You do realize you just admitted you're looking at lawsuits, right?

[trinityvixen]

Or, how not to keep a law you don't like from getting passed:

Roman Catholic and Orthodox Jewish officials in New York are mounting an intense lobbying effort to block a bill before the State Legislature that would temporarily lift the statute of limitations for lawsuits alleging the sexual abuse of children.
...

“We believe this bill is designed to bankrupt the Catholic Church,” said Dennis Poust, spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, a group representing the bishops of the state’s eight dioceses.

The Catholic Church has several billion dollars in assets and income and property--so much money they don't even really know how much they have. Going around saying we can't extend the statute of limitations on sexual abuse of minors because it would bankrupt you is tantamount to admitting you've abused a lot of children. Isn't it?

I guess their thinking is more that spurious lawsuits will crop up as all the gold-diggers who were made ineligible by dint of being just a skoosh too old are suddenly given a few years of leeway. But, yeah, that's really not how it sounds when all they can do is complain about giving the courts a little more time to make sure the abused find justice. They would have a better go of it mentioning the disparity between the proposed changes to abuse cases involving religious rather than state institutions.

Then again, this is the institution that said a nine-year-old girl should be forced to birth twins because their lives were more important than hers. So their inability to be sympathetic or even at all aware of how monstrously insensitive they sound is sorta a thing with them.



The new twist on that Brazilian case: The Vatican has officially affirmed that killing fetuses that would kill the girl gestating them is an unpardonable crime. More good news: the stepfather that raped the girl may also have abused her handicapped sister. But since rape and abuse of minor children--to say nothing of incest (yes, the Catholic Church believed at one point even step-relations were unsuitable for sexual partnerships because of incest rules)--is not an unforgivable sin, they're still not touching the perpetrator. Those evil abortionating doctors and the mother, on the other hand, are fair game. They get to be kicked out of paradise for giving a shit about this girl. That's okay. I'll see them in Hell with the rest of us humanist types and reassure them that no matter that ass-full of hot coals, they still did the right thing.

Comments

[anomilygrace.livejournal.com]

I want to respond thoughtfully to both of these, but the pure rage that is pouring through my brain right now is making that impossible.

So I turn to capslock. WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, RCC?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Last night, my roommate inquired as to what percentage of my posts were in all caps. I was pretty sure it's about 20%. There are some things that defy your ability to restrain yourself from shouting at the internet. An organization that defends child molesters and punishes anyone else is one of those things that brings on the CAPS LOCK.

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

This is very upsetting. On both counts.

Excuse me while I go and cry because I just can't comprehend why all of the mean people get away with being horrible. *kicks things*

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

There's literally not a leg to stand on unless you're thinking there are some thousands of kids waiting in the wings to report abuses. In which case, you--and by you, I mean the Catholic Church--have bigger problems, don't you? Maybe instead of trying to prevent people from bringing suits alleging sexual abuse, you could make an effort to, I dunno, police the abusers better yourselves?

Nope. That's the Church for you. "We forgive everyone. Except fetus killers. And we kinda have this problem with rape, but the good news is that we don't have a problem with rapists!"

::headdesk::

[saikogrrl.livejournal.com]

What. The fuck. On both counts. Just... what. How can anyone be so insensitive? And double standards in not going after the rapist because he is an adult male and not as easy to target?

Ugh.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Rape is not a problem for the Church. For one thing, unwanted pregnancy is, well, sort of how they got their savior.

But the abuse of children is just unacceptable. The fact that they think they can order and lobby against such things and don't seem to...understand how evil and guilty it makes them appear is deeply disturbing. It all comes down to money in the end for them? Spiritual welfare only matters if they're enforcing it against the will of nine-year-olds?

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

The Catholic Church - Your religion may be all about love, happiness and salvation, your institution is a pile of corruption and closeted secrets. Hypocracy at it's greatest.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

One blog I read had it about right: if your religious institution provides you exactly zero comfort in your time of greatest need, what's the point of religion?