{"id":637,"date":"2010-04-01T14:55:17","date_gmt":"2010-04-01T12:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=637"},"modified":"2015-04-26T17:58:35","modified_gmt":"2015-04-26T15:58:35","slug":"ratzingers-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/ratzingers-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"Ratzinger’s dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, I was an altar boy<\/span>. No, I wasn’t abused<\/span>.<\/p>\n

I was also a Boy Scout, and I wasn’t abused there either. Yet judging by all the scandals that have come out over the years, there must have been some potential for it.<\/p>\n

The European controversy over the Catholic church<\/b> has again spilled over<\/span> to the United States, and in a big way<\/span>. In the 1990s, when the current pope, then Cardinal Ratzinger, headed<\/span> a committee that investigated complaints of sexual abuse, he was contacted by church representatives in Wisconsin. They wanted to know what to do about a priest<\/a> who, in the 1970s, had molested<\/span> 200 deaf<\/span> boys 25 times each. Ratzinger’s office told them<\/a> basically to keep a lid on<\/span> the whole affair.<\/p>\n

By that time, the priest was probably no longer abusing anybody. He had long since been moved out of the parish<\/span>, been relieved of<\/span> all but occasional priestly duties, and had been living with his mother. Yet Ratzinger advised nothing in the way of criminal justice<\/span> or atonement<\/span> to the victims<\/span>.<\/p>\n

When The New York Times<\/i><\/b> published the paper trail<\/span> leading to the Vatican, the church claimed that journalists were out for blood<\/span>. But popular opinion is very much on the side of the victims.<\/p>\n

Should the pope resign?<\/h2>\n

Last week, CNN’s Jack Cafferty<\/a> asked viewers, “Should the pope resign<\/span>?” In 232 comments, almost everyone answered “yes”.<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

Trudy Hamor: “The fact that the pope and other officials chose to save the church over young boys … overwhelms me with sadness. … There should be some public penalty<\/span> for the Catholic church and those in charge of<\/span> it. Otherwise it is as if we are all condoning<\/span> their behavior.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Eric: “Yes, he should resign. … While we are at it, I would love a serious look into his reasons for joining the Hitler Youth.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Julie: “If the church can be so staunchly<\/span> pro-life<\/span>, protecting the lives of unborn children, surely they can take care of the children that already exist to ensure their lives aren’t ruined by these predatory<\/span> priests.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Mark Green: “No, he shouldn’t resign. German authorities should be issuing<\/span> an arrest warrant<\/span> for Mr. Ratzinger for his complicity<\/span> in a systemic<\/span> pedophile ring.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Scouts’ honor<\/h2>\n

In the 1990s, around the time when Benedict was giving his hush orders<\/span>, the Boy Scouts of America<\/b> suffered several high-profile<\/span> abuse scandals. They then adopted rules that forbid a grown man and a boy from being alone anywhere together. New leaders are screened<\/span> more thoroughly, especially if they are new to the area. Leaders and Scouts are also required to watch and discuss videos that describe and warn against inappropriate<\/span> behavior.<\/p>\n

These measures, unfortunately, haven’t stopped sexual abuse from happening; but they have saved the organization’s reputation<\/span>.<\/p>\n

The church has, internally, recognized the crime<\/b> of “solicitation<\/span>” since at least the time of Pope Benedict XIV in 1741<\/a>. Rules for what to do about it were written in 1922<\/a> and 1962<\/a>. Originally, the crime had to be reported (by the victim) within one month. Benedict did change that, and it’s thanks to him that the crimes talked about now can still be addressed<\/span> within the church (though the Wisconsin priest has since died).<\/p>\n

A modest proposal<\/h2>\n

Most things that modern Catholics don’t like about their church are medieval<\/span> constructs that have nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. If the church wishes to survive<\/b>, it must address the concerns of real life. Here’s my advice, which I think a lot of American Catholics would agree with.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Benedict XVI, whether directly involved or not, should make room for someone less creepy<\/span>-looking who is willing to take a stronger stand<\/span>.<\/li>\n
  2. To prevent the possibility of the next pope being all talk and no action, the cardinals should resign as well.<\/li>\n
  3. A new, non-European pope, no older than 45, should be named from an overpopulated country in Africa or South America \u2014 someone who has real-life experience working with poor people who have lots of kids.<\/li>\n
  4. The celibacy<\/span> requirement, along with opposition to female priests, birth control<\/span>, and divorce, should be dropped.<\/li>\n
  5. The church must adopt a policy of immediately turning in<\/span> those who not only break the law, but destroy the lives of others.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Catholics believe that Jesus will return. If he does, what will he think of the church today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Yes, I was an altar boy. No, I wasn’t abused. I was also a Boy Scout, and I wasn’t abused there either. Yet judging by all the scandals that have come out over the years, there must have been some potential for it. The European controversy over the Catholic church has again spilled over to the United States, and in … >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[225,187,73,171],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1539,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637\/revisions\/1539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}