Conneticut Bishops Fighting Sex Abuse Bill

[Sirklawd]

Hi, I'm from CT. Rest assured, this legislation is BS. Please read this link from the Archdiocese of Hartford website: http://www.archdioceseofhartford.org/news/10-04-09_action-hb5473.htm. You should probably read the FAQ as well (linked at the end of the article). There is alot going on here.

The long story short is that this bill specifically targets [i]only[/i] non-public institutions. Meanwhile, you can't even sue public schools and other public institutions which have much greater instances of abuses. This is BS. And this point needs to be made more. Children are in MUCH greater risk in public school than they ever are in Church.

And while it may not be tactful, the financial viability of parishes/dioceses is an issue, especially when the main stream tendency of anyone that isn't catholic (and many who are) is to use these tragedies as an excuse to kill the church.

Which get's us to the simpler point to this. There are many people who hate the church. This is not about stopping pedophilia/abuse. If it were, people would be up in arms about [i]every[/i] institution where abuse occurred.

Finally, and don't take this the wrong way, but instances like this help Catholics figure out what it is they believe. Are you only a catholic because so-and-so Bishop is tactful? I mean, if you are thinking of leaving the faith because of the Bishops' letter, why not just leave because of the original priests who did the acts?

Our faith is not reliant on people. People are sinners. Our faith is the truth of Jesus Christ. There is a richness and truth to the Catholic faith that is not present in other denominations (no offense), learn your faith before you leave it. Besides, since other faiths are filled with people too, I guarantee some of those people are also jerks.


[quote]HB 5473 is unfair because it imposes the burden of litigation expense and damages upon Catholic institutions that the State is unwilling to impose upon itself. The State is unwilling to permit a direct right of action against itself or any action against other government entities like towns, school boards, or public schools. Thus, a student victimized by a teacher in a Catholic school can sue the school for damages. A student suffering an identical assault in a public school cannot seek damages because his claim is barred by a doctrine called sovereign immunity. HB 5473 leaves this unfairness unaddressed.

This unfairness is greater because Catholic institutions have largely resolved their problem of childhood sexual abuse through zero tolerance practices implemented in 1992 and excellent safe environment programs beginning in 2002. Connecticut Catholic dioceses and parishes have conducted over 2,500 classes on identification of early warning signs and on mandatory reporting; trained 234,000 clergy, lay employees, parents, and youth; and conducted over 68,000 criminal background checks.

Unfortunately, the problem in too many government settings remains large and unaddressed. 112 Connecticut public school teachers and coaches have lost their licenses due to sexual misconduct with students since 1992. Nationally, the teaching credentials of 2,570 public school educators were "revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct" with students. The U.S. Department of Justice study issued in January found that over one in ten youth in state juvenile facilities--that is 2,370 young people--reported an incident of sexual victimization during the previous year. Nineteen Connecticut foster parents, paid by the State, engaged in childhood sexual abuse since 2006.
By comparison, [b]only three[/b] Connecticut priests were accused of childhood sexual abuse occurring during the past eighteen years. The greater danger for Connecticut’s children today lies not in the Church, but in public institutions. HB 5473 does nothing for the many children sexually abused in public institutions while it creates additional liability for Catholic institutions.[/quote]

Edited April 12, 2010 by Sirklawd

[StMichael]

My issue is with there being a separate set of laws for the Church and then for the rest of us.

This is an assault on the Catholic Church to shut it down, end of story.

In some states, they have been attempting to allow the statute to be allowed to go back some 50 years! Why is this a problem? Because the accused is probably dead, the witnesses old or dead and there is no way to allow the accused any defense whatsoever, except, that it must be true.

If the statute is to be lifted, then it should be lifted for the Board of Education and their abuses, etc.

This is about bankrupting our Church, not bringing criminals to justice. Big difference.

[quote name='littlebreakdowns' date='12 April 2010 - 11:49 AM' timestamp='1271087368' post='2091512']
I'm Catholic - I became one several years ago - and since then I've at least [i]tried[/i] to defend the Church from the people in my life who don't "get it" - they generally mean well, but they don't see it how I see it.

That's been wavering recently, in the last few weeks, because there's certain things I can't justify to myself, let alone anyone else. I'm sure I don't need to explain what things I'm talking about.

The proverbial straw came this morning - http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/11/connecticut.abuse.bill/index.html - the Bishops in Conneticut are fighting a bill that would remove the statute of limitations on sex abuse cases. The full letter that was read at every Mass in the state this weekend can be found here: http://www.ctcatholic.org/documents/5473LettertoParishioners.doc

The worst part of this? "Over the past several years in states that have even temporarily eliminated the statutes, it has caused the bankruptcy of at least seven dioceses." Um, no. The bankruptcy was caused by priests abusing little kids and the Church being held responsible.

The letter, on the whole, turns my stomach. I can't defend this and I certainly can't support it. Granted, I don't live in Conneticut so they're not talking to me anyway, but this serves to make it clear to me what my faith is telling me and what my Church is telling me are not the same thing at all, and that makes me very sad.

Teresa
[/quote]