Anglican Chruches are sexually abusive too

[hinduwoman]

Maybe this has been posted before?

Now Australia has abuser priests too
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20664215-5006301,00.html
ADELAIDE'S Anglican Archbishop says a levy to cover $5 million in sex-abuse claims will hurt small parishes.
The church will hit its parishes with a 1 per cent levy each year for 10 years to meet claims against priests, church officials and church workers.

In a majority vote at its annual conference yesterday, the church's synod endorsed the levy as part of a 10-year strategy to rebuild its finances.

What is it with churches? Are people who are seuxally repressed go more into the clerical profession? :huh:

[His Noodly Appendage]

What.

The.

Fuck.

Name ANY other organisation that could get away with openly putting together a slush fund for the express purpose of paying off victims after its employees rape them...

Just one.

[djrafikie]

erm....

nope, I can't think of any..well apart from other catholic/christian organisations.

[loose cannon]

No more tennis for the archbishop!

Wow. They are obviously serious about addressing the problem.

Scum.

[EthnAlln]

Well, I don't know about the Australian branch of the Anglican communion, but the American (Episcopal) Church has a very strict set of procedures for preventing sexual abuse and dealing with it openly when it happens. (In large organization, there are going to be some sexual predators. Churches aren't immune to the statistics.) That's about all one can expect, unless one unrealistically believes that communion with divinity ought to be a guarantee of good behavior.

[loose cannon]

Well, I don't know about the Australian branch of the Anglican communion, but the American (Episcopal) Church has a very strict set of procedures for preventing sexual abuse and dealing with it openly when it happens. (In large organization, there are going to be some sexual predators. Churches aren't immune to the statistics.) That's about all one can expect, unless one unrealistically believes that communion with divinity ought to be a guarantee of good behavior.

It would appear the Australian Anglican church has some major problems dealing with abuse claims. This is not the first time that this problem has raised its ugly head.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20652308-910,00.html

From the link...

"The report found Adelaide priests who attempted to report child abuse were "bullied, threatened and effectively silenced by church officials for attempting to report the matter, or even attempting to enquire about it"."

[Triple Six]

Lets not forget that the vile Archbishop Peter Hollingworth covered up paedophiles in his parish. Somehow he became Governor General of Australia and when his child molester friendly behaviour was discovered and publicised he showed considerable arrogance and insensitivity in trying to hang on to his job. It took a lot of effort before this unrepentant jerk finally left.

The anglican church is after all more closely related to the catholic church than any of the other christian cults so the sexual abuse is hardly a surprise. That priests can marry will water down the number of sexually dysfunctional individuals but sadly there is still plenty of room for them.

[EthnAlln]

It would appear the Australian Anglican church has some major problems dealing with abuse claims. This is not the first time that this problem has raised its ugly head.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20652308-910,00.html

From the link...

"The report found Adelaide priests who attempted to report child abuse were "bullied, threatened and effectively silenced by church officials for attempting to report the matter, or even attempting to enquire about it"."

Interesting. I wonder why the difference. Is the Australian church in any sense "established," like the Church of England? Would that make a difference? It seems to in the case of the Catholic Church, which is (now) open about the problem largely in countries where it is in the minority, and says very little about it in places like Italy, Ireland, and Poland.

A related question: I wonder how prevalent such sexual abuse is in the more conservative Christian sects in the US. Given the current administration, they are the closest thing the US has to an established church.

[cajela]

Lets not forget that the vile Archbishop Peter Hollingworth covered up paedophiles in his parish. Somehow he became Governor General of AustraliaLittle Johnny appointed him. No mystery there. and when his child molester friendly behaviour was discovered and publicised he showed considerable arrogance and insensitivity in trying to hang on to his job. It took a lot of effort before this unrepentant jerk finally left. Yes, but to his credit he has finally become repentant, and seems to have finally got the message. He was never a perpetrator, just sucked in by the perpetrators' claims of consensuality or fantasy. That was the popular line at the time. It took a *loooong* time for the victims to be believed.

The church has, likewise, changed. I go to an Anglican church regularly (yes, I'm an atheist but also I'm a singer) and they have all sorts of posters up about sexual abuse not being tolerated, and helplines, and procedure, and so on. Noodly, I suspect that the "slush fund" is to cover costs of settling existing cases, not a case of budgeting for future ones.

[His Noodly Appendage]

cajela: perhaps.

But... fuck it, it's a job that involves working with children.

You can't get a job at a primary school without a ton of vetting, and though I've never been in one, I'm betting they don't need posters up explaining to the staff that they really shouldn't molest the kiddies, here's what to do if you feel like doing so, and here's the procedure if you do anyway...