US Supreme Court deals pedophilia blow for Vatican

So men of the cloth to stand trial.....
Yeah....

I was trying to remain open minded about religion in general, but umm....yeah.


Link to article:
rawstory.com...

The US Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal by the Vatican in a landmark case that opens the way for priests in the United States to stand trial for pedophilia. Allowing a federal appeals court ruling to stand, the decision means Vatican officials including theoretically Pope Benedict XVI could face questioning under oath related to a litany of child sex abuse cases. The Supreme Court effectively confirmed the decision of an appellate court to lift the Vatican's immunity in the case of an alleged pedophile priest in the northwestern state of Oregon. The Oregon case, which was filed in 2002, does not directly address questions raised in a separate lawsuit in Kentucky alleging that US bishops are employees of the Holy See. In recent months, large-scale pedophilia scandals have rocked the Roman Catholic Church in a number of countries, including Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Pope Benedict XVI's native Germany and the United States. Senior clerics have been accused of protecting the priests involved by moving them to other parishes -- where they sometimes offended again -- instead of handing them over to civil authorities for prosecution. The pope, who has himself faced allegations he covered up the scandal, has repeatedly said priests and religious workers guilty of child abuse should answer for their crimes in courts of law.

I've never been clear how all these priests have been avoiding charges for all these years for these crimes? Is there some sort of diplomatic immunity for them because they are presumably "representatives of Vatican City" or some such thing? It's never made sense to me, but seems to have been going on since forever.

This is Awesome!

I hope the pope goes to jail.. he needs to.. this whole phony business of the Pope being Holy and without sin is hogwash. The catholic people need to see it's all a sham.

Its about time something happend to these kiddy fiddlers but a priest in jail would be weird. You never no they might start there own gang among all the rapists, pedos, woman beaters and call them selfs the power puff girls.

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix
This is Awesome!

I hope the pope goes to jail.. he needs to.. this whole phony business of the Pope being Holy and without sin is hogwash. The catholic people need to see it's all a sham.

Well, it certainly would be a sham if that's what Catholics believed. Seeing as how it's not...

No Catholic believes that the Pope is without sin or is Holy due to his position as the successor to Peter.

On topic, if anyone (regardless of their position) is guilty of pedophilia they should either spend some serious time in jail, be subject to chemical castration or both.

And I'm pretty confident that they'll have a little surprise waiting for them in the afterlife.

Eric

Originally posted by DeepestOne
Its about time something happend to these kiddy fiddlers

What about our public schools?

Why not start jailing administrators and school boards for cover-ups and transfers?

The public school employee threat has been demonstrated to be much worse (potentially millions of kids at risk) than a few errant priests.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix

This is Awesome!

I hope the pope goes to jail..

Why not jail the Sec. of Education, or HIS boss, Barack Obama, while you're at it? He's as responsible for the public school's atrocities against TENS OF THOUSANDS of kids as the pope is for a few foreign priests.

Conspiracy of Silence: US Public Schools sex abuse goes unreported and unpunished

People need to get a better grip and put things in proper perspective, if their focus is truly on justice and child protection.
(Instead of on religious hatred and fear.)

deny ignorance and prejudice

jw

Originally posted by jdub297

What about our public schools?

Why not start jailing administrators and school boards for cover-ups and transfers?

The public school employee threat has been demonstrated to be much worse (potentially millions of kids at risk) than a few errant priests.

While that is true, I don't think it really matters.

If the actions of A are worse that those of B, they don't justify or lessen the heinous acts of B.

Pedophile priests deserve temporal judgment from society. So do those that acted to obfuscate their disgusting acts and remove them from scrutiny.

Eric

reply to post by EricD

If the actions of A are worse that those of B, they don't justify or lessen the heinous acts of B.

I believe all pedophiles and their abettors should face extremes of punishment, but I also believe that the greatest attention should be focused on the greatest threat.

Any other focus reflects something other than logic, efficient use of resources, or maximum justice. In my eyes it indicates a type of xenophobic hysteria.

The same logic being used to justify the "priestly focus" today, was once used to justify the punishment of consenting homosexuals and bi-racial couples.

"Something has to be done about this because I don't like it" is quite different from "we need to protect the greatest number of children from the greatest threat."

jw

I personally think people that tamper with kids are amongst the most sinister people. The reason i think school teachers aren't getting the same investigation is because it is much more wide scale and harder to combat against. I also belief that priests being molester has been roumerd for hundreds of years and so the lime light gleams on them. One last thing by the time a pupil gets older and says about his dilemma the teacher would have probably retired. Were as a priest stays in the same position for well all his life so he will be a easy target to get hit over the head with a smooth swing of the justice hammer.

What you may be seeing here, is the downfall of the Vatican church. As the old saying goes, they are reaping what they have sown. Karma will catch you everytime.

Originally posted by FiatLux
What you may be seeing here, is the downfall of the Vatican church. As the old saying goes, they are reaping what they have sown. Karma will catch you everytime.

What about the tremendous amount of good the Church does and has done? It's not a black and white issue.


Eric

Originally posted by EricD

Originally posted by FiatLux
What you may be seeing here, is the downfall of the Vatican church. As the old saying goes, they are reaping what they have sown. Karma will catch you everytime.

What about the tremendous amount of good the Church does and has done? It's not a black and white issue.


Eric

So, your saying, what good they are doing should over write the bad things that are taking place at the same time, such as this? They are doing nothing but trying to sweep it under the rug as though this crime shouldn`t matter. Is this what people should expect from a major religion? Or should they take responsibility for their clerics actions? This is not just your local church this is about,but a world wide religion, and such things as this crime will place a black spot on it that may never go away.



[edit on 1-7-2010 by FiatLux]

reply to post by jdub297


you're catholic, obviously....grow up and be responsible. protect the innocent, man time to man up, now

[edit on 1-7-2010 by GBP/JPY]

Catholic faith never made since to me.

If it was my child, this wouldn't be needed.
I would serve as judge, jury, and executioner! I would send them straight to hell where they belong!

Originally posted by EricD Well, it certainly would be a sham if that's what Catholics believed. Seeing as how it's not...

No Catholic believes that the Pope is without sin or is Holy due to his position as the successor to Peter.

Raised Catholic, atheist now. Regardless, traditionally speaking, the people that choose the Pope pray for the answer (Cardinals,) therefore whether we believe it or not, he is chosen by what those that believe may be from a higher power.

On topic, if anyone (regardless of their position) is guilty of pedophilia they should either spend some serious time in jail, be subject to chemical castration or both.

I agree. This is just the shaking off of some shackles that have been around for along time. There is a lot more to come, go to your local Parish for a month and you will see that.

And I'm pretty confident that they'll have a little surprise waiting for them in the afterlife.

Many believe they are already going there based upon their faith. Purgatory adds an interesting thought to what they really believe.