Catholic Church wrong to protect child-molesting priests

Catholicism is riddled with hypocrisy.

The two have become so intermingled I can hardly discuss the religion that has dominated the world without becoming irritated.

Ideally, religion serves as a means through which to guide and encourage people to lead happy, honest and good lives.

These are incredibly worthwhile intentions; if they were attained through less hypocritical means, I would be in favour of religions like Catholicism.

Of course it would be unrealistic to expect hypocrisy to be eliminated completely, but some acts of hypocrisy are unacceptable.

Unfortunately, hypocrisy is rampant in horrible forms – some of the most immoral human beings on the planet are responsible for spreading the word of Catholicism.

Angry? Finish reading the article before you dismiss these words as those of a bitter atheist.

Do the words “Crimen Sollicitationis” mean anything to you?
Sadly, they mean a lot to the children who have been sexually assaulted and forced into silence by this church document.

The “Crimen Sollicitationis” requires an absolute oath of silence to be made by all of those involved in either the act of sexual assault or any trials that might occur after such an assault. Excommunication awaits all those who break this oath of silence.

In 2002, after an excess of negative public attention, the Church introduced, “The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

The Charter demands that cases involving the sexual assault of children be brought to the attention of the legal authorities.

However, the documentary Sex Crimes and the Vatican highlights that it is highly unusual for this policy to be followed in reality.

The Catholic Church uses fear to manipulate children so they do not stand up for their basic human rights in instances where they are sexually assaulted.

This is truly atrocious. Such a massive violation of human decency by an organization that was created to promote “goodness” is incredibly hypocritical.

It seems that the Church wrote the “Crimen Sollicitationis” to protect itself from priests who sexually abuse children, rather than protecting the victims – the children.

The existence of this document is equivalent to the Church saying that it is inevitable that some of its priests are going to sexually assault children, so they might as well be ready to protect their image.

Sex Crimes and the Vatican highlights that more often than not, when a priest assaults a child, that priest is quietly moved to new parish and the problem is swept under the rug.

Rather than denouncing behaviour like this, the Church has accepted it as inevitable and deals with it in a way that sacrifices the human rights of children.

Father Patrick, a priest who was at one time in charge of enforcing the “Crimen Sollicitationis”, admitted in Sex Crimes and the Vatican that the Catholic Church allocated seven million dollars in 1996 for the purpose of quietly settling with those families affected by sexual assault.

The Church presumes its own superiority when it prioritizes its own bishops, its public image and its peace over the safety and human rights of children.

It is ironic that an institution designed to maintain and promote healthy, moral human behaviour is essentially supporting the sexual abuse of minors.

The Church’s refusal to expose and denounce horrendous acts against children to the full extent is tantamount to a full-blown endorsement of both bishop/church immunity and sexual assault of minors.

At the risk of sounding cliché, it is not okay for the Catholic church to govern based on the saying, “Do as I say and not as I do.”