National Post
Letters to the Editor
25 August 2010
Re: Saving The RC Church Starts With Married Priests, letter to the editor, Aug. 24.
Your letter writer’s assertion that the current Pope, when a cardinal, decreed that sexual abuse be allowed to go unpunished is unfounded and utter nonsense. A little research would have shown that he has done more than anyone else to combat this evil and seek justice.
Her notion that allowing married clergy would lessen the likelihood of abuse is refuted by Penn State professor Philip Jenkins. He studied such cases for 20 years, and found that religions with married clergy have the same or a higher rate of abuse than the Catholic Church.
Mary Bruno, Oshawa, Ont.
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Pope & sex abuse
Re: Saving The RC Church Starts With Married Priests, letter to the editor, Aug. 24.
The claim that Pope Benedict once “decreed that sexual abuse of children by priests was allowed to go unpunished” is seriously inaccurate. While a perfect system is elusive, the Pope’s work as cardinal was directed at the more effective handling of allegations, and the removal of many cases from local influence, where the worst cases of mismanagement and denial tended to occur. The problem was also made worse by a culture of secrecy, which both the Pope and Cardinal Marc Ouellet have stated must be countered, within the limits of confidentiality for victims.
And allowing clergy to marry will not stop sexual abuse. The sex abuse problem in the current Catholic Church is at about the same rate as in all institutions that deal with youth, and cultures of secrecy were common in all until fairly recently. That is why a commitment to openness is as important as giving priority to the needs of victims.
Joanne McGarry, executive director, Catholic Civil Rights League, Toronto.
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… or do they?
National Post
Letters to the Editor
26 August 2010
Re: Pope & Sex Abuse, letter to the editor, Aug. 25.
Do Catholic apologists like letter-writer Joanne McGarry have any idea how vile their attempts to downplay the significance of sex scandal committed by their Church sounds to the general public? Here is an organization that claims to be Jesus’ true Church, yet its priests were involved in countless cases of child abuse. The Church leadership not only shielded and protected these predators, but shipped them to new dioceses where they could find new victims.
It is reprehensible to claim that this sex-crime conspiracy “is at about the same rate as in all institutions that deal with youth.” The claim that “allowing clergy to marry will not stop sexual abuse” is also risible. The Bible addresses this: “Because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife … let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.” (1 Corinthians 7:2,9)
John Tors, Toronto.
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Saving the RC Church starts with married priests
National Post
Letters to the Editor
24 August 2010
Re: Cardinal To Set Tone For Church, Aug. 19.
I have seldom read such a piece of “clap-trap” as this column addressing abuses by Roman Catholic clergy. That Cardinal Marc Ouellet is a close friend of Pope Benedict is no recommendation, since it was this Pope, decades ago as Cardinal, who decreed that sexual abuse of children by priests was allowed to go unpunished.
Again we have the excuse, “The problems of sexual abuse also have to be seen in the larger context of the greater society whose mores have weakened.” Does he suggest that, because young people today may choose to co-habit without “benefit of clergy,” this somehow exonerates sexual abuse by clergy?
I agree that something vigorous has to be done. If there has been a retreat from the Catholic faith in many parts of the West, it is because the fast-held tenets no longer appear relevant to the lives of many. To suggest that the teachings of Vatican II were far too liberal is outrageous.
It is time for the Church to abandon celibacy. This requirement has resulted in many fine men leaving the priesthood, and does it make sense for the Church to then accept former Anglican priests, and allow them to retain wives and families?
Should the conscience of the church be truly awakened and embrace basic values, we would see married men, and women, ordained to the priesthood. Without this we will not have the “best pastoral leadership.”
Mary McKim, London, Ont.