@Fake Messiah
Pretty sure the church hasn't claimed to be made of good and honest men for centuries. Lower level monks and priests especially were seen as flawed human beings.
Until a few hundred years ago, a member of the clergy could not be tried by a civil court for any crime whatsoever. The alleged miscreant had to be turned over to special church court and they would judge him/her.
After that dodge was no longer permitted, the church still had an ace in the hole so-to-speak. Until the present day, it has been Catholic church teaching that church canon law trumps civil law. Exceptions [if any] are determined by the church. The attitude seems to have been that the issue of paedophile priests is no one's business except the church. Common practice was that the maggot in question would confess, be given a penance, forgiven and moved to a new community. The community would not be warned.
The church is still being dragged kicking and screaming into civil courts. Although there have been a few clergy of high rank sent to prison. Far too few in my opinion, considering the catholic church has about 5,600 bishops worldwide.
Trivia; Bishop is actually the highest level in the Catholic church. An archbishop oversees a bunch of arch bishops, cardinals oversee the arch bishops and the pope, autocratic head of the church,[technically] oversees everyone. The proverbial buck stops with him. He is referred to as 'the bishop of Rome'
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A pending scandal, and one which is peculiarly Irish in numbers as far as I know: The matter of priest's families. It has not been uncommon for priest in Ireland to enter into a defacto marriage and produce children. This is a deep embarrassment to the church, so of course the church officially ignores it. The result is a matter of criminal neglect and indifference towards the women concerned and much more so the children, who are the innocent victims of the bloody mindedness of the Church on clerical celibacy.
"Pope Gregory VII told priests to "escape from the clutches of their wives". Pope Urban II ordered priests' wives to be sold into slavery and their children to be abandoned"
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/dream...n-1.909011
Pretty sure the church hasn't claimed to be made of good and honest men for centuries. Lower level monks and priests especially were seen as flawed human beings.
Until a few hundred years ago, a member of the clergy could not be tried by a civil court for any crime whatsoever. The alleged miscreant had to be turned over to special church court and they would judge him/her.
After that dodge was no longer permitted, the church still had an ace in the hole so-to-speak. Until the present day, it has been Catholic church teaching that church canon law trumps civil law. Exceptions [if any] are determined by the church. The attitude seems to have been that the issue of paedophile priests is no one's business except the church. Common practice was that the maggot in question would confess, be given a penance, forgiven and moved to a new community. The community would not be warned.
The church is still being dragged kicking and screaming into civil courts. Although there have been a few clergy of high rank sent to prison. Far too few in my opinion, considering the catholic church has about 5,600 bishops worldwide.
Trivia; Bishop is actually the highest level in the Catholic church. An archbishop oversees a bunch of arch bishops, cardinals oversee the arch bishops and the pope, autocratic head of the church,[technically] oversees everyone. The proverbial buck stops with him. He is referred to as 'the bishop of Rome'
((((((((((((((((((((((((9)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
A pending scandal, and one which is peculiarly Irish in numbers as far as I know: The matter of priest's families. It has not been uncommon for priest in Ireland to enter into a defacto marriage and produce children. This is a deep embarrassment to the church, so of course the church officially ignores it. The result is a matter of criminal neglect and indifference towards the women concerned and much more so the children, who are the innocent victims of the bloody mindedness of the Church on clerical celibacy.
"Pope Gregory VII told priests to "escape from the clutches of their wives". Pope Urban II ordered priests' wives to be sold into slavery and their children to be abandoned"
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/dream...n-1.909011
