/6/10 by AmericanHero]

Originally posted by AmericanHero

South and Central America need to wake up and realized they aren't catholics, that they are the decedents of the proud Incan, Mayan and many amazing civilizations.

Never heard it expressed like that before and you are completely correct. I have a feeling that there are more scandals about to surface. Truly disgusting stuff.

reply to post by AmericanHero


I agree, I still think that this is being taught, and probably hasn't been frowned upon in different denominations for many, many, years, maybe even taught in the process of becoming a priest, like child molestation 101, then I would assume the next class would be, don't get caught.

People have not yet truly processed this whole thing yet, and I assure you that even though this will get worse, this would most likely not change the mind of most Catholics.

Its a shame that religion has taken such a turn for the worst for so many that have dedicated their lives to these particular beliefs. While the true meaning of spirituality has been lost in the shuffle.


Peace to you...

reply to post by LarryLove


I will feel sorry for the Catholic Church when and if officials are using Inquisition style methods to elicit confessions and then burning them for pedophilia.

Until then, if they are being subjected to the same type of scrutiny any other person would be while being investigate, then tough stuff for them. They should not get some kind of a pass from criminal investigation simply because they are a religious institution.

And if they dont like it, they can just implore God to smite the people doing it. Supposedly they have a direct line to Gods ear, right?

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


One statement that shocked me was the Pope saying: 'The church's autonomy is now being questioned. And not even under Communist rule did they suffer like this.' So, Mr Pope, are you above the law?

reply to post by LarryLove


Poor, poor suffering religious leaders. It just kinda tears at your heart to think that they are going to be treated like mere mortals in this instance after centuries of a "get out of jail, taxes, etc., free" card.

Lol. After we are done reducing the religious leaders to the level of mere mortal, we need to move on to our other high level criminals. The CEOs and Politicians.

reply to post by LarryLove


I think this little ditty sums up the situation to a tee.

Tim Minchin - Pope Song



Please note : This video contains strong language :
Viewer discretion is advised.
================================================

The theme of this tribute song in honour of Pope Benedict XVI deals with the popes greater concern for the image of the Roman Catholic church, over the suffering of those abused throughout the decades.

================================================

This may be hard for some to understand, but with the church, the Catholics that have know about such abuse, and the Pope and their organization allowing this to happen to countless children, all the while passing blame to anyone and everyone that will believe that this is a small situation, and has been taken care of, this is a form of sacrifice.

I believe that their are a lot of organizations today (churches, organized religions), that carry out such rituals, that they do not discuss to people out of the loop. I mean think about it, ritual sacrifice has gone on for thousands of years, in many different ways, and to different gods, who's to say that this isn't ritualistic?

If this was some cult on MSM, the police and other organizations would consider this ritualistic abuse, and nothing else. IMO.


Peace to you...

there is more development today!!!!!!!!!!!!
====================================
Vatican admonishes Austrian cardinal for comments
news.yahoo.com...
"In a remarkable statement, the Vatican said only the pope can make such accusations against a cardinal, not another so-called prince of the church."
.................................................................................
======================================

reply to post by Gliese581


The story gets seedier and seedier. Found this video on Youtube - sums it up perfectly.

reply to post by LarryLove


The Catholic Church will do anything to cover for Priest who are sexual abusers. This is shameful,the Catholic Church should be on the side of those who were abused.

reply to post by BigDaveJr


I find it quite insulting the way they behave. There is an assumption that their affairs should not be meddled with outside of the Vatican. This abuse has been going on for decades, if not longer. It must stop and the perpetrators tried for their crimes.

But like any of these institutions, abuse is rife and the abuser protected.

In Belgium there is a commission called 'the commission Adriaenssen', which works under the church. It is here that victims of sexual abuse can rapport the abuse and talk about what happened while there anonymity is assured.
if this commission is a good idea or just used to protect the church and keep the victims silenced, I don't know, but that's not what matters here

One of the last raids was at the home of the commission owner, Mr Adriaenssen and at the office, they took all the files including personal information of all the victims.
So now, none of the names of those will stay anonymous! Some already came out and asking where there file is and who is going to get access to it.
While the investigators dig deeper, some of them will be asked to testify or give a statement. That's what's upsetting most about the whole case.
The raids are not ethical!

If I was abused by a member of the church and told someone about it IN TRUST, then I don't want that all over the place some years later.

reply to post by GypsK


I take your point, but if you had been abused and complained only to discover that your allegation was being viewed as idle 'gossip' - as per a recent Vatican statement - then your feeling about anonymity might be different.

I'm all for taking action against the priests, but this almost seems less like justice and more like sensationalism.

Originally posted by AmericanHero
South and Central America need to wake up and realized they aren't catholics, that they are the decedents of the proud Incan, Mayan and many amazing civilizations.

Ummm, didn't they perform something like human sacrifice?
en.wikipedia.org...

scholars largely accept that human sacrifice was practiced in the Aztec Empire as well as throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica...Most Mesoamerican scholars, however, see it as a part of the millennia-long cultural tradition of human sacrifice in Mesoamerica.

Yeah, I would prefer a childhood without fondling or getting my skull smashed, but if I had to get stuck with one of the two options, getting my skull smashed and brains splattered all over the place, would definitely be less preferable.

Originally posted by LarryLove
The story gets seedier and seedier. Found this video on Youtube - sums it up perfectly.

That's funny! But maybe he should have used it before his camping trip?

I can't imagine why they would be mad.

After all, the Netherlands/Dutch/Belgium is where all the sex magic snuff stuff takes place.
RIP Natalee Holloway

I feel bad for Mr Vandersloot but I guess they needed a fall guy.
They need to make it look as if a crackdown is taking place but business as usual will continue.

How do I know this...I just do. I guess "the knowing" gets stronger with each passing day

reply to post by LarryLove


That's the thing, most of these people didn't go to the police, they didn't file a complained, they only went to the comity A. to talk to someone who would hear their story and keep it private. It wasn't to long ago that the priest in small towns had much more influence and you just didn't go and accuse them of something, not in a tight comunity.
You have to understand that most of the victims come from highly catholic families. They can't have the shame that comes with the abuse and they can't have others, certainly not their families, knowing about what happened to them.

It would be an entire different thing if the vatican had stayed out of this whole matter and let the police do their job without the media hype, then the victims could cooperate 'behind the scenes' and, besides the people working on the case, no one would know about it.