The news about a priest abusing young boys in his parish somewhere in Bavaria was linked to the Pope which back then was the Cardinal Ratzinger.
The said priest was convicted but accusations that such could have been prevented if then Cardinal Ratzinger has done actions since such was under his jurisdiction. The news said that Pope Benedict knows about such pedophile priest and that just like other diocese transferred the said erring priest to hide or prevent the story from escalating to the media.
It is sad that such things happen. Specially now that we are celebrating Easter, most of the story is about it and some say that the former Pope, John Paul II, might have knowledge about such reports and no actions were made. For me being part of the Catholic community and a former seminarian puts me in a situation in which I had to chose side, to condemn this non-action or defend the Church.
It is not new to me. Back in the Philippines there were cases of abuses that shattered the lives of young altar boys and some seminarians which were abuse by the very least person that they know would do such a thing. Such act is highly not condone by the Church. I would like to appeal to all Christians that we as part of the community must be vigilant about such sensitive issues. In Archdiocese and I believe in all diocese we celebrate Clergy Day. It is a celebration for priest to renew their commitment to the priesthood. Though they have undergone such rigorous training, priest are just as same as we are. They are vulnerable to temptation and the strength of temptation is much more stronger on there side since one they have no family on their own(I mean they have no wife and children due to the vows of chastity), they might be assigned to places far from their family(in the case of missionaries very far), and responsibility for them to take care of the flock is great since they have to accept a bigger family of which they need to focus.
I only ask one thing for those priest that faltered; please come out and face the consequences of your actions. Don't hide or ask other priest to help you out in getting out of the mess you have done. Please come out and face it.
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