Priest Claims It's the Kid's Fault Other Priests are Molesting Them - Polidicks

[quote] In a recent interview with the National Catholic Register, Father Benedict Groeschel, of the conservative Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said that teens act as seducers in some sexual abuse cases involving priests. It's been close to a decade since an investigation into clergy sex abuse cases by The Boston Globe unearthed a shocking scandal and cover-up that rocked the foundations of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and around the world. Ten years may have passed, but the wounds have yet to fully heal in America, especially in light of the recent Penn State allegations, as well as the trial of Monsignor William Lynn, former secretary for the clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In light of this, the recent comments by Groeschel seem both puzzling and jarringly out of step with current sentiments. In an interview with the National Catholic Register posted this week, Groeschel was asked about his work with the very conservative Friars of the Renewal, a breakaway order he founded 25 years ago. The conversation took an interesting turn, however, when the editor asked about the 78-year-old's work with sexual abuse perpetrators. "People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to — a psychopath," Groeschel said. "But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer." Pressed for clarification, the New York State-based religious leader explained that kids looking for father figures might be drawn to priests to fill an emotional hole in their lives. Furthermore, Groeschel expressed a belief that most of these "relationships" are heterosexual in nature, and that historically sexual relationships between men and boys have not been thought of as crimes. "If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties — except for rape or violence — it was very rarely brought as a civil crime. Nobody thought of it that way... And I’m inclined to think, on [a priest's] first offense, they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime." The fact that the interview was published, without comment, in the National Catholic Register was significant due to the publication's affiliation with disgraced Legion of Christ religious order. In 1995 the legion was part of a group of investors who saved the National Catholic Register from closing. (The Legion later sold the paper, which is now owned by the Eternal World Television Network.)The powerful clerical order was also part of one of the most damaging scandals, involving its one-time leader, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, the highest-profile Catholic clergyman ever to be accused of sexual abuse, according to Time magazine. In 2005, the Vatican scrambled to try to minimize the damage done by revelations that the extremely influential Mexican priest had been abusing seminarians for years. Groeschel is an influential voice in the American Dioceses and continues to maintain a high-profile in the church, writing several books and appearing weekly on a religious television network. The priest received a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University in 1971 and now lives in Larchment, N.Y., where he assists with Trinity Retreat, a center for prayer and study for the clergy he founded. Trinity House stirred controversy in 2006 when the press learned that New York priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children, but not legally convicted, had the option of a life-long close supervision program that began with a stay at the retreat. In the wake of community objections, the Archdiocese later removed Trinity House from the list of program's offered facilities, according to the Larchmont Gazette. Groeschel is also a professor of pastoral psychology at St. Joseph’s Seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. Clarification: Information has been added to the article to indicate that the Legion of Christ is no longer an owner of the publication.[/quote] Right, just like how women who expose more than one square inch of skin are just asking to be raped. Source: [url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/08/29/father-benedict-groeschel-teens-seduce-priests_n_1840900.html[/url]

Kids are sluts these days, isn't exactly an excuse that anyone should use.

It's beginning to become very commonplace that the very religious are.. well.. kind of retarded.

Blaming the victim is a excellent way to get people on your side.

yeah that kid was totally asking for it

Historically gay rape wasn't charged, therefore gay rape now isn't a crime.

[quote]"A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer."[/quote] Yeah, these poor priests are being taken advantage of by the children.

Anyone else have a feeling that this is a priest who should be kept away from children?

"But officer, the way the light was reflecting off of his rosary was just so alluring!"

[QUOTE=EvilMattress;37472373]yeah that kid was totally asking for it[/QUOTE] You're asking for it [IMG]http://sae.tweek.us/static/images/emoticons/emot-q.gif[/IMG]

It's not the priests fault those kids are so sexy poor guys :(

Yes I'm sure a 14 year old is seducing you guys. That is increadibly believable.

[img]http://www.lazypalace.com/img01/child-beauty-pageant05.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Killuah;37472816][img]http://www.lazypalace.com/img01/child-beauty-pageant05.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] Christ almighty it's a living doll! Prepare for exorcism!

And you fell into temptation? Didn't you learn from Adam and Eve? Don't fall into temptation!

14 year old booty is irresistable theyre totally asking for it

[QUOTE=Lambeth;37472354]Blaming the victim is a excellent way to get people on your side.[/QUOTE] it never seems to work in my case

I did see some research on this, but for the life of me I can't find it. This conclusion, of children seducing priests, is related to the Just World Fallacy; essentially that bad people have it coming. It's the same line of logic that results in "she was raped because she dresses like a slut, she was asking for it". The priests don't see themselves as the bad guys, the kids are the unknown here. Who knows how they think, or what they've been through? They could have been molested before, this is simply the only way they know how to act, they're wily, it's not the priest's fault at all. This is the story the priests tell themselves, and the disturbing thing is that they fully believe it. It would not surprise me at all if Father Benedict Groeschel has mountains of child porn on his hard drive.

Those sluts

Hey, Groeschel: go fuck yourself! Fucking kiddy diddler apologist. [QUOTE=QwertySecond;37473240]It would not surprise me at all if Father Benedict Groeschel has mountains of child porn on his hard drive.[/QUOTE] "That is an outrageous claim! I don't have a mountain of child porn on my computer! It's more like a large hill. Or a butte. Perhaps even a mesa." [sub][sub]why am I reminded of tvtropes[/sub][/sub]

Those poor priests!

Fucking kids being too sexy and shit.

This is so so wrong... Those priests being defenseless and putting trust into those kids!

Wasn't this an Onion article?

No matter how much bullshit this guy is spewing from his mouth and the current state of the Catholic church, keep the following in mind: Reddit, Facepunch, and many online communities easily fall play to this sort of logical fallacy. I don't know the official name off the top of my head, but all it takes is one out of a hundred interviews or sources of information to make a shitstorm. Plenty of priests or whatever have spoken against it, but as soon as a single priest or authority in the church says something stupid, everyone is blamed for it. [QUOTE=Persecution;37472353]It's beginning to become very commonplace that the very religious are.. well.. kind of retarded.[/QUOTE] I'm not religious, but don't judge theists by a single stupid priest, or even by an entire sect of a single religion. I know plenty of "very religious" people that never really flaunted their religion. In fact, I never knew a friend of mine was very religious until a year or so later. In closing, while child molestation is becoming more prevalent (or more noticed?) in the Catholic church, keep your mind open and don't judge a crowd by a few.

Yay religion! Let's blame everyone else for the things we're responsible for!

"officer it wasn't me! I'm the vicitim! The boy was tempting me!"

[QUOTE=Chezhead;37473551]No matter how much bullshit this guy is spewing from his mouth and the current state of the Catholic church, keep the following in mind: Reddit, Facepunch, and many online communities easily fall play to this sort of logical fallacy. I don't know the official name off the top of my head, but all it takes is one out of a hundred interviews or sources of information to make a shitstorm. Plenty of priests or whatever have spoken against it, but as soon as a single priest or authority in the church says something stupid, everyone is blamed for it. I'm not religious, but don't judge theists by a single stupid priest, or even by an entire sect of a single religion. I know plenty of "very religious" people that never really flaunted their religion. In fact, I never knew a friend of mine was very religious until a year or so later. In closing, while child molestation is becoming more prevalent (or more noticed?) in the Catholic church, keep your mind open and don't judge a crowd by a few.[/QUOTE] He didn't say the very religious flaunt their religious, he said they're "kid of retarded"

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WILL SOMEONE THINK OF THE [DEL]CHILDREN[/DEL] PEDOPHILES?!

Wow, what a shitty article. Totally misquoted this Priest. What he really said was: “I am a worthless, moronic sack of shit and an utterly irredeemable human being who needs to shut up and go away forever.” [SUB]I definitely did not steal this joke from the Onion[/SUB]