Asian Bishops Say Abuse Isn't Just 'A Problem Of The West'

By Hisashi Yukimoto
Religion News Service

TOKYO (RNS/ENInews) Roman Catholic bishops from across Asia will hold a summit on "The Impact of Pedophilia" in the Catholic Church, saying abusive priests are not simply "a problem of the West."

The Federation of Roman Catholic Asian Bishops' Conferences will host a seminar for bishops and clergy Nov. 14-19 at Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand.

"(I)t is an urgent task before us, especially the leaders of the church, to come together to devise some mechanisms to prevent future occurrences of child abuse by church men/women," the bishops' clergy office said.

"Let us not be complacent that pedophilia is a problem of the West or the other continents of the world; it is equally prevalent in many countries of Asia," the office said in an announcement on its website.

On May 16, the Vatican gave all bishops conferences one year to formulate national policies on clerical sex abuse of minors. The Vatican's chief prosecutor of abuse cases, Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna, will be on hand to help Asian bishops craft "specific guidelines."

The Asian bishops cited several factors that led to the summit, including "letters from different quarters of the church that pedophilia has already become a considerably serious problem in Asia."

The bishops said they wanted to address the problem "squarely and without delay" before it got "out of hand like it has done in the other countries of the world."

But "how many letters, I cannot tell you exactly," the Rev. Lawrence Pinto, the office's executive secretary, told ENInews. "In my casual talks with bishops and archbishops, they mention that it is becoming a problem. So the office of clergy decided to organize this seminar."

Comments

[kvolovesart]

08:09 AM on 06/09/2011

It is a perfect job for a pedophile and or a gay man..they can live in relative anonymity and be around lots of other men and or boys...no pressure to marry and free room and board...let the priests get married and the church will start to attract more straight men as priests...simple as that...

[GandenT]

05:08 PM on 06/08/2011

Deontological ethics: failing human beings since the beginning of time...

[POPE INNOCENT]

12:22 AM on 06/08/2011

RCC Promises
Become a NUN so your family will be saved!

http://www.remnantofgod.org/sister1.htm
BECOMING THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

Now the priest teaches every little girl that will take the White Veil they'll become the bride of Christ. He teaches her to believe that her family will be saved. It doesn't make any difference how many banks they rob, how many stores they rob. It doesn't make any difference how they drink and smoke and carouse and live out in this sinful world and do all the things that sinners do. It doesn't make a bit of difference. Our family will be saved if we continue to live in the convent and give our lives to the convent and to the Church--we can rest assured that other members of our immediate family will be saved.

And of course we looked upon our priest--our Father confessor--I looked upon him as God. He's the only god I knew anything about. To me he was infallible. I didn't think he could sin. I didn't think that he would lie. I didn't think that he ever made a mistake. I looked upon him as the holiest of holies,

LAYING IN A CASKET

And then on this particular morning, she told me what I would be wearing. She said, "You'll spend nine hours in a casket." And she explained a number of things to do. And I didn't find that out until I had taken my White Veil.

[lahip]

10:28 PM on 06/07/2011

The Catholic bashing hate you see here was around long before there was any scandal in the church.

[GandenT]

05:02 PM on 06/08/2011

It's like those inquisitions and witch hunts and werewolf trails and demonic possession accusations and violent purges of pagans and forced conversions that were forced on poor sweet innocent Catholics around the world throughout history... So unfair.

[Hysterian68]

06:27 PM on 06/07/2011

The bishops said they wanted to address the problem "squarely and without delay" before it got "out of hand like it has done in the other countries of the world."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOL LOL LOL That tells it all. So much for the pious platitudes from the purple pervert protectors in the west who've been claimins since the 1980s that they've got the "problem" under control. Yeah. Just like they controlled it in Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Germany, and most recently in Kansas City, MO and Philadelpia PA.
The Catholic hierarchy belong in prison with orange jump suits replacing the purple and lace dresses.

[John Ramsey001]

07:00 AM on 06/08/2011

The alternative lifestyle is everywhere.

[GandenT]

05:04 PM on 06/08/2011

Posing as a priest to gain authority to abuse for sexual favors is everywhere?

[Ami Toben]

04:46 PM on 06/07/2011

Child rape and torture is to be found anywhere there is sexual repression. Why is it any surprise that it can be found in Asia too. We are all homo-sapience, and sexually repressed homo-sapience males will act out is the same manner. Only an organization as backward and as evil as the Catholic church would need to be reminded that humans are humans, not to mention find the need to conduct a "summit" on dealing with child rape and torture. Modern law actually has some very strong and effective rules and punishments regarding child rape and torture. i recommend the Catholic church be brought into the fold of the rest of modern humanity and stop making allowances for itself.

[thunk]

10:24 PM on 06/07/2011

"We are all homo-sapie­nce, and sexually repressed homo-sapie­nce males will act out is the same manner."

Not sure that's what pedophilia is about.

[Ami Toben]

02:28 AM on 06/08/2011

Well, it appears that the catholic church is giving us a fascinating glimpse of how it works by sexually repressing thousands of men and then unleashing them on unsuspecting children. I wasn't sure what pedophilia was about either, until i started observing the data that is coming out of the horrific human experiments that the church has been doing with men and children.

[Indigo1941]

04:02 PM on 06/07/2011

How interesting. It would be refreshing for Asia to take the lead in addressing the issue directly.

[Front Row Joe]

02:22 PM on 06/07/2011

No surprise there.

[JessCostello]

03:27 PM on 06/07/2011

Now when will the clergy of other religions acknowledge this problem in their communities?

[Indigo1941]

04:03 PM on 06/07/2011

That's a fair question. Sometimes it looks as if they're waiting around, watching to see how Rome manages the issue before they commit to direct action.

[tkns]

01:49 PM on 06/07/2011

I wonder if this thing has been going on for centuries and only broke now due to the internet? That and back then if you dared accuse the church of something like this, they could burn you alive.

[JessCostello]

03:28 PM on 06/07/2011

When was the last time someone was burned alive by Catholic clergy?

[tkns]

03:53 PM on 06/07/2011

A while ago. But this problem did not crop out of nowhere. Nowadays, the Church has lost its power and people can speak out without fear. If you look at many Muslim countries, the mosque is still very powerful and so even if such abuses happen, people won't dare to bring it up.

[Indigo1941]

04:05 PM on 06/07/2011

Giordano Bruno, February 17, 1600. He was convicted of heresy, pantheism and thinking for himself.

[vonric]

01:35 PM on 06/07/2011

For a long time, the Church's "problem" was viewed as being "uniquely American", clearly resulting from character defects of a recklessly uncultured environment. Then, the scandals broke to the surface in Germany, France, Ireland, Italy... and so - GOSH! GEEZ! it happens in Europe as well. Then, a series of scandals were reported in South America, including some truly bizarre abuse in Brazil. Now, the Asians are noting it?

Wonder if there is a problem with the way the Church handles it and it ISN"T driven by local 'cultural" patterns.... What a thought!

As someone who knows a number of men and women dealing with the effects of priest/nun abuse as colleagues in healing, I have no patience with an organization's prating their interest in dealing with the problem. words are cheap, actions are massive, and the Church has taken little by way of true action to remediate this fundamental and structural problem of abuser concealment and relocation on an international level. And, to that end, the Pope needs to do a heckofa lot more than meet with a handfull of victims and declare himself "deeply moved"

[JessCostello]

03:29 PM on 06/07/2011

I wonder why other religions haven't gone public with abuse by their clergy?

[Grada3784]

12:37 PM on 06/07/2011

OMG!!! What will the Catholic League complain about now?

[ZenSufi]

12:03 PM on 06/07/2011

I'm not sure if Bangkok is the appropriate place for the meeting.

[Kelly Jade]

12:35 PM on 06/07/2011

HAH!

[Vinivixen]

02:29 PM on 06/07/2011

LOL

[Aikaterina]

11:53 AM on 06/07/2011

Just because the child-abuse was more frequently reported in western nations, doesn't preclude it's occurrance in Asia or elsewhere. These abuses are not merely "sins" for the church to handle, per their own guidelines. Pedophilia (like rape), is a violent and serious crime, and the perpetrators, need to be dealt with as criminals. The church may deal with their sins, penance, forgiveness, but they can and should not be allowed to shield perpetrators from criminal justice under any circumstances. Whether a cleric or layperson, abuses and violent crimes against other persons can not go uninvestigated, unprosecuted and (if found guilty) unpunished.

The Catholic Church as decided that it's religious laws supercede civil laws, and clergy need not be held accountable to civilian authorities. There's nothing in Canon Law that permits a member of the clergy to commit violent assaults on children.

The Catholic Church has taken the stance their priests are not employees of the Vatican, but are individual contractors, yet they claim soverignty, and that priests have de-facto diplomatic status as emissaries of the Holy See. These are contradictory.

The hierarchs knew about these atrocities, then quietly reassigned priests, destroyed or hid evidence and testimony of complaintants, which are also criminal actions:
Withholding evidence, and refusal to cooperate with civilian authorities is Obstruction of Justice.
Reassigning priests without warning to the new parishes constitutes Reckless Endangerment and Child Endangerment.
The church's settlements with victims (secretive) constitutes Conspiracy.

[onlyThis]

10:31 AM on 06/07/2011

It's a cult, like all religions that ask you to believe things strictly because an authority figure, or book, tells you to. The bigger ones are also pretty much just businesses, it's about power and control. Theology, for the most part, is castles in the sky. 40 years a church going Christian, many years spent in bible study, even a few years in seminary. I just realized it is all bunk. I still believe man is more than just the sum of his parts but I do not believe any religion has the answers, if there indeed are any answers.

[New Yorker]

10:23 AM on 06/07/2011

I am delighted to see the Catholic Church taking aggressive steps to deal with the problem of homosexual priests preying on little boys. The church is slow to discover the sin within its ranks, but seems committed to eradicating both the criminals, it mistakenly treated as mere sinners who were to be forgiven their sins and protected, and the niavete' that such things would not occur amongst ordained priests devoted to serving God. Undoubtedly The Holy Spirit is guiding the church leaders through this chastising time, and preparing the church for the return of The Messiah who founded Holy Mother Church.

[Grada3784]

12:39 PM on 06/07/2011

Read the report published by the Bishops conference.to correct your errors.

The homosexual priest BS was just that: BS.

[JessCostello]

03:32 PM on 06/07/2011

Most of the victims were boys and nearly all the perpetrators were men. That's male-on-male. Homosexual. Sorry if you don't like it.

[Grada3784]

12:42 PM on 06/07/2011

And lest you think this is an anomaly in the history of the church, ponder this:

The influence of the clergy can best be summed up by the comment made by Cardinal Hugo, when Innocent IV left Lyons after a visit of eight years' duration. In a speech of farewell to the citizens, he said: "Since we came here we have effected great improvements. When we came, we found but three or four brothels. We leave behind us but one. We must add, however, that it extends without interruption from the eastern to the western gate."

Innocent IV was a long, long time ago.

[New Yorker]

01:58 PM on 06/07/2011

. . . .sooo . . women DID hold postions of power in the church after all.