Penn State Scandal "Opens Wound" in Catholic Church

Photo ~ Archbishop Timothy Dolan Addresses USCCB Nov. 14, 2011

Penn State Scandal "Opens Wound" in Catholic Church

Reuters - The top U.S. Catholic bishop said on Monday that a child sex abuse scandal at Penn State University "opens a wound" within the church, which remains scarred from its own similar controversies and cover-ups.

Dolan declined to offer advice to Penn State University on how to deal with its scandal, because the church "has not been a good example of how to deal with this in the past," he said. "No one has suffered more than the Catholic community."

"Whenever this issue has come into public view again as it has with Penn State, it opens a wound," Dolan said."

The Penn State scandal has drawn comparisons to the child abuse controversies that rocked the Catholic Church, whose top officials were also accused of a decades-long cover-up of the abuse of children by priests.

The U.S. Catholic Church has paid out some $2 billion in settlements to victims, bankrupting a handful of dioceses.

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ACLumsden

Nov 17, 2011

@tbswv - Tis always time to clean house...

Just think of the numerous monastic communities and saecular communities who, over the centuries, have 'worked out' their spiritual crisises and psychological neediness through sexual relationships (of one kind or the other) with community members AND external people! The records of the Abbot of Rivaulx in Yorkshire alone is troubling - only AFTER a monk died from "th'heet" (or a fever), did they find out of his relationship with a girl in the village (with over 15 children - 2 alive!). Then, there is the record of St Denis in Paris, where a few monks were "an item" since the novitiate (from age 10yrs) to their death (at age 35yrs)......

With the age of swift and comprehensive communication, it has become impossible to hide anything from the Universal Church. The second it is discovered in one part of the Church, the internet whisks it off to the ENTIRE Church online..... Therefore, I am of the veiw that this is nothing new, since the church is made of human beings who have always had the same nature. The only thing which has changed is the speed at which the occurence of sin is communicated accross the human consciousness these days. Hence my opening statement that IT IS ALWAYS time to clean house.

Just think, the Abbot of St Denis problably never knew of his monk's relationships..... twas only now, when researchers have found the love letters, etc......

tbswv

Nov 17, 2011

The U.S. Catholic Church has paid out some $2 billion in settlements to victims, bankrupting a handful of dioceses.
And thus depriving Catholics of the sacraments and a Catholic education, not to mention causing a scandal where Catholic have left the faith. It's time to clean house!!More

The U.S. Catholic Church has paid out some $2 billion in settlements to victims, bankrupting a handful of dioceses.

And thus depriving Catholics of the sacraments and a Catholic education, not to mention causing a scandal where Catholic have left the faith. It's time to clean house!!