Thursday, December 16, 2010

Is this why the Catholic church is dying in Europe? Church fails to exercise justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

From Reuters:

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A large majority of the Dutch public believes Roman Catholic Church authorities covered up sexual abuse, a poll found Sunday, revealing the extent of the damage to the Church's reputation in the Netherlands.

An independent commission said Thursday 1,975 people have declared themselves victims of sexual and physical abuse while under the care of the Church since 1945, ranking the Netherlands second worst behind Ireland in a scandal that has rocked the Church in Europe and the United States.

The Maurice de Hond poll showed 82 percent of respondents believe most Church authorities knew about the problems, while 81 percent believe the pope also knew. Some 78 percent said they were "extremely disappointed" by the abuses.


De Hond said the position of Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church authorities had been "strongly affected" by the scandal.

The survey also found that 69 percent think the Church should no longer make comments about how people should behave, but that percentage falls to 55 percent among Catholics.


Victims of abuse in the Netherlands want a full parliamentary inquiry into the scandal and the poll showed 56 percent of the Dutch were in favour of such an investigation.

The Roman Catholic church has failed, in the eyes of the Dutch, to act with justice, equity, and compassion in human relations, the 2nd principle of Unitarian Universalism. Hopefully, Unitarian Universalists deal with sexual abuse much better.

9 comments:

  1. Inquiring mind wants to knowDecember 16, 2010 at 9:21 AM

    Are you implying that the whole world shoud adhere to UU principles?

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  2. :The Roman Catholic church has failed, in the eyes of the Dutch, to act with justice, equity, and compassion in human relations, the 2nd principle of Unitarian Universalism. Hopefully, Unitarian Universalists deal with sexual abuse much better.

    The key word here being *hopefully*. . .

    Surely by now David you must realize that Unitarian*Universalists do not in fact deal with sexual abuse, or indeed non-sexual forms of clergy abuse, all *that* much better than the Roman Catholic church does. But don't take my word for it David, take the word of UUA Executive Vice President Kay Montgomery, as gleaned from the UUA's now decade old official apology to victims of clergy sexual misconduct perpetrated by U*U ministers -

    "Let me say this as simply and unequivocally as I know how: the Association has largely failed the people most hurt by sexual misconduct, the victims and survivors. Other denominations have done better. These brave and bruised people have, more often than not I suspect, been left lonely, confused, afraid, angry and betrayed. Un-ministered to. . ."

    Please note that *other* denominations have done better. I dare say that the Roman Catholic Church has done better than the Unitarian*Universalist religious community in *some* aspects of its response to clergy sexual misconduct.

    Kay Montgomery went on to "pledge" that "this gap, this failure, will be remedied" and that the UUA would "change and learn" and "in this *untended* area" the UUA would "bend toward justice". Quite regrettably, I and other people "in the know" about the UUA's ongoing mis*handling of clergy misconduct complaintst know all to well that the UUA has ahem *largely failed* to live up to the letter and the spirit of that decade old "pledge" aka promise.

    And I would not hold out too much hope aka wishful thinking regarding UUA President Peter Morales' willingness to honor and uphold UU principles when it comes to clergy sexual misconduct or other forms of clergy misconduct perpetrated by "less than perfect" U*U ministers. President Morales seems to have all but completely forgotten what he wrote in his response to UU Safety Net's 'Open Letter' about clergy sexual misconduct which was addressed to both previous UUA Presidential candidates.

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  3. And I would not hold out too much hope aka wishful thinking regarding current UUA President Peter Morales' readiness, willingness, and ability to honor and uphold the claimed principles of Unitarian*Universalism when it comes to dealing with clergy sexual misconduct or other forms of clergy misconduct perpetrated by "less than perfect" U*U ministers. President Peter Morales seems to have all but completely forgotten what he wrote in his response to UU Safety Net's 'Open Letter' about clergy sexual misconduct which was addressed to both previous UUA Presidential candidates. The advocates for clergy misconduct victims who I am in touch with are of the opinion that Rev. Peter Morales has done virtually nothing to put into practice what he so emptily "preached" in his official response to UU Safety Net's 'Open Letter' well over a year and a half ago. . . President Morales is only too willing to very publicly "stand on the side of love" for *illegal* immigrants, but has yet to do anything to "stand on the side of love" for victims of clergy misconduct committed by "less than loving" U*U ministers. . .

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  4. Not sure what happened with the multiple comments David. Feel free to delete the surplus. There was a problem with submitting them.

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  5. I could be wrong, but I think the decline of the Church(es) in Europe has more to do with the history of having State Churches, combined with the world of globalism where the opportunities of the whole globe come into play rather than having to depend on the declarations of local clerics. The current issues appear as big as they do because of this history/current reality matrix in which it is discovered. But abuse issues certainly solidify an anti-church position.

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  6. Dear Robin:

    I am very sorry to read that Peter Morales has been less that effective with his reponse to complaints of clergy misconduct in spite of his statements that he would protect and advocate for victims.

    As always, thanks,

    David Markham

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  7. Dear Paul:

    I hadn't thought of the two factors which you mention: the decline of government sponsored religion and globalization. I think that the two factors you mention pre-dated and are more influential than the sex abuse scandals.

    Thanks for your comment. I learned something from you and I appreciate it.

    All the best,

    David Markham

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  8. The Catholic church deserved to die, the sooner the better.

    "The head of the Catholic church in Phoenix has stripped Arizona's largest hospital of its Catholic affiliation after he ruled that a decision to save the life of a mother by terminating her 11-week pregnancy was morally wrong.

    Bishop Thomas Olmsted announced yesterday that St Joseph's hospital can no longer be considered to be Catholic. The ruling breaks a relationship that stretches back to the hospital's founding by Catholic nuns 115 years ago.

    He has also excommunicated the member of the hospital's ethics committee that permitted the abortion to go ahead.

    The schism brings to a head a dispute that has been building for several months over the termination, performed in November 2009, at St Joseph's hospital and medical centre.

    The case concerned an unidentified woman in her 20s, who had a history of abnormally high blood pressure that was under control before she became pregnant. But doctors were concerned on learning of the pregnancy about the extra burden that would be placed on her heart, and they monitored her closely.

    Tests showed that in the early stages of pregnancy her condition deteriorated rapidly and that before long her pulmonary hypertension – which can impair the working of the heart and lungs – had begun to seriously threaten her life. Doctors informed her that the risk of death was close to 100% if she continued with the pregnancy."

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