“Culture of silence” starting to talk
14 September 2009 by Stardust
Usually shit rolls downhill, and took awhile to come out but finally cases of sexual abuse by priests in the Pope’s own backyard are now emerging “in a country where reports of clerical sex abuse were virtually unknown a decade ago.”
Italy grapples with priest sex abuse accusations
A yearlong Associated Press tally has documented 73 cases with allegations of sexual abuse by priests against minors over the past decade in Italy, with more than 235 victims. The tally was compiled from local media reports, linked to by Web sites of victims groups and blogs. Almost all the cases have come out in the seven years since the scandal about Roman Catholic priest abuse broke in the United States.
One man’s disturbing personal account:
VERONA, Italy – It happened night after night, the deaf man said, sometimes in the priest’s bedroom, sometimes in the bathroom, even in the confessional.
When he was a young boy at a Catholic-run institute for the deaf, Alessandro Vantini said, priests sodomized him so relentlessly he came to feel “as if I were dead.” This year, he and dozens of other former students did something highly unusual for Italy: They went public with claims they were forced to perform sex acts with priests.
For decades, a culture of silence has surrounded priest abuse in Italy, where surveys show the church is considered one of the country’s most respected institutions. Now, in the Vatican’s backyard, a movement to air and root out abusive priests is slowly and fitfully taking hold.
It’s about time. The Catholic church must be held accountable (any other organization would be shut down for this sort of organized crime). The “culture of silence” must end.
H/T to ChuckA once again…
14 September 2009, on 1:29 pm
This is so extremely sad…I can’t even imagine
Suffer the little children….
14 September 2009, on 10:49 pm
Ah, the sick and dysfunctional policies of the Papacy rears its’ ugly head yet again.
You know why people are finally talking though? because they still think the Vatican is still salvagable, that it’s worth saving. they think all they have to do is get rid of the “bad” priests and everything will go back to how they like it.
But it’ll just repeat itself if that happens. ratzy will rail against gay marriage, homos and what not, the priests will slink back into the shadows and wait until the heat dies down and it starts all over again.
It’s a conspiracy and should be treated and prosecuted as such.
Burn the mother fucker down, or more will suffer.
15 September 2009, on 12:09 am
“any other organization would be shut down for this sort of organized crime”
Good point Stardust. Even the Boy Scouts of America couldn’t weather a scandal like this. But hey, this is the Cat-o-lick church. Their most powerful instrument is guilt–guilt that motivates the brainwashed to support this evil institution no matter what it might do to it’s own members.
My guess; years from now, the Cat-o-lick church will sing it’s own praises for ending the impropriety of “a few rogue priests” by taking a “strong stand” against pederasty not only in it’s own ranks, but the whole world over. And much as it has managed to repaint history in it’s favor in the past when it has been on the wrong side of said history, the cat-o-lick church will likely continue strong with an image in popular culture cleaner than the driven snow.
This is just fucking sick.
15 September 2009, on 11:46 am
DRB, sadly, you are most likely right about this. They think if they just weed out the bad apples that the rest of the bunch can be saved and that’s not going to happen. What their religion demands from a priest actually is the cause of the problems. And also the authoritative position of the priest would attract pedophiles. How do they screen for pedophiles when someone hasn’t been caught yet? It’s never gonna end till the Catholic church ends.
Yep Fritzy, …and it will make it’s apologies decades or even centuries later as they have done with Galileo, the Inquisition, etc. But their apologies mean nothing to generations of dead victims.
15 September 2009, on 2:40 pm
This particular insanity, when uncovered, shows up much more prominently_and “Organizationally”_as well as World-wide because of the RCC’s huge corporate structure. And of course, it’s the oldest of that type…and the only Christian variety that demands much of its clergy to take the vows of Chastity (Celibacy)/Poverty/Obedience. Obedience, of course, to one head honcho…the Poop! [Only the typical "Parish Priests" aren't required to take the Poverty vow. Surprise!]
Let’s not forget, however, or totally let off the hook, the Protestant Xtians, after the, at least somewhat…equally fucktard instigating jerks…that’d be the ex-catlick, racist and anti-Semitic priest, Martin Luther, and supreme egotist, Henry, the fucking monster, the VIIIth.
NICE!
The Protestants pretty much just dropped all the lifetime vow shit, and opened the doors to the HUGE number of individual Babble interpretations; leading to all manner of other completely private, non-corporate, shenanigans. As witnessed, in these current 24/7 times, by a whole other plethora of, sometimes equally weirdo, self appointed, outrageously self-righteous, minister bastards; fucking their little separate flocks of sheeple…and sucking money from a whole lot of other brainwashed, equally delusional, “tea bagger” morons.
Of course, IMO, ALL fucking religions have their ultra-secretive tales of convoluted sex abuse; most of which goes rather unnoticed…especially, I’d say, in the Muslim World, which we, in the West, get extremely little info access to. Iran, being one of those “Wacko Theocratic Worlds” which we’re just beginning to get extremely shocking glimpses of.
It’s not just the RCC that, IMO, needs to die out…it’s every fucking monster, tribal based, god belief system that man, before Science ever popped up, sado-masochistically dreamed up. I’m absolutely sure, as an old fart, that I won’t be around to see it happen; and I have no kids (lucky me?)…so I wish all of you guys with kids and grand kids…”Rots of Ruck!”…?
Sometimes I feel like I’m some, totally adrift, Galactic alien who, for some reason, was kicked off a passing space ship (for fucking off too much?) to be born as a struggling, brainwashed, ignorant Earthling…
Wait!…I’m getting a message…something like:
“Let that be a totally ‘Woo-Woo’ lesson to you, fucktard! Of course…your name will end up being…erm…ChuckA?…and you’ll end up being a totally skeptical, inquiring minded atheist, who’ll never be able trace ANY of this obvious murky laden bullshit…
Just kidding! (snark!)”
(feigns coming out of an sudden deep trance)
WTF just happened? What day is it…Tuesday?
(shock and awe?)