Catholic church more honest and candid than Watchtower Society?

by mizpah 6 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  mizpah

  On the news it was reported that the newly appointed archbishop of Boston (O'Malley} spoke of the sins of the "clergy, religious and hierarchy" in mishandling the sexual abuse of children within the church. And he promised to correct and to heal the church. It remains to be seen if he can do this. But at least he has recognized and addressed this problem.

  The Catholic church has always been a target for the Watchtower's venom. But in this case, isn't the Catholic church more honest and candid than the Watchtower Society?
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  Hamas

  Maybe, but they are all part of the same rotten tree.
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  Gopher

  In this respect, the Catholics are aeons ahead of the JW's. The current pope has made it a practice to apologize for a lot of the bad things that the church did in the past. They don't call their adjustments "new light".

  If the WT Society would ever apologize for its past, that would be a major miracle. The administrators are too proud or perhaps too afraid that by apologizing, they would lose their standing in the eyes of onlookers as "God's channel of truth". Just like the Pharisees who were afraid to admit that the works of Jesus were something special -- because if they did, the Romans would come and take away their influence and authority.

  However, the Catholics still adhere to many policies that some view as hurtful or questionable.

  Perhaps a better model would be the Worldwide Church of God (formerly led by Herbert Armstrong with assistance from his son Garner Ted). They came out and basically said that the entire tenet behind their beliefs was wrong, they were sorry - and they wanted a totally fresh start.

  Such a radical move would cost hundreds of thousands of followers, but the candidness would be refreshing.
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  mizpah

  Some good points, Gopher,

  However, it must be remembered that the Catholic church used the same tactics as the Watchtower Society when the scandal of child sexual abuse first broke. Clergy privilege, Confidentiality, Separation of Church and State were all part of its strategy. But when the publicity became overwhelming it decided to admit the error and correct the problem. There is still an old vanguard among some of the leaders. And it remains to see if this new archbishop will be able to accomplish his stated goals. We all hope so.

  I'm sure that these cases involving priests and the eventual settlement to the victims will have an impact on the Watchtower Society. It has to be aware of the precedents that are being established. But you are right....the Watchtower Society has miles to go to catch up to the Catholic church.
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  ninecharger

  The good thing is that the RC church nowadaysallows dissent and debate, and does not withdraw the love of Christ from those who have their own opinions, or who read the ideas of dissenters.

  Witchtower Babble and Trick Society has a long way to go.

  .
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  Yerusalyim

  Mizpah,

  What you say is only partially true. In some diocese the issue was dealt with properly, and I know of NO CASES where the victims were excommunicated.

  If anything, the church is too sensitive about this now. Priests are being dismissed based on one accusation alone, even if the accusation is unfounded and 32 years old.
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  mizpah

  Yerusalem:

  I agree. I never meant to imply that the Catholic church's early handling of the sexual abuse cases was exactly like the Watchtower. There are the obvious differences as you correctly point out. One of the major differences was, as you said, they never excommunicated the victims. And that is a very important point. Also, the bishops in other diocese were able to use their own descretion (somewhat) to handle these cases.

  At least in the Boston area, the Catholic church has enjoyed the protection of the politicians for many years. This kind of exposure would have never occurred during the time that Cushing and Medeiros (sp?) controlled the church in this area. It is now known that reported abuse cases went back to their tenure. Thanks to the persistence of the Boston Globe, this whole scandal opened up a secret closet of the entire church. One does question, though, whether the other bishops and archbishops in other diocese would have looked into this issue on their own without this unfavorable publicity.