16 priests accused of abuse have committed suicide

At least 16 Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children, including 12 priests in the United States, have killed themselves since 1986, a newspaper reported yesterday. via Hampton Roads Daily Press

[Sharon]

only 16? that's to bad. well, actually it would have been better to have them put in jail and raped for the rest of their lives. isn't it a shame to have this kind of anger in my heart? it was put here by what you call "god's children". what a pathetic excuse for a human. i don't know what's worse, the evil violent people or the ones who believe in forgiveness and god and all that crap

[besame smoocho]

This is very interesting....I guess they didn't really believe what the church teaches about suicide...or, they may have felt that forgiveness was not theirs...hmmmm, and they're administering to our spiritual guidance! This is pitiful and also a disgrace to the RCC.

[Bill-Canada]

Let us pray for all victims and all abusers. Clergy abuse of children is sad to hear about. And lets do everything we can to protect our children.

[Bill-Canada]

Let's not be haste in condemning anyone. Instead we should be protecting our children, supporting victims and their families, praying for this crisis to end, praying for our priests, and leave the judging to God, and all criminals to the mercy of the civil law. Peace to you, and may your anger be healed.

[Coolmind]

16 down, a few hundred to go ... come on, Priests, go faster!

[Monettan]

That's the power of the Deceiver. First he deceived these men into thinking they were homosexual, and then he deceived them into turning predatore instead of being good Godly men. The ultimate deception waa when he deceived them into killing themselves. Sin is error and untruth. Tell the truth and the truth will set you free.

[P-S-S]

What is sad about this is that being denied the right to marraige has driven these men, who may well have been good men before these crimes, to such perversion.
How many here could go without sex for the rest of their lives? Had these men been aloud to marry perhaps these crimes would never have happened. And for a man of God who is denied any sexual relations a child who is going to be too ashamed to say anything would be the easiest prey...I'm not saying it is justifiable only that it may have been prevented had the church not put such unrealistic expectations apon the priests to begin with.

[XTC]

The priests knew that they would have been attacked in prison so they took the quick and easy way out.

[Pax et Bonum]

Monettan wrote:

That's the power of the Deceiver. First he deceived these men into thinking they were homosexual, and then he deceived them into turning predatore instead of being good Godly men. The ultimate deception waa when he deceived them into killing themselves. Sin is error and untruth. Tell the truth and the truth will set you free.

It's unfortunate that people post before have any idea about what they are posting about. A priest in my diocese committed suicide the day before he was to appear before our bishop. His charge was that he molested a girl. Please get the facts before posting sweeping statements. The victims of this scandal deserve better than this.

[Pax et Bonum]

P-S-S wrote:

What is sad about this is that being denied the right to marraige has driven these men, who may well have been good men before these crimes, to such perversion.
How many here could go without sex for the rest of their lives? Had these men been aloud to marry perhaps these crimes would never have happened. And for a man of God who is denied any sexual relations a child who is going to be too ashamed to say anything would be the easiest prey...I'm not saying it is justifiable only that it may have been prevented had the church not put such unrealistic expectations apon the priests to begin with.

So how do we explain the married men or the live in boyfriends who abuse children? If it were just the lack of sex then this shouldn't be happening. It is too simple an explaination to just pin celibacy as being the cause. I do see it though as a perfect cover for one who already knew their preferances for children. It's unfortunate that the Church didn't meet this problem head on from the begining.

[Jos Soroka]

As we are always reminded here on this board, accused does not indicate guilt. It is sad that these men felt that there were no alternatives or options in their lives. One cannot help but wonder whether there was any validity to the claims against them