Over 200,000 Spanish Minors Sexually Abused by Roman Catholic Clergy

My family wonder why I won't baptise my kids and then the subsequent communion confirmation palava.

This right here, an organisation rotten to the core. Why when, my generation especially, know the facts would you want your kids to be part of that community. *

* I do appreciate that faith brings comfort to a lot of people and I'll never run that down. Plus there are some really genuinely good clergy....but nope not for me!

Yeah disbanded in its current form. A celibate life just isn't right and mostly attracted paedophiles who knew they'd be able to have unfettered access to our children, where even when caught the hierarchy in the church was happy to turn a blind eye.

More par for the course from this completely backwards and sinister organization. The RCC have done nothing but pure evil and should be on trial for crimes against humanity.

And if anyone tries to step in and try to defend them or throw in a bit of whataboutery, take a long look at yourself in the mirror.

Just like I said, whataboutery in a thread about the abuse of children. Sickening.

It would be "interesting" to know when the abuse started, as a whole within the Roman Catholic church.

I've a bit of an interest in art history and I remember reading that during the Renaissance paedophilia wasn't considered a thing. Homosexuality was against the law as a man had to be submissive to another man however men could happily engage with young boys, I don't think it was even considered sex....think of all the little cherubs in the paintings.

The pope's in renaissance times were as corrupt as they come. I would wonder if certain practices remained through the centuries. Doing to the next generation what was done to them. Everything happened behind protected closed doors.

Not making an excuse or anything.

I'd say the fact that the higher ups in the org happily covered it up is the most disturbing aspect.

Absolutely terrible to think that so many of them have got away with it.

Yet our President deems it appropriate to have his fourth private audience with the pope last week. He's a real champion of social justice our Michael. Shame on him.....

https://president.ie/en/media-library/news-releases/president-higgins-to-meet-with-pope-francis-in-the-vatican-oct-2023

I really don't understand why the government in Ireland doesn't tax all assets and revenue belonging to all religious institutions in Ireland.

There would be zero to lose from such a policy and in the case of the catholic church it could work as a form of reparations for the negative influence (admittedly helped by the general population and politicians) that the catholic church has had on Ireland since independence.

If the Catholic church wasn't the Catholic church it would undoubtedly be banned as a perverse, abusive cult.

Yet year on year most Irish persons born Christian themselves keeps up the same moronic rituals of baptism, communion, confirmation for their kids, and the inevitable Christmas day mass, largely for social conformity. The idiocy and ideological blindness of human beings never ceases to amaze

I think you might be overestimating the role of the church.

Thing is, that role often allowed the perpetrating of abuse and cover up of said abuse. So there's a pretty good argument that they failed in their duty and I'm reasonably sure they never want that discussion to open up any more. Plus the billion euro in damages that they've never made any effort to pay.

The world's largest organised paedophile ring.

Vile organisation, the sooner it dies off for good in this country, the better.

Well it's all part of the hypocrisy of the majority of those that moan about these things and who won't get off their arse and provide an alternative. It's easy to moan and then mask that laziness by giving out some more.

I've no interest in spiritual influencers or crap like that. I find all religions equally silly but am in favour of letting people believe what they want. My specific objection to the Catholic church is, above all, the widely documented sexual abuse of children and general abuse and degradation of women.

No one called on Judaism to be banned. Judaism doesn't have a papacy afaik either. And no such papacy has raped 200 thousand kids in Spain, where it is also not a state established religion. The whataboutery doesn't aptly suit.

I -- don't think those are fair remarks or assertions. Without repeating another thread, a leader of a country is citing biblical text for war pretext, yes, sure. The US has done that a time or two or a leader or to like GWB 'god told me' to do the war on terror, holy ****. But christianity didn't do the war on terror, the USA did. Judaism didn't start a retaliation war in Gaza, Israel did. The koran didn't grow arms and legs and behead Israeli kids, Hamas did.

The suggestion that it's "judaism" or "catholocism" etc. here, well, I think that's imprecise and unfair rhetoric and especially at this time, where sensitivity should be stressed, when lives as we agree are on the line, things are much more volatile than norm to engage in routine thought experiments about 'religions are responsible for a lot of deaths etc globally and historically but which is the worst' I think either extreme rhetoric example gives rise to eg. antisemitic attacks on Jews around the world, attacks on catholics and christians, etc. especially at the moment.

Banning a synagogue in Spain would do nothing to stop deaths in the Middle East. Disenfranchising the RCC to operate churches in Spain stops them from sexually abusing minors, in Spain, by the hundreds of thousands.

No need to be obtuse or try to split hairs in order to obfuscate

The only Israeli "basis" for their stealing of land is that their magic book tells them that their God gave it to them.

So it's fine to sneer at decent Irish people keeping up their traditions and beliefs, but god forbid (ironically) anyone criticise a minority-on-the-global-scale religion that - as I said - will be the justification for the killing of more than any other in the next two weeks.

There are orthodox Jews that oppose the stealing of land. If they are orthodox and follow the religion in an orthodox manner, I cannot jump to the conclusion it's the religion or a magic book truly responsible for the annexations, but again a nation controlled by individuals who want to misapply said book for means not genuinely supported by the religion.

I don't think there's anything to be obtuse about here, banning Judaism in Spain, doesn't do anything to positively affect what's happening right now.

You don't need to ban the catholic church anyway, you can just drive its arms to bankruptcy by enforcing them on all counts.

Interesting. You won't criticise the Jewsih religion because there are some of them that oppose the stealing of land.

Would you apply the same standards to Catholicism if we managed to find any Catholics that opposed the abuse of children? I mean there is a chance that out of the billion or so in the world, we might be able to find one or two of them?

Well, yes, I don't walk into a Catholic neighbor and blame them for the abuses of the Spanish clergy.

I don't walk up to my Jewish neighbors in the US and blame them for what is going on in Bibi's administration.

I don't collectively condemn Catholics nor Jews for things sicko people have done perversely in the name of those religions. I didn't do the same thing either for Islam, for 9/11, or the War on Terror. I'm a 90s kid who has spent his entire life watching people try and collectively punish people who had the same skin tone or creed as someone else who was an extremist nutjob.

It is not my place do deeply and ecumenically criticize any of these religions, I'm no theologist. But what's being discussed in 200k minors sexually abused by the spanish clergy in the spanish branch of the RCC. We wouldn't tolerate Scientology to operate 'dianetic' rape centers.

That's rather hyperbolic. If they have 200 thousand counts of sexually abusing minors the spanish arm of the RCC is accountable for 200 thousand counts. If that is tantamount to destroying the church in Spain: no it's not. And certainly the church continues to exist, Spain has no authority over the Vatican.

All Jewish Synagogues would never be seized in any such way because they don't have a papacy that covers up hundreds of thousands of sexual abuses. Synagogues, by and large, operate independently. The equivocation doesn't suit.

I have no idea if my neighbor is an Israeli citizen and that would be an extremely unfair assumption. That's a big reach to go project onto my neighbor they have anything to do with settling on ex Palestinian farmer land.

See the OP?