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Pope says no place for pedophiles in church

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul, formulating his own zero tolerance policy on child abuse by priests, told American Catholic leaders Tuesday that pedophilia was a crime that had no place in the Church.




Addressing a crisis meeting of top U.S. churchmen and Vatican officials, he also offered comfort to victims of pedophile priests and said he hoped the scandal that has rocked the United States would lead to "a holier priesthood."

"The abuse which has caused this crisis is by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society: it is also an appalling sin in the eyes of God," he said.

The pope's powerful, clear words may determine whether the U.S. church formulates policy to expel paedophiles from the priesthood and hand them over to civil authorities.

The U.S. Roman Catholic Church has been shaken by revelations that bishops transferred priests known to have molested children from parish to parish instead of defrocking them.

Participants said they did not discuss the possible resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, who is at the heart of the scandal.

The pope, who said he was "deeply grieved" by the scandal, said pedophiles could not be allowed to hide in the priesthood.

"People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young," he told the meeting, which one of the 24 participants called "very serious, even somber."

Officials said before the meetings they would seek Vatican guidance on whether pedophile priests can stay in the ministry or if a "one strike and you're out" rule should be applied.

Asked if the pope was calling for such a rule, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia said: "We have to study that passage. That's one way it can be read."

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said: "The pope is being as clear as he can be. There is no place for abusers in the priesthood, whatsoever. You can convert hearts and offer reconciliation but you can't reassign them (pedophile priests)."

Churchmen in the United States will next June formulate policy on the dismissal of priests who have abused children.

Cardinal Adam Joseph Maida of Detroit said he wanted strict action and welcomed the pope's words.

"I would prefer we come clean. We need to root out the kind of priest or other people who would take advantage of our young children," he told CNN.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick made a five-point proposal for a national policy on pedophilia in his address to the meeting at the afternoon session.

They were: reaching out to victims; removing a pedophile priest from office while an investigation goes on; informing civil authorities; sending the priest to a therapeutic center for evaluation; diocesan review boards made up of lay people as well as clergy.

While the pope has apologized to victims of past pedophile scandals, he did not use the word in his address Tuesday.

"To the victims and their families, wherever they may be, I express my profound sense of solidarity and concern," he said.

In the United States, victims and their lawyers said priests responsible for these sex crimes must be held accountable, as well as Catholic leaders who moved pedophile priests from one parish to another rather than turn them in to the authorities.

"You can't have the cardinals simply dealing with themselves on this issue, it's like asking the fox what's going on in the hen house," Robert Sherman, a lawyer for alleged abuse victims, told CNN.

The pope also appeared to attempt to cut short any possible talk of changes in the church's rule of priestly celibacy, which some have said might be open for discussion during the meetings.

Roman Catholics "must know that bishops and priests are totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual morality."

But he said the crisis went beyond pedophilia.

"The abuse of the young is a grave symptom of a crisis affecting not only the Church but society as a whole. It is a deep-seated crisis of sexual morality," he said.

He also said the recent scandals should not stain the entire U.S. church and asked American Roman Catholics to support their bishops and priests in a time of unprecedented crisis.

"A great work of art may be blemished, but its beauty remains," the pope said.

The pope said he hoped the crisis would lead to "a purification of the entire Catholic community," adding that "so much pain, so much sorrow, must lead to a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate, and a holier Church."


(Compiled from wire reports)


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Good God!
bigcobb Click here to see all messages by bigcobb Click here to see member profile (Apr 24 2002 - 23:58)Rate | Report
Who's going to lead the services?????
 
Pope says no place for pedophiles in church
dsc Click here to see all messages by dsc Click here to see member profile (Apr 25 2002 - 00:51)Rate | Report
"While the pope has apologized to victims of past pedophile scandals, he did not use the word in his address Tuesday."

That's right, he didn't. That's because it is not primarily a scandal involving pedophilia.

But the media continue to bang, bang, bang that drum, hoping you're too stupid or too busy to notice that little fact.
 
Report: Pedophilia more common among 'gays'
dsc Click here to see all messages by dsc Click here to see member profile (Apr 29 2002 - 21:12)Rate | Report
Research purports to reveal 'dark side' of homosexual culture

Posted: April 29, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Jon Dougherty
ฉ 2002 WorldNetDaily.com

Child molestation and pedophilia occur far more commonly among homosexuals than among heterosexuals on a per capita basis, according to a new study.

"Overwhelming evidence supports the belief that homosexuality is a sexual deviancy often accompanied by disorders that have dire consequences for our culture," wrote Steve Baldwin in, "Child Molestation and the Homosexual Movement," soon to be published by the Regent University Law Review – after Stanford Law Review backed out.

Baldwin is the executive director of the Council for National Policy in Washington, D.C.

"It is difficult to convey the dark side of the homosexual culture without appearing harsh," wrote Baldwin. "However, it is time to acknowledge that homosexual behavior threatens the foundation of Western civilization – the nuclear family."

Though the homosexual community and much of the media scoff at such accusations, Baldwin – who chaired the California Assembly's Education committee, where he fought against support for the homosexual agenda in the state's public schools – says in his report that homosexual activists' "efforts to target children both for their own sexual pleasure and to enlarge the homosexual movement" constitute an "unmistakable" attack on "the family unit."

Baldwin's research is substantiated in a recently completed body of work written by Dr. Judith Reisman, president of the Institute for Media Education, former member of the Meese pornography commission and author of numerous authoritative books debunking sexual myths, including "Kinsey, Crimes & Consequences."

In her thesis – also written for the Regent University Law Review – Reisman cited psychologist Eugene Abel, whose research found that homosexuals "sexually molest young boys with an incidence that is occurring from five times greater than the molestation of girls. …"

Abel also found that non-incarcerated "child molesters admitted from 23.4 to 281.7 acts per offender … whose targets were males."

"The rate of homosexual versus heterosexual child sexual abuse is staggering," Reisman wrote. She said "Abel’s data of 150.2 boys abused per male homosexual offender finds no equal (yet) in heterosexual violations of 19.8 girls."

Jay Heavener, spokesman for PFLAG – Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, counters that federal crime data refute claims that homosexuals molest children at higher rates than heterosexuals.

"According to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), this claim is false," he told WND by e-mail. "The gay and lesbian community calls into question any dubious research which flies in the face of our own experience."

And Gary Schoener, a clinical psychologist who has been diagnosing and treating clergy abuse for 28 years, told Salon.com, "There are far more heterosexual cases than homosexual."

In terms of sheer numbers, that may be true. But in terms of numbers of children abused per offender, homosexuals abuse with far greater frequency; and boys, research shows, are the much-preferred target.

Baldwin says evidence he examined disproves the assertion that child molestation is more prevalent among heterosexuals. Both he and Reisman found that media coverage of adult homosexual abuse of minors is also slanted.

"The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) recently boasted that although homosexuals are less than two percent of the population, three-fourths of the people who decide the content of the front page of the New York Times are homosexual," Reisman wrote.

That one fact is especially noteworthy, experts point out, given the recent child sex scandals taking place within the American Catholic church.

A survey by WorldNetDaily of recent news reports found that rarely did the media describe priestly sexual abuse as "homosexual" or "gay" activity – even though the worst incidents involved male-to-male contact, and a spate of investigative reports has revealed that the Vatican is concerned about an upsurge of homosexuals in seminary schools throughout the world.

Gay press promotes sex with children

Baldwin says his research not only "confirms that homosexuals molest children at a rate vastly higher than heterosexuals," but it found that "the mainstream homosexual culture" even "commonly promotes sex with children."

"The editorial board of the leading pedophile academic journal, Paidika, is dominated by prominent homosexual scholars such as San Francisco State University professor John DeCecco, who happens to edit the Journal of Homosexuality," Baldwin wrote.

During his research, he also found:

The Journal of Homosexuality recently published a special double-issue entitled, "Male Intergenerational Intimacy," containing many articles portraying sex between men and minor boys as loving relationships. One article said parents should look upon the pedophile who loves their son "not as a rival or competitor, not as a theft of their property, but as a partner in the boy's upbringing, someone to be welcomed into their home."

In 1995 the homosexual magazine "Guide" said, "We can be proud that the gay movement has been home to the few voices who have had the courage to say out loud that children are naturally sexual" and "deserve the right to sexual expression with whoever they choose. …" The article went on to say: "Instead of fearing being labeled pedophiles, we must proudly proclaim that sex is good, including children's sexuality … we must do it for the children's sake."

Larry Kramer, the founder of ACT-UP, a noted homosexual activist group, wrote in his book, "Report from the Holocaust: The Making of an AIDS Activist": "In those instances where children do have sex with their homosexual elders, be they teachers or anyone else, I submit that often, very often, the child desires the activity, and perhaps even solicits it."

In a study of advertisements in the influential homosexual newspaper, The Advocate, Reisman found ads for a "Penetrable Boy Doll … available in three provocative positions. She also found that the number of erotic boy images in each issue of The Advocate averaged 14.

Homosexual newspapers and travel publications advertise prominently for countries where boy prostitution is heavy, such as Burma, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Homosexuality 'youth-oriented'?

"Research on the homosexual lifestyle confirms it is almost exclusively a youth-oriented culture," Baldwin wrote. "Very few gays exhibit preference for older men."

"Some admit to focus on teenage boys," he said, "some on prepubescent boys, and many cross over between categories."

A 1988 study detailed in Baldwin's report found that most pedophiles even consider themselves to be "gay." According to the study, "Archives of Sexual Behavior," some 86 percent of pedophiles described themselves as homosexual or bisexual. Also, the study found, the number of teenage male prostitutes who identify as homosexuals has risen from 10 percent to 60 percent in the past 15 years.

When asked what he thought about critics who attempt to debunk his research, Baldwin said the results speak for themselves.

"For them to say this theory is false is to call many of the homosexual movement's leaders liars," he said. "Most of my evidence comes right from the gay community."

"I managed to find enough evidence that my thesis – child molestation is an integral part of the homosexual movement – is a valid thesis," Baldwin told WorldNetDaily.

Other experts have also found a distinct pattern between child sex abusers and the incidence of homosexuality.

"How long can psychologists be in denial about the significance of the dark side, and ignore what it implies about the homosexual condition? And there's a matter of even greater concern. How long will psychologists eagerly throw open the door to gay life for every sexually confused teenager?" writes Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D, on behalf of NARTH – the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality – a group that says it exists to "provide psychological understanding of the cause, treatment and behavior patterns associated with homosexuality, within the boundaries of a civil public dialogue."

The North American Man-Boy Love Association, or NAMBLA, is "a group that openly promotes sex with minor boys and claims that boy-lovers respond to the needs of the boys they love," Baldwin said in his report.

The group is often endorsed by "many of the homosexual movement's most prominent leaders," he said.

Advocacy moving to schools

Promotion of the "gay and lesbian lifestyle" is increasing in the nation's public schools.

A WND survey of homosexual-oriented websites found that almost every group has some sort of program to "educate" teachers, school administrators and other school employees about the homosexual lifestyle:

GLSEN – the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network – bills itself as "the largest national network of parents, students, educators and others" specifically formed to end "discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in K-12 schools. Two recent press released boasted of the Broward County (Fla.) school board approving GLSEN-sponsored "training for teachers."

A student activist working with GLSEN officials has managed to "give voice" recently to "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students" at California schools;

PFLAG has created a national campaign called, "From Our House to the Schoolhouse," distributing to school officials – among other materials – a booklet entitled, "Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation and Youth: A Primer For Principals, Educators, & School Personnel. [Editor's note: Readers need the Adobe PDF reader to open and read this file.]
Though most school-related programs are sold to administrators and parents as programs designed simply to end persecution of homosexuals and lesbians, none disclose what Baldwin says is compelling evidence that homosexuality is harmful to children.

"What … does the academic literature say about the relationship between homosexuality and child molestation? Quite a bit, actually," he wrote, quoting data compiled by the Family Research Institute: "Scientific studies confirm a strong pedophilic predisposition among homosexuals."

The institute, after reviewing more than 19 studies and peer-reviewed reports in a 1985 "Psychological Reports" article, found that homosexuals account for between 25 and 40 percent of all child molestation.

"But this number is low," Baldwin says, "due to the fact that many reporters will not report if a child molester is a homosexual, even if he knows that to be the case."
 
dsc - length isn't everything
Foddy Click here to see all messages by Foddy Click here to see member profile (May 1 2002 - 12:50)Rate | Report
Yet another long and verbose article, but of course not remotely independent.

"Baldwin is the executive director of the Council for National Policy in Washington, D.C."

That explains everything, doesn't it. For those who don't know, the Council for National Policy is a highly secretive organisation (membership is by invitation only), comprised mainly of right-wing conservative Christian bigots, with an anti-abortion, anti-homosexual, anti-tax, pro-gun, pro-weapons industry stance. For their executive director to come up with an article professing to say that paedophilia is more prevalent among gays is hardly surprising.

However, I was interested to see that even Baldwin does not regard homosexuality as a disorder, rather as a 'sexual deviancy'.

If you accept this, dsc, maybe there's hope for you yet.
 
Pope says no place for pedophiles in church
dsc Click here to see all messages by dsc Click here to see member profile (May 2 2002 - 22:25)Rate | Report
Independent's butt.

The question is whether a source is telling the truth or not.

You and your "sources" lie constantly. The only time you tell the truth is by accident, when you think you're lying but are mistaken.

Unlike you leftist bigots, I don't require people to agree with me in every particular. Even if this fellow is mistaken or misspoke on the nature of SSAD, he still has a great deal to say.

Too bad you're such a bigot that you can't listen.

Those who actually have common sense, as opposed to the miasmic and twisted counter-intuition you mistake for that quality, have always known that sexual activity with minors is more common among SSAD sufferers.

It's just common sense.

Not to mention observed fact.
 
Any Room In The Alley For Em'?
bigcobb Click here to see all messages by bigcobb Click here to see member profile (May 4 2002 - 00:04)Rate | Report
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