Sunday 25 September 2016

CHURCH ABUSE

ABUSE IN THE CHURCH

Below is an account by RICHARD SIPE of the abuse problem in the USA.

It would be interesting to have a similar study conducted in Ireland.
Image result for richard sipe
A.W. Richard Sipe is devoted full time to research into the sexual and celibate practices of Roman Catholic bishops and priests. That path now leads him to the study of the sexual teaching of the church and its effects on behavior - especially sexual abuse of minors by clergy - and the tangle of sexual problems that some people claim are blocking every religious agenda and destroying beyond repair the credibility of the Catholic Church in sexual matters. He has spent his life searching for the origins, meanings, and dynamics of religious celibacy. His six books including his now classic A Secret World and Celibacy in Crisisexplore various aspects of the questions about the pattern and practice of religious celibacy. He spent 18 years serving the Church as a Benedictine monk and Catholic priest. In those capacities he was trained to deal with the mental health problems of priests. He and Marianne have been married since 1970 and have one son. Both as a priest and married man he has practiced psychotherapy, taught on the faculties of Major Catholic Seminaries and colleges, lectured in medical schools, and served as a consultant and expert witness in both civil and criminal cases involving the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests.
The Sipe's own spirituality has deep roots. Sipe was born Walter Richard Sipe on Dec. 11, 1932, in Robbinsdale, Minn., a farming town of 5000 within the shadow of Minneapolis. He had an upbringing that he jokes could have been a chapter of a Sinclair Lewis novel: The dominant values were Republicanism and pro-business; life centered around school and the church; and Main Street was two blocks long and full of stores. Sipe's father owned several gas stations.
The family was devoutly Catholic, and Sipe admired the enthusiastic young monks who came down to do parish work from St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, 80 miles away. "I was pious, I was intellectually inclined, I think I needed community support," Sipe says. "You know, if you're one of 10 kids, how do you make your mark?"
Sipe has no professional sympathy for the cardinals and bishops and other ranking church officials who cover up their crimes. "Some of them are so terrible," Sipe says. "I mean the plain lying that I've seen, bishop after bishop saying, 'No, this was never true. I don't know anything. I can't remember anything.' And sometimes the bishop just smiles. One bishop said, 'I only lie when I have to.' "
A.W. RICHARD SIPE is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor who earlier spent 18 years as a Benedictine monk and priest. He was trained specifically to deal with the mental health problems of Roman Catholic Priests. In the process of training and therapy, he conducted a 25-year ethnographic study of the celibate/sexual behavior of that population. His study, published in 1990, is now considered a classic. Sipe is known internationally and has participated in 12 documentaries on celibacy and priest sexual abuse aired by HBO, BBC, and other networks in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. He has been widely interviewed by media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CNBC, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, People magazine, Newsweek and USA Today.  Sipe lives with his wife in La Jolla, CA.
Data on the Crisis - The Human Toll
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Thousands of Catholic clergy and religious have raped and sodomized tens of thousands of children—perhaps more than 100,000 children—since 1950. These crimes were committed in secret, and bishops nurtured that secrecy. Nearly 15,000 survivors have broken through the silence, and their accounts have created an in-depth picture of the crisis, both intheir own writings and in the work ofjournalists and law enforcement officials. Attorneys have obtained diocesan documents that reveal additional survivor witness and also document parts of a huge cover-up. But for every account that is known, hundreds are not yet public. In order to understand the crisis fully and take the necessary policy actions, the in-depth testimony of individual survivors must be combined with data that capture the breadth of the crisis.
This webpage begins an ongoing project by BishopAccountability.org to provide the best available data on the crisis, together with suggestions for extrapolating from detailed data to understand topics for which the data are weak or incomplete.

Sex Crimes

1. How many priests have been accused?
The U.S. bishops have reported receiving allegations of abuse by 5,600 priests in 1950-2008, or 5.1% of the 109,694 U.S. priests active since 1950.
The sources for these numbers are The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests and Deacons, by Karen Terry et al., prepared by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (Washington DC: USCCB, 2004), with the annual implementation reports issued by the USCCB for 2004200520062007, and 2008.
Other percentages
After the March 2009 release of audit documents by the NH AG, the names of 74 accused Manchester priests are known, or over 8.9% of the 831 diocesan priests, which extrapolates to 9,768 nationally
Covington diocese states that 9.6% of its priests have been accused, which extrapolates to 10,531 nationally
Over 10% of Providence RI priests have been accused, which extrapolates to over 10,969 nationally
Richard Sipe estimates that 9% of U.S. priests have offended, which extrapolates to 9,872 priests nationally
See our summary of the data with links to sources. BishopAccountablity.org maintains a Database of Accused Priests that provides information on every bishop, priest, nun, brother, deacon, and seminarian who has been named publicly in an allegation. Our current totals in those categories, as of August 7, 2009, are:
Accused U.S. clerics and religious
whose names have been made public
19
bishops

2,997
priests
+ 85 since July 2008
68
nuns
+   3 since July 2008
178
brothers
+ 15 since July 2008
39
deacons
16
seminarians
+1 since July 2008
3,317
total
+ 96 since July 2008
Note: This table shows that we have learned the names of 80 additional accused priests since July 2008. But the USCCB reports that in 2008, bishops and superiors of religious orders received allegations regarding 225 priests not previously known by them to be accused (173 diocesan priests and 52 religious order priests). This would suggest that we face an uphill battle in identifying credibly accused priests, and that bishops and superiors are still not being forthcoming about the identities of priests who are newly accused.

2. How many children have been victimized by priests?

As with the official numbers for accused priests, the sources are The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests and Deacons, by Karen Terry et al., prepared by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (Washington DC: USCCB, 2004), with the annual implementation reports issued by the USCCB for 20042005,20062007, and 2008.

The U.S. bishops report receiving allegations from14,722 victims
or 2.6 victims per priest
This count of victims is universally acknowledged to be low. Here are several estimates of the correct number.
  25,383 – using the current USCCB rate of victims per priest (2.6) and the New Hampshire level of accused priests (8.9%)  46,125 – using the Boston archdiocesan count of victims and the Boston share of U.S. Catholics
100,000 – using Rev. Andrew Greeley's 1993 partialestimate of 2,500 accused priests and 50 victims per priest
280,000 – using the USCCB's current count of accused priests (5,600) and Greeley's estimate of 50 victims per priest


3. How have incidents and allegations varied over time?
The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests and Deacons, by Karen Terry et al., prepared by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (Washington DC: USCCB, 2004) and the Supplementary Data Analysis published by the same authors in 2006 propose a "Shape of the Crisis."


Management

4. How many bishops have been accused of abuse of minors?
19 bishops in the United States have been accused of sexual abuse

The most complete tabulation of abuse allegations against U.S. bishops is our U.S. Bishops Accused of Abuse, which includes photos, career histories, and links to sources.


5 . How many bishops have enabled abuse?
Approximately two-thirds of sitting U.S. bishops were alleged in 2002 to have kept accused priests in ministry or moved accused priests to new assignments.

The best available study of bishops accused of enabling abuse is Two-Thirds of Bishops Let Accused Priests Work, by Brooks Egerton and Reese Dunklin (Dallas Morning News, June 12, 2002), with its table Bishops' Record in Cases of Accused Priests. We are currently reviewing that table and updating it. We have recently revised a spreadsheet showing the status of each bishop analyzed by Egerton and Dunklin. It shows that:
Of the 109 bishops identified in the Dallas Morning News survey,
only 39 bishops (36%) are still managing the same diocese. Of the others:
11 have resigned,
41 have retired,
15 were promoted, and
3 died in office.



6. What percent of parishes in each diocese have been affected?

Studies suggest that many Catholic dioceses in the United States have had a priest accused of abuse living at the rectory and doing parish work. The Los Angeles Times determined from an extensive data study in 2005 that overthree-quarters of LA parishes had been at risk since 1950. We have done similar studies of Davenport IA andRockville Centre NY and will release a study of Bridgeport CT later this summer. In the next week, we will be updating our Davenport study to include additional accused priests acknowledged by the diocese on 7/11/08.
56 of Davenport's 130 parishes – 43%
221 of Los Angeles' 288 parishes – 77%
90 of Rockville Centre's 134 parishes – 67%
65 of Bridgeport's 98 parishes – 66%


Outcomes

7. How many cases have been filed?
Over 3,000 civil lawsuits have been filed in the United States between 1984 and 2009.
The exact number is not known. The most reliable estimate appears in Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse Meets the Civil Law, by Thomas Doyle and Steven Rubino (Fordham Urban Law Review, January 1, 2004), p. 3 and n. 11. Doyle and Rubino conclude "from unofficial consultations with attorneys and from press reports" that 1984-2003 "there have been about 3,000 civil cases related to clergy sex abuse throughout the United States." This would appear to include the hundreds of suits filed during the 2003 SOL window in California. It does not include suits filed in 2004-2009, after the article appeared.

Rubino is cited in Holding Bishops Accountable: How Lawsuits Helped the Catholic Church Confront Clergy Sexual Abuse, by Timothy D. Lytton (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press), p. 50, as stating that in 1984-2005 he opened 2,264 new client files. During the same period, Jeffrey Anderson signed retainer agreements with 1,012 clients. Both groups of cases include some complainants allegedly abused by non-Catholic clergy.

An unknown number of complaints have been settled by U.S. bishops before lawsuits were filed, often with confidentiality agreements.


8 . How many settlements have been made for how much?
Over $3 billion in awards and settlements have been made comprising:

$750 million in settlements 1950-2002 (partly overlaps next item)
$2 billion in large settlements and awards 1984-2008 with 3,547survivors
$500 million in smaller settlements 2003-2008

For the best data on settlements, see our table Major Settlements and Monetary Awards in Civil Suits. That table provides exact counts and estimates in three categories:

(1) $1,902,825,000 in large settlements and awards (in excess of $1 million each);

(2) Pre-2002 payouts, documented in local John Jay reports, of more than $750 million (some of that amount overlaps item 1 above); and

(3) Smaller post-2002 settlements (under $1 million each) likely totaling at least $500 million.
This estimated total of $3 billion far exceeds the dire prediction of Doyle, Peterson, and Mouton in 1985. And $3 billion might even be an underestimate. Our table shows payouts to 3,547 survivors, only about 27 percent of the over 13,000 survivors who the bishops say have come forward. The total number of victims may be 100,000.


9. How many false allegations have been made?
Fewer than 2 percent of sexual abuse allegations against the Catholic church appear to be false.

"Patrick Schiltz, dean of the University of St. Thomas law school in Minnesota, said that over more than a decade he had defended Catholic dioceses against sexual-abuse lawsuits in more than 500 cases, and that he had concluded that 'fewer than 10' of those cases were based on false accusations." See Doubt Is Cast on Accuser of 2 Priests, Judge Says, by Sam Dillon, New York Times, August 31, 2002. Schiltz was named a federal district court judge in 2006.
The Schiltz estimate is corroborated by a 2004 report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and written by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The report analyzed surveys completed by the U.S. dioceses and many religious orders. The collated results of one of the surveys show that 5,681diocesan investigations of abuse allegations in 1950-2002 yielded definitive results:
4,570 allegations were substantiated      (80%)
1,028 allegations were unsubstantiated  (18%)
     83 allegations were deemed false     (1.5%)
Note that these definitively investigated allegations represent slightly more than half of the 10,667 allegations reported in the John Jay study. The other allegations were investigated without definitive result or were not investigated at all. Moreover, the church-funded research project did not collect any data on 298 priests who were considered by their bishops to be exonerated when the dioceses completed the surveys in 2003.
Kathleen McChesney, who was the first executive director of the Office for Child and Youth Protection of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has summarized the John Jay findings on false allegations: "False reporting of sexual abuse by children is very rare."
In 1985, Rev. Michael R. Peterson, then president of St. Luke Institute, a church treatment center for priests accused of sexual abuse, sent a package to the bishop of every diocese in the United States. The package contained a letter, an essay on the abuse problem, a copy of the Manual that Peterson wrote with Rev. Thomas P. Doyle O.P. and F. Ray Mouton, and a collection of scientific articles on sexual abuse. In his essay, Peterson states: "In general, the adage that 'where there is smoke there is fire' is almost always true. I am not saying that it is impossible for a false accusation to be made; I am saying that in general the 'tip of the iceberg' is being exposed with a single accusation and that the cleric will generally need some kind of professional and legal help in a very short period of time."
The assessments cited above were made during the period 1985-2006 by experts employed by the U.S. bishops. Note that while false accusations are very rare, they do happen. A Boston man victimized as a very young childmisidentified his perpetrator. The priest was reinstated. An extortionist accused a Portland, Oregon, priest with many substantiated allegations against him. The extortionist is now in prison. BishopAccountability.org is assembling data on disputed allegations.


10. How many cases have ended in a trial?
We have identified 37 civil cases that have gone to trial.

The best source on trials of sexual abuse suits alleging abuse by Catholic clergy is our Sexual Abuse Cases That Have Gone to Trial. We identify 37 trials in 1986-2009 and provide links to source information..


11. How many priests have been laicized for sexual abuse?
More than 250 U.S. priests have been laicized
because of allegations of sexual abuse.

The most complete list is our Laicization - A Draft Preliminary List, which provides names and links to sources for over 250 laicized priests, with additional information on 40 pending laicizations. The list is being revised to provide a list of priests who have been ordered by the Vatican to live a life of prayer and penance, as well as information on the process of laicization. If you know of a laicized priest who is not on our list, please send his name to us atstaff@bishop-accountability.org.

12. Where are the accused priests now?
Little is known about the whereabouts of Catholic priests who have been accused of sexual abuse. BishopAccountability.org is launching a national effort to determine the current status of every person listed in our Database of Accused Priests—who is dead, who is in prison, who has been returned to ministry, who is working in another profession, and where they now live and work. We will not provide street addresses. Please contact us atstaff@bishop-accountability.org if you have information to help with this important work.


13. What is the current status of statutes of limitations and what are the trends?
One of the most important public policy developments in this area is the reform of statutes of limitations in California and Delaware and the effort to reform the laws in other states. BishopAccountability.org is launching a national effort to provide information on these developments. Please contact us at staff@bishop-accountability.orgif you can help with this work.


Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.
 
THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

“The only person that deserves a special place in your life is someone that never made you feel like you were an option in theirs.” 




TODAY'S VERSE:


The Pulley

Related Poem Content Details

When God at first made man, 
Having a glass of blessings standing by, 
“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can. 
Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie, 
Contract into a span.” 

So strength first made a way; 
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure. 
When almost all was out, God made a stay, 
Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure, 
Rest in the bottom lay. 

“For if I should,” said he, 
“Bestow this jewel also on my creature, 
He would adore my gifts instead of me, 
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature; 
So both should losers be. 

“Yet let him keep the rest, 
But keep them with repining restlessness; 
Let him be rich and weary, that at least, 
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness 
May toss him to my breast.” 


TODAY'S PIC:


44 comments:

  1. The statistics are very shocking, seen like that.
    The next step in the revelations of abuse will be more in Africa and South America, where a number of abusive priests were moved.

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    1. Yes indeed. The stories of missionaries in the Third World will be shocking.

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    2. Not to mention the widespread flouting of celibacy. To Africans celibacy is unnatural and almost something dishonourable to their cultural sensibilities. Priests will sooner rape a nun rather than risk picking up a sexually transmitted disease which are quite prevalent in the general population.From what I've read this phenomenon is not uncommon unfortunately.

      Delete
  2. Would love to comment on this, Bishop Pat, but I can't get reading it. There is so much info that it won't fit my mobile-phone screen and when I try to scroll across, the info becomes floaty and disappears.

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    1. Thats a pity. I think it may have been differently formatted where I took it from.

      Google Richard Sipe and you'll get it on his site.

      Or bishopaccountability.org

      Delete
  3. *********

    I HAVE CHANGED MY COMMENTS SETTING TO SEE IF IT HELPS PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY LEAVING COMMENT.

    LET'S TRY THIS

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  4. U need an iPad
    Magna

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    Replies
    1. Had a tablet until recently. The thing packed up...and it wasn't two years old. To be fair, that may have been down to my cleaning the screen with Mr Muscle. Don't know.

      Delete
  5. If this appears - it works for me.
    Pip

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  6. This does not work - go back to where you whew.

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  7. Does not work for me - go back to where you were!

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  8. There are a few things that should be considered when looking at these 'statistics'. The amounts paid in compensation, often without any proof being required that any offence actually took place, was often in the region of $100,000 per case. This resulted in lawyers touting Catholics in prisons and elsewhere to bring accusations (with a large % of the compensation going to the lawyer). This situation resulted in some highly questionable cases, many relating to priests who could not defend themselves because they had died. Juries were often willing to convict Catholic priests merely on the word of the alleged victim (who stood to gain financially from a conviction) when the 'witch-hunt' was at its height - see http://thesestonewalls.com/ABOUT/ . 85% of cases involve alleged offences against males and many of those relating to post pubescent males rather than children.
    EL

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    1. It is not just actual rather than putative sexual abuse by clerics that has so harmed the Church, but the systemic and well-documented policy of concealing these crimes from law-enforcement agencies.

      This policy has/had its origin in the papacy.

      Delete
  9. Dear Bishop Pat,

    I am on a road to find out really what God wants from me. Up to this summer, I really thought about applying to my local diocese. Every day and I must thank you for your efforts in shining light into all the scandals and grave issues happening in our church at this time. I have just read another article about the ample forth abbey - there seems to be so much sickness in the church - why would I want to give my life fully and truly to it. Although I do feel this is what God wants from me. I am really thinking about looking at fulfilling my vocation in the UK or USA now although I feel then that I am stealing a vocation from my own diocese. My own diocese hasn't had anyone in training for 12 years. There must be a reason to this. Can you or some of the other contributors give me some guidance and advice please!

    Tim

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    1. Dear Tim I wish you luck and blessings on your journey. Going abroad will not solve the problem as the infrastructure of the church is the same worldwide. Check out other denominations. Ireland tends to be one size fits all. Choose wisely and carefully. R C does not own the Jesus franchise. It took me a long time for me to get this through my head. Denominations should not be in competition with each other. The question as you imply is what does God want

      Delete
    2. Tim, these dioceses and institutions can be wily in selling themselves, but you are obviously wise in seeing through that. The golden rule is that if an institute can't attract or keep vocations, that difficulty will apply to you too.
      Another trick is to make you think you have to change something in your state of life. If you seek holiness where you are, the universe will make the openings for you.

      Delete
  10. Allot to read. I am wondering about the reality of the Irish situation and how we can bring the buggers to book. Practical response to practical Injustice

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  11. With these statistics for revealed abuse by clerics showing its widespread prevelance, and the likelihood that revealed abuse is only a proportion of total abuse, is it not reasonable to question the mindset, thinking and ultimately the religious conviction of such clerics?
    Publically they profess to believe in a god and to follow their god's wishes of loving and caring for one another. Is it reasonable to regard their widespread abusive behaviour, often repeated with multiple victims and over many years, as simply derived from human weakness? Or is this widespread rejection of their alleged god's wishes indicative of a more fundamental disconnect? Do they believe that the allegedly all knowing and powerful god actually exists, or that there will be some form of afterlife where they will be held accountable for their actions?
    I'm obliged to put such questions by the evidence.
    MMM

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  12. Wore than ever!
    Pip

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  13. Compiled and written by researchers from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, “The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2002,” the second report produced by John Jay investigators, concluded that just 5% of clerical predators exclusively targeted prepubescent children and thus could be described as “pedophiles.”

    The majority of the accused priests were “generalists” who targeted children, adolescents and adults, basing their choices of victim on opportunity rather than sexual orientation or the age and gender of the victim, according to the 122-page report, released May 18.
    http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/new-john-jay-report-on-abuse-released

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  14. TO TIM:

    Thank you for your interesting comment.

    I do empathise with where you find yourself just now.

    If your local diocese supports Maynooth - forget about your own diocese!

    As you will see from my Blog today things in the USA are probably worse that they are here!

    Religious Orders have as many problems as diocese!

    I think that you should pray hard about things and find some good people to have DISCERNMENT with.

    If you want to meet me to talk I would be happy.

    Pat

    bishoppatbuckley@hotmail.com

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  15. Is it possible, Bishop, as it was recently, to respond to an individual comment in non-disjointed sequence? E.G . Sean Page sends his blessings to Tim - but it is now more than a littl bit remote - six comments out and plus over one out hour time wise?
    It is certainly - unless I am doing something wrong - difficult to place appropriate and related comments in an easy to follow order?
    Pip

    ReplyDelete
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    1. MMM and others were having trouble commenting the old way.

      It would be possible to address your comment to a specific by quoting the comment time?

      There are 3 setting for comment:

      Embedded - which people had problems with.

      Whole page - the current.

      Pop up window ???

      Can anyone advise ?????

      Delete
  16. Unless this problem can be resolved it will end up in a hide and seek situation!
    Must be some genius out there who can help?
    In a lengthy series of comments I would find shifting up and down - searching for time references etc. Seriously painful.
    Pip

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  17. Magna Carta that made really me laugh. For all your acerbic omments you actually have a great sense of humour!

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    Replies
    1. 19:09, Thank you. (I think.)

      Er, what made you laugh?

      Delete
  18. Sipe has 'form' - see below from a non-Catholic source. If you want an independent overview go to the John Jay study. Don't believe this guy who has a vested interest in exaggerating this matter and in keeping the pot stirred indefinitely - his living depends on it.

    Sipe's frequent media appearances are rife with inflammatory rhetoric that neither advances the discussion about protecting children from abuse nor provides any concrete support for past victims.

    For example, in his appearance in HBO's fact-challenged documentary Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Sipe claimed he has "great respect" for the Catholic Church, but then in the very next breath he actually asserted that the Church knowingly and intentionally "selects, cultivates, protects, defends, and produces sexual abusers."

    One wonders who on earth could possibly "respect" an organization that would target children to be used as sex objects. Yet Sipe appears to want to give off an air of credibility by claiming "respect" for the Church so he can advance his wild theories and claims about the Catholic Church and its teachings.
    http://www.themediareport.com/2013/08/07/richard-sipe-ex-priest/

    EL

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    1. EL, before Sipe's 'living' depended on it (as you put it), he was already long involved in dealing with clerical sexual abuse. That involvement was not remunerative. So his motivation was not to make money.

      You seem keen to discredit not only the reliability of his research, but his very character. Makes me wonder about YOUR motivation.

      Delete
  19. I really appreciate your comments. This is a massive decision on my life. My mates think I am absolutely crazy giving up a good job to join a seminary. AM I? Question for you if I dont follow Gods plan am I doing wrong ? I read this blog every day - will I be the only straight guy there - can i put my head down and come out a good priest to make a difference in this troubled world or am I delusional in my thinking.

    Tim

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    1. To Tim-- If you feel that you have a calling, then by all means go for it!-- If it turns out that you are not part of the problem, then you may well be part of the solution ---God bless. Cecily.

      Delete
  20. Everything about Magna Carta makes me laugh too - painfully.

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    1. You're still smarting, aren't you 19:45? From our engagements?

      Learn to lose gracefully in argument. But if you're not mature enough for that (and I don't think you are), then just don't take part.

      Pax.😵

      Delete
  21. Tim it's not a question of wrong or right it's what's best for you now making an informed decision. It was right when I went to seminary. It was wrong the way in which I left ministry. I did not engage with anyone and gave them 2 fingers. However I am now in a better place and involved in my current CoE parish. I have learned from the past. Think of the exodus. Think of Paul being blind. There are no guarantees and there are risks. Keep a fallback on civvy street if you can. Look perhaps at ways of combining ministry and employment. Christianity is not a religion. Look beyond denominational boundaries. Speak with Pat. I am happy to advise in any way I can

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  22. Many thanks for this - it means a lot to me.

    Tim

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  23. I have an iPhone and iPad Magna...a tablet I once had didn't rate with me.

    Lots of negative stuff on Google re Sipe....just knew it wd be repeated here.

    Sean are you saying you belong to the Church of England now?
    Interesting that a whole parish of Anglicans converted to RC a couple of years ago..qu

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    1. Belong is a strange word. I see
      Myself as a Catholic Christian I have been received into CoE. I am now more open to other denominations and attend services in other churches without any hangups. I find this an enriching experience

      Delete
  24. Was I seeing things here, Pat, perhaps tomorrow's blog.
    Anyway I don't rate this reply format, I cant access the anonymous feature easily.
    Tbh I hate this


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  25. The inability to reply - in context - without resorting to time of posts is frustrating, intolerable and messssssdy!

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  26. Tim, you would not be the only straight guy in priesthood! There are lots of gay and straight priests doing their best every day to live a good Christian life. Yes, perhaps you should avoid Maynooth but don't give up. Speak to a priest that you know & seek the support of a spiritual director. Please do not join the Church of Ireland as some suggest - why should you give up your Catholic faith just because there are problems in the Church? Every denomination has its problems and challenges......stick with the Church you know and pray for the guidance you need at this time. My best advice is to contact some priest that you know and have faith in and he will support you. Not every priest has an alterior motive & not every priest is going to try and get into your pants. Believe in yourself and your own strengths and abilities. Good luck Tim.

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  27. Thanks so much for these words - I will do my best to search for a path - I pray every day that i may see one.

    Tim

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  28. Thank you for your reply, Sean,I have studied with a priest from C of I, until then I didn't know they also priests.
    Can anyone access your blog or other blogs noted on here? Ttyy

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  29. 10.48 I'm afraid most of what I say is on here. I dont think I have the time or energy to go independent. I'm sure if you want to contact me for any reason pat will kindly pass on my details.P S its the Yahoo email

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