Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone #fundie

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone #fundie washingtonpost.com

The Vatican's second-highest authority says the sex scandals haunting the Catholic Church are linked to homosexuality rather than celibacy vows among priests.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is the Vatican's secretary of state and asserts that "many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and pedophilia."

He says others have shown "that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia," and "that is the problem."

Bertone spoke during a news conference Monday in Chile.

He also asserted that the church had never impeded investigations of pedophilia by priests.

43 comments

old comment by Giveitaday

The Vatican's second-highest authority says the sex scandals haunting the Catholic Church are linked to homosexuality rather than celibacy vows among priests.

And the "second highest authority" wouldn't have any incentive to deflect blame away from the church by any means necessary? If you believe that then I've got a bridge I can sell you for really cheap.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is the Vatican's secretary of state and asserts that "many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and pedophilia."

Might have to do with the fact that pedophiles don't tend to be celibate

He says others have shown "that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia," and "that is the problem."

So who are these mysterious "other psychologists"? What study shows those results? I ask because every single study availible to the public comes to the exact opposite conclusion? Are these people so deluded that they think if they repeat a lie long enough, and loud enough that it will magically become true.

He also asserted that the church had never impeded investigations of pedophilia by priests.

Not only did the church continually impede investigation after investigation, but also did it's damndest to see to it that many other investigations never even got off the ground by paying hush money or leveraging threats of excommunication.

Lets not forget all the times when the church moved pedophile priests between parishes multiple times even though the priest continued to molest children at each move. Or the times that priest were moved to countries without extradition agreements with the sole purpose of sheltering pedophile priests an placing beyond the reach of US law.

If that's not "impeding investigations" then what is it?

old comment by

To quote Cardinal Bertone He also asserted that the church had never impeded investigations of pedophilia by priests.

Compare this with a French Catholic magazine's publication of a 2001 letter Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos wrote to Pierre Pican, a French bishop who had just been sentenced to jail for not having reported a pedophile priest to civil authorities. At the time the cardinal was Prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy, meaning he was the Vatican official in charge of all the world's priests.

According to the Reuters report:

Pican, who received a suspended three-month jail sentence for not denouncing sexual abuse of minors, admitted in court he had kept Rev. Rene Bissey in parish work despite the fact the priest had privately admitted committing pedophile acts.

The case shocked France and prompted its bishops to declare that all abuse cases must be reported to civil authorities.

"I congratulate you for not denouncing a priest to the civil administration," Castrillon Hoyos said. "You have acted well and I am pleased to have a colleague in the episcopate who, in the eyes of history and of all other bishops in the world, preferred prison to denouncing his son and priest."

old comment by John

He says others have shown "that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia," and "that is the problem."

This is bullshit. There was only one study that suggested a relationship, and that basically just looked at the gender of the victim and if it was a boy, they said the pedophile must have been gay. That's a stupid way to do the study, and it has no credibility except with bigots who try to play the "gays are pedophiles" card. There are two other studied that were done the right way: they looked at the actual adult sexual orientation of the pedophile himself. In about 40% of the cases, the person had no adult sexual orientation. That is, he was not sexually attracted to adults of either sex. In most of the other cases, the person was heterosexual. One of the two studies failed to find a single pedophile who was exclusively homosexual in his adult relationships.

old comment by refuter of fundy vermin

'The Vatican's second-highest authority says the sex scandals haunting the Catholic Church are linked to homosexuality rather than celibacy vows among priests. '

NO, fucktard, they are linked to PEDOPHILIA - which your church seems to approve of as long as it's carried out by priests.

'Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is the Vatican's secretary of state and asserts that "many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and pedophilia." '

And who would these be employed by? The Vatican? Most likely, since the Church doesn't want to hear anything that makes their despicable demands of celibacy look faulty.

'He says others have shown "that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia," and "that is the problem." '

More lies from the Cardinal. Most pedophiles are HETEROSEXUAL, NOT homosexual.

'He also asserted that the church had never impeded investigations of pedophilia by priests.'

AGAIN, the Cardinal is peddling LIES. What about the infamous Cardinal Bernard Law (who was begged by John Paul II to remain in a senior position in the Church), and the cover-up of widescale abuse by the mis-named 'Christian Brothers' at the infamous Mt. Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland, Canada? Not to mention the cover-up recently exposed in Ireland, a mainly Catholic country. Also, both John Paul II and Benedict XVI took the position that secular authorities MUST NOT be informed of sexual assaults committed by priests; it must be kept WITHIN the confines of the Church, to allow the Vatican to protect the priests, since they are the ones needing protection, not the children (according to the logic of these men).

Another reason I despise the Church & the despicable old men at its top.

old comment by Dr.Shrinker

Still can't get over the idea that the sexual abuse of children is NOT about sexual gratification of the perpetrator, can you cardinal? I expect that kind of ignorance from the person in the street. Given your position and the scandal your subordinates have caused, one would think that you should have learned a thing or two about it.

I'll try and explain one more time: sexual abuse is not about sexual gratification. It is about the misuse of power. It is the humiliation and degradation of the victim that the abuser enjoys. Sexual exploitation is a potential problem in any situation where power is exercised without oversight.

The members of your church is expected to obey their priests without question. They are expected to appear before them regularly in degrading acts of confession. Their authority is maintained with the threat of damnation. Furthermore, not only have recent events shown that oversight in your church is painfully lax, but your church has demonstrated a willingness to enable and conceal abusive activity.

In short cardinal, you and your church created the perfect environment for sexual abuse to take place. Homosexuality had nothing to do with it. Indeed, you have absolutely no one to blame but yourselves.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone #fundie washingtonpost.com

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