'Paedophilia not criminal condition' says Durban cardinal

[RandySF]

The Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Wilfrid Fox Napier, has described paedophilia as a psychological "illness, not a criminal condition".

The South African cardinal told the BBC that people who were themselves abused as children and then abused others needed to be examined by doctors.

He was one of 115 cardinals who took part in the conclave at the Vatican to elect Pope Francis earlier this week.

The Church has recently been dogged by scandals over clerical sex abuse.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21810980

[Skittles]

1. it is both

[No Vested Interest]

6. Agree.

[tblue]

2. I think priests have no business telling us

what's a crime when it comes to children. Too many bad apples. I really don't care what they say. Changes nothing.

[libodem]

3. It is nearly impossible

To reverse. Some may be born that way. Who knows?

[RedCappedBandit]

4. ..Until it is acted upon

[ProdigalJunkMail]

9. indeed...

There are loads of people who might have various inclinations toward all sorts of crimes but it is the ACTION that makes the crime

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Well, that's not going to help their image problem.

Actually, it wont help either group's image problem.

[backscatter712]

7. Is he speaking from personal experience? Or from his own self interest? n/t

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. Ah.. that liberal change of the church

from within I've been reading about on DU.

Stay classy.



Although liberal and progressive Catholics may be well-intentioned, they’re acting as if they don’t understand what it is they’ve signed up for. The Roman Catholic church is not a democracy. The church hierarchy isn’t elected, doesn’t have any checks or balances, and it doesn’t solicit or care about the opinions of ordinary churchgoers as to how things should be run. On the contrary, the Catholic church is an absolute monarchy! It’s run by a dictator-for-life who’s not accountable to anyone, who can’t be overruled, and who effectively chooses his own successor.


Because the hierarchy is self-perpetuating, it has no accountability and no need to pay attention to outside criticism. The only influence that ordinary Catholics can exert, the only way they can signal their disapproval, is through the indirect route of no longer attending services or giving money. Anything else, the church can and will take as support for their current political program.

The church was born in an era of empires and monarchies, and it modeled its leadership on the societies of the time. But while all those empires have fallen and those monarchies have become democracies, the church has stayed mired in the past, clinging to the medieval model of one absolute ruler who makes the decisions for everyone. If ordinary Catholics are surprised or dismayed to realize this, it’s only because they made the mistaken assumption that moral progress within the church has kept pace with moral progress in the wider world.