Paedophilia not just a problem with Celibate Catholic Priests

To my great astonishment the (in my opinion) virulently anti-Catholic Irish Times today carried a story that doesn't have the words Catholic Church and Paedophilia in the same sentence. In fact, this particular sex abuse scandal has nothing to do with the Catholic Church at all.

While the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church deserve our utmost condemnation, it has seemed lately in the media that it is a phenomenon that is exclusively a Catholic Clergy problem - one which the media often link (erroneously) to the fact that the Priest is Celibate.

This ARTICLE tells the story of abuses in an elite (Protestant) School which, to quote the article, "were ignored by teachers, police and the local authorities".

As I said, the abuse within the Catholic Church is deplorable and the stories of other institutions where abuse was carried out and/or covered up doesn't in any way exonerate those who failed to protect vulnerable children in the Church. But it is good for once to see the media reporting this terrible crime as it happens in other places and by people who are not celibate, not bound to the 'institutional Church' and all the baggage that is supposed to come with that.

For once the media (or at least the Irish Times) seems to have looked beyond the Church and begun to report paedophilia for what it really is - not solely a scourge in the Catholic Church, but one that affects every level of society.

Pope Benedict & that case in Munich

The articles found HERE and HERE seem to clarify the accusations made against Pope Benedict XVI with regard to an abusive priest in the Munich Archdiocese while he was Archbishop there.

It seems that the then Cardinal Ratzinger allowed the priest to live in a parochial house while he was undergoing treatment, but did not give him any parish ministry. This priest was later assigned parish duties - but that was after Cardinal Josef Ratzinger had moved to the Vatican and was no longer Archbishop of Munich.

One wonders if the media will report these facts with as much zeal as they reported the initial (and inaccurate) story.

Putting on the Mind of Christ

St. Paul places before us some important criteria for what should dictate the direction of our lives and our actions.

“Fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise.”

Imagine if we filled our minds, our lives, our home, our world with things which fit that bill. Imagine how much better off we would be. Imagine how much the peace of God would reign in our souls if we were to make a concerted effort to avoid all that is not true, not noble, not good, and downright impure.

But in today’s world that would mean making quite some effort to avoid these things totally. So I ask you – are you up to it. It’s certainly worth the effort – we all want to be at peace with God, we all want to lead the kind of existence that St. Paul places before us. But what are we willing to do to achieve it? Well a good start might be to ask ourselves a few questions:

Will the newspaper I read this day fill my mind with what is good and pure, will it present me with honourable and virtuous things, or will it corrupt my mind and steal my peace? There’s nothing wrong with reading the news, but what about all the stuff that comes with it? The intimate tell-all stories from the life of some star or other, the very impure and almost pornographic portrayal of the great gift of sexuality? Somehow the excuse – I only buy it for the sport – doesn’t seem to justify allowing that kind of thing sit on your coffee table, never mind filling your mind.

Another question: Are the programmes I will watch on Television this day wholesome viewing which promotes Christian values? Once again, will they fill my mind with what is good and pure? Would the values (or lack of them) promoted by these shows be acceptable to Christ? Will I switch off in disgust or will I allow it to fill my mind with what is so obviously not of God?

If the honest answer to these two simple question is that they do more harm than good, then maybe it’s time we bought a more reputable paper or that we changed our viewing patterns.

News or Views?

Zadok the Roman has an interesting post on the kind of media coverage which the Vatican and the Holy Father receive and how it is very often skewed and with a particular agenda - which unfortunately is often quite strongly anti-Catholic.

TV - The Tabernacle of Satan?

Eric Sammon's blog Divine Life has a thought provoking article on how much we allow our home-life be invaded by the less than edifying fare being piped through your average television set. Not that I'm advocating throwing the TV out the window. Tv, in and of itself is not bad and can be used for great good, but unfortunately it isn't being used for good alot of the time and much of our culture has now absorbed what I call - TV Values. But I think it is a salutary caution. As St. Paul tells us: “Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable” (Philippians 4:8)

Jessica Harris also has a very sobering warning, especially for parents in today's world, about the dangers that modern technology may pose to their children. When you open the link don't panic. The first word that will meet your eyes is the word 'Porn' because the website is called The Porn Effect. But don't worry the website is a Catholic site set up to help those who may have addictions or propensities to the use of pornography.