Dutch Cardinal on Child Abuse: "Wir haben es nicht gewusst" (

[OrangeWolf]

The Catholic church in the Netherlands was simply unaware about the abuse of children in its care, cardinal Ad Simonis told a tv show on Tuesday night.
'Wir haben es nicht gewusst, (we did not know)' the cardinal said. 'It is a loaded term, but it is true.'

The phrase was used by Germans after the Second World War as the horror of the death camps unfolded.

Many bishops in the 1950s, 60s and 70s did not know about the abuse, Simonis said. He himself was a bishop in various places for 38 years.

The number of abuse claims made to the church organisation Hulp & Recht has now reached over 1,100.

'A bishop does not have direct say over religious orders and congregations, so a lot remains hidden from him,' the cardinal told tv talk show Pauw & Witteman.

The cardinal said there is no direct link between the abuse and celibacy laws for Catholic priests. 'It can be connected to poor preparation for celibacy and poor choice of candidates,' he said.

This guy pissed me off so badly. He KNEW what he was going to say was "loaded" and still he did say it. How many people did he try to offend?

I don't trust the excuse, I think he did know about abuse because it has never been so prevalent, but he could have used different words. Good riddance !
:cantbeli:


It's amazing this institution gets away with discrimination, and now even with pedophilia: they just have the popular support and money to deal with it, and probably tax cuts. Disgusting.

[WILD WEST]

Its just as bad here in Ireland..You have the people at the top saying why is the media attacking the church..The Bishops did know what was going on and didnt care..And now you have a Pope also knew about what was going on.I just dont get it at all..

[Victis Honor]

Wir haben es nicht gewusst thats german for the record

[RSone]

I think the article makes it pretty clear that it is German.

[PeterG]

I've often wondered if this is nature or nurture - if gay pedo's flock to the cloth, or if they became abusers after joining the church. I suppose it could be similar to the rampant abuse of young boys in Afghanistan. The men who do it are not neccessarily 'gay', but become part of a culture where this is 'normal'. And you can use the the word 'normal' when you read that priests openly took boys to the toilets to abuse them.

[RSone]

**** like this makes me glad to live above the moerdijk, so to speak. I think catholics need to start questioning the church as a organisation, if it allows stuff to happen and then have high level representatives like Simonis beat around the bush about it.

[OrangeWolf]

Whether they are gay or not I am not sure. In the Netherlands, this institution is on the forefront of gay bashing while at the same time massively involved in child abuse cases. And rather than putting their own people to trial, they try to cover up the mass abuse. If an ordinary company would be so heavily involved in gay bashing while at the same time its employees do bad touch on kids: the company would be severely under fire or shut down. But with their money, popular support, weird ass laws which distinguish between organizations and organizations which preach something (including discrimination, so it seems) they will get away with this, more or less. THey can sacrifice some of their people and the child abuse can carry on.

@RSone I bet a lot of abuse happens in the Protestant Christian circles as well, those "family dramas" and high drugs abuse often are centered around orthodox Christian areas.

Either way, I think even if this cardinal he used normal words to say he didnt know I'd still suspect him of lying: but he specifically chose a sentence related to the holocaust. Typical for his like.

[Jurinko]

To get a perspective, estimation says 1 million of kids are ******ly abused in Germany alone each year; 3/4 of it happens inside families.

[JJHH]

Ofcourse did they know.. filthy liars.

[Steak-Sauce]

You get a source for this estimation?

[Mackie]

I think the article makes it pretty clear that it is German.

Yeah, it's Niederdeutsch. ;-)

[monolit]

It's a good opportunity to cut off some parts of church attacked by moral gangrene. Surgeons shouldn't hesitate.

[Afterglow]

It's a good opportunity to cut off some parts of church attacked by moral gangrene. Surgeons shouldn't hesitate.


+1

There should be a severe crackdown...hope the Church realises that attempts at PR damage control are counterproductive and finally starts actually doing something about it. Some tar and feather fun is long overdue.

On the other hand, I do believe that mr. Simonis used that particular phrase to imply that even though they didnt know they should have known and should have done something. It is the closest thing to accepting the responsibility of the whole organization I have heard instead just usually blaming it all on a few bad apples and pretending it will go away.

[OrangeWolf]

Ofcourse did they know.. filthy liars.
*2


It has long become time that certain institutions stop enjoying the monopoly of god. The Church doesn't deserve any tax cuts or any special treatment whatsoever. It should be studied what can be done against an organization, profit or non-profit, if it discriminates on its membership and is heavily involved in pedophilia.

[Difool]

Yeah, it's Niederdeutsch. ;-)

That should be: "Wi heb dat nicht wusst!" (Gell, Du Schwab?)

I just hope there's gonna be a big cleanup worldwide and not only in institutions of the catholic church.

[OrangeWolf]

That should be: "Wi heb dat nicht wusst!" (Gell, Du Schwab?)

I just hope there's gonna be a big cleanup worldwide and not only in institutions of the catholic church.

You are right. But the problem is the Christian churches are well defended by popular support and money and laws which do not protect other institutions .

[PeterG]

Enjoying a highly undeserved 'respect' by many, it is no wonder many of these predators were/are able to abuse so many - some of them must feel untouchable, even. From today's NY post:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/europe/25vatican.html?hp

So, abusing 200(!) deaf boys over many years, known to 3 bishops, the pope himself, the police and prosecutors - and nobody did a damn thing about it. Unbelievable!

Quote: "Father Murphy not only was never tried or disciplined by the church’s own justice system, but also got a pass from the police and prosecutors who ignored reports from his victims, according to the documents and interviews with victims. Three successive archbishops in Wisconsin were told that Father Murphy was ******ly abusing children, the documents show, but never reported it to criminal or civil authorities."

Some were 'punished' by the vatican though, with other “administrative and disciplinary provisions,” Monsignor Scicluna said, like being prohibited from celebrating Mass. Oh yeah - that must have hurt!

[Mikhael]

To get a perspective, estimation says 1 million of kids are ******ly abused in Germany alone each year; 3/4 of it happens inside families.

Bull**** .. Germans and some other countries use term "abused" even if a child is spanked for bad behavior witch is perfectly fine ...

[tluassa]

http://www.robertcollectibles.com/Schulz%20I%20know%20nothing.jpg

Catholic church isnt looking good these days ...

[La8pv]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKg4HLsu5gE&feature=player_embedded#

The problem is that religion has too much respect. If any other organization had committed these crimes people would want their heads on a pole. Even on this discussion board you need to be careful on what you say about religion as some mods are quick to ban you or hand out infractions to silence the blasphemers.