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Colouring book warns kids of pedophile priests
by MSN.com
Thanks to Brian English for the link.
Reposted from:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=332321
New York's Roman Catholic Church is trying a novel approach to alert children to the danger of being sexually assaulted by a priest, with an abuse-themed coloring book, officials said yesterday.
"Being Friends, Being Safe, Being Catholic," was distributed earlier this year to several hundred schools in the New York area as part of the church's Safe Environment Program, a spokeswoman from the city's Archdiocese said.
One image in the book features a guardian angel hovering over an altar boy with a priest lurking in the background.
"For safety's sake, a child and an adult shouldn't be alone in a closed room together," the angel counsels. In another, the angel warns of a sexual predator attempting to chat with a child over the Internet.
David Clohessy, head of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, cautiously welcomed the initiative, but said it did not go far enough.
"We applaud the intent but worry a bit about the approach... it does still feel like almost every step taken by the hierarchy is one that's been prompted by external pressure," he told AFP.
The scale of child abuse by priests remained hidden in the United States for years until the Archbishop of Boston confessed in 2002 to protecting a priest he knew had sexually abused young members of his church.
According to the group "Bishop Accountability," some 3000 priests out of the 42,000 across the country have since been denounced, some of whom have been investigated and convicted.
Since the scandal broke, US Catholic authorities have paid out close to 3.2 billion dollars in damages, forcing many dioceses to sell off their assets.
Reposted from:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=332321
New York's Roman Catholic Church is trying a novel approach to alert children to the danger of being sexually assaulted by a priest, with an abuse-themed coloring book, officials said yesterday.
"Being Friends, Being Safe, Being Catholic," was distributed earlier this year to several hundred schools in the New York area as part of the church's Safe Environment Program, a spokeswoman from the city's Archdiocese said.
One image in the book features a guardian angel hovering over an altar boy with a priest lurking in the background.
"For safety's sake, a child and an adult shouldn't be alone in a closed room together," the angel counsels. In another, the angel warns of a sexual predator attempting to chat with a child over the Internet.
David Clohessy, head of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, cautiously welcomed the initiative, but said it did not go far enough.
"We applaud the intent but worry a bit about the approach... it does still feel like almost every step taken by the hierarchy is one that's been prompted by external pressure," he told AFP.
The scale of child abuse by priests remained hidden in the United States for years until the Archbishop of Boston confessed in 2002 to protecting a priest he knew had sexually abused young members of his church.
According to the group "Bishop Accountability," some 3000 priests out of the 42,000 across the country have since been denounced, some of whom have been investigated and convicted.
Since the scandal broke, US Catholic authorities have paid out close to 3.2 billion dollars in damages, forcing many dioceses to sell off their assets.
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Posted: Friday, December 7, 2007 | PermalinkComments 1 - 34 of 34 |
Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers2. Comment #94901 by Conrad on December 7, 2007 at 1:29 am
Does the catholic hierarchy even realize the terrible irony in that these coloring books by catholic leaders, warn kids to say away from, well, catholic leaders? In effect the moral is, "catholic children: beware catholic priests (and anyone else who acts like one)."Other Comments by Conrad
3. Comment #94915 by gcdavis on December 7, 2007 at 1:58 am
BEWARE THE HAND OF GOD!...inside your pants!
Other Comments by gcdavis
4. Comment #94917 by quill on December 7, 2007 at 2:01 am
The coloring book actually warns that kids should not be allowed inside a closed room with a priest, and this is supposed to help their image? Other Comments by quill
5. Comment #94933 by Nails on December 7, 2007 at 2:49 am
According to the group "Bishop Accountability," some 3000 priests out of the 42,000 across the country have since been denounced, some of whom have been investigated and convicted.
That's just over 7%.
That is a monsterous percentage.
Surely they must look really hard into why preists are so much more likely to abuse children than the anywhere else in the population. There has to be a reason - is it the celibate lifestyle or are paedophiles more likely to seek out such work?
The cause of this needs to be addressed, not just educating the potential victims.
Other Comments by Nails
6. Comment #94936 by logical on December 7, 2007 at 2:55 am
children: beware catholic priests (and anyone else who acts like one
hopefully so.
Ceterum censeo vaticanem esse delendam
Other Comments by logical
7. Comment #94938 by logical on December 7, 2007 at 3:04 am
Nails, it is contempt for matter and all things material.Even when some extent of information about sex, bodies, etc. is allowed, this does not mean to get rid of this deeply ingrained contempt.
As far as sexual drives still exist despite such an upbringing, they come out as aggression (and, clearly, an individual concentrating to fulfill the alleged wishes of an alleged god, cannot pay attention to wishes or integrity of a "mere" human being.)
Other Comments by logical
8. Comment #94943 by Guillaume on December 7, 2007 at 3:10 am
"For safety's sake, a child and an adult shouldn't be alone in a closed room together,"Well, isn't their God here as well? I thought it was His house ;) God is a damn voyeur then if he lets that happen :)
Other Comments by Guillaume
9. Comment #94947 by Conrad on December 7, 2007 at 3:16 am
Guilaume,You have of course given yet another angle on the great "problem of evil". It seems as though, god himself will do nothing to save a soul, even be it a innocent child. Exactly as we would expect from a universe that didn't have one.
Other Comments by Conrad
10. Comment #94948 by Duff on December 7, 2007 at 3:19 am
"Trust me, my child, when I tell you not to trust me."Are we sure this didn't come from the Onion?
Other Comments by Duff
11. Comment #94959 by Kristian Z on December 7, 2007 at 3:52 am
That's just over 7%.
That is a monsterous percentage.
Indeed it is. So much so that I have a sincere fear that the number is in fact too big. It's no secret that the hysteria and moral panic that is generated by paedophilia often largely suspends the principle of being innocent until proven guilty, and also severely lowers the standard for being proven guilty.
Obviously I hope that Catholic priests who really are guilty, are punished for that which they are guilty of, but I cannot but suspect that there probably are lots of cases where lives have been ruined because of false accusations or maybe well-meaning, but skewed through hysteria, misinterpretations of a priest's behaviour (say, a kid sitting on the priest's lap or whatever).
Other Comments by Kristian Z
12. Comment #94969 by Hugo on December 7, 2007 at 4:37 am
I read this on The Stubborn Crudmudgeon and thought it was satire!This is actually for real, and the head of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests even applauds the intent, aaarghh my head a splodes!
Other Comments by Hugo
13. Comment #94975 by stephenray on December 7, 2007 at 5:04 am
Did anyone see about the US Marine Chaplain/Priest who was HIV positive and sodomising the recruits?No, it's not a joke, it's in today's LA Times (or possibly ysterday's).
(Sort of reinforces what my acquaintaces in the Paras have always told me about Marines...or shouldn't I say that?)
Other Comments by stephenray
14. Comment #94977 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on December 7, 2007 at 5:09 am
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/12/marine_marine_chaplain_071205/Wild.
Other Comments by briancoughlanworldcitizen
15. Comment #94994 by monoape on December 7, 2007 at 6:15 am
As I commented elsewhere on the interweb a while ago: "If a priest doesn't have his hand in your wallet, it's in your child's underwear" (yes, I was baiting a Jeebus Clapper ;)). Other Comments by monoape
16. Comment #94998 by andysin on December 7, 2007 at 6:24 am
Surely they're shooting themselves in the foot here? Kids can form opinions easily and surely from this they will learn to not trust the priests/clergy that are supposed to be informing them what to believe. I can only see it leading children to question the religion and hopefully abandon it.Other Comments by andysin
17. Comment #94999 by quill on December 7, 2007 at 6:27 am
Nails, the reason there are so many pedophiles in the Catholic priesthood is because going into the clergy is one of the few ways one has, if one is a pedophile, of escaping the intense pressure of society to marry without drawing suspicion to oneself. It's the same reason there have been so many gays in the priesthood throughout history. Their family and friends, as well as society at large, would ostricize them for their sexual orientation if it ever became public knowledge, so their only choice, especially in parts of the world in which Catholicism is still prominent, is to hide behind the supposed celibacy of the priesthood. Ironically, it is the priesthood itself which is the main contributing factor fueling the social attitudes which force them into hiding in the first place. So this creates a kind of vicious cycle, resulting in a priesthood that is eternally self-loathing, inherently cynical, trapped into being its own worst enemy. Other Comments by quill
18. Comment #95000 by RickM on December 7, 2007 at 6:29 am
Where's the coloring book titled:"Beware of Priests Brainwashing Innocent Children with Bronze Age Myths"
Other Comments by RickM
19. Comment #95043 by doodinthemood on December 7, 2007 at 8:15 am
I can't quote properly, so, nails said this:"Surely they must look really hard into why preists are so much more likely to abuse children than the anywhere else in the population. There has to be a reason - is it the celibate lifestyle or are paedophiles more likely to seek out such work?"
There are numerous links if you think about it - paedophiles get put in solitary confinement when they go to jail and church provides a change of scene, paedophiles become priests deliberately to get close to children, paedophiles are so upset about their orientation that they go to a god for help...
It's not necessarily the fault of the church that these things occur either.
Other Comments by doodinthemood
20. Comment #95044 by HunterZolomon on December 7, 2007 at 8:18 am
"One image in the book features a guardian angel hovering over an altar boy with a priest lurking in the background."HAHAHA!!! Priceless! Wonder if the priest has horns or cloven feet?
"For safety's sake, a child and an adult shouldn't be alone in a closed room together," the angel counsels.
And how exactly is this going to play out? Won't the kids be curious as to why they can't be alone with an adult? And how will this recommendation affect the kids relationships with their school teachers, or worse, their parents?
I can picture their next advertising campaign:
The Catholic Church, only 7% pure evil.
Other Comments by HunterZolomon
21. Comment #95069 by USA_Limey on December 7, 2007 at 9:38 am
Delicious! Reading this was like irony made flesh.
Other Comments by USA_Limey
22. Comment #95100 by Chispita on December 7, 2007 at 10:53 am
They should just give kids a note saying "we can't weed out pedophiles. It's up to you to do so." Other Comments by Chispita
23. Comment #95122 by jimbob on December 7, 2007 at 11:44 am
But hold it! According to the humble Donohue the problem isn't pedophilia --- it's homosexuality!Other Comments by jimbob
24. Comment #95131 by treeman17 on December 7, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Huh, I just had a strange thought in light of overwhelming irony. I wonder how many children the Pope has molested? Other Comments by treeman17
25. Comment #95192 by drive1 on December 7, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Yes, Tony Blair, this is the religion you are intending to join. A wise choice, if I might say so. Other Comments by drive1
26. Comment #95197 by BaronOchs on December 7, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Is anyone here actually concerned about child abuse? Other than to just use it to hit the church? If this colouring book keeps just one child safe it's existence is praiseworthy. Other Comments by BaronOchs
27. Comment #95213 by mmurray on December 7, 2007 at 3:26 pm
It's not necessarily the fault of the church that these things occur either.
That would be fine but for the Churches spreading of very unhealthy ideas about human sexuality: celibacy, abstinence as a form of contraception etc. Even before we discovered the level of child abuse it was already clear that the Church was responsible for an enormous amount of suffering in the form of lives ruined by unnecessary guilt and psychological torment.
Michael
Other Comments by mmurray
28. Comment #95222 by Rosemary on December 7, 2007 at 3:52 pm
As so often happens, the sensationalist headline does not accurately reflect the content of the colouring book.The colouring book is at http://www.adnyfiles.org/English.pdf (and in Spanish at http://www.adnyfiles.org/Spanish.pdf). There is also a comic book aimed at older children: http://www.adnyfiles.org/ArchangelComic.pdf
A lot of the colouring book is useless religious stuff like: "When we need it, we can ask [God] for help. And he will help."
Some of the nonreligioius advice in the book is also inadequate:
"You are *always* safer in a group you know, like your *family*, *friends* or *class*." What if your parents are abusive, or your friends try to get you involved in dangerous things, or...?
"You should never keep secrets from your parents." This assumes that the parents are trustworthy. What about if your *parents* are the abusers asking you to keep secrets?
"For safety's sake, a child and an adult *shouldn't* be *alone* in a closed room together. If a child and an adult happen to be alone, someone should *know* where they are and the door should be *open* or have a big window in it." This rule is obviously impossible to abide by; most children will be alone with an adult on many occasions. Kids will probably assume that this rule does not apply to trusted adults like parents, teachers, and priests.
"Only *certain*people* like *parents*and*doctors* get to see [the parts of the body covered by a bathing suit]. If anyone tries to touch you where your bathing suit would be, say '*Stop*!' and *tell* a trusted adult *right*away*." Again, this assumes the parents are not abusers. It also doesn't mention other things that adults shouldn't be doing: asking to look at a child's private parts (except in cases of medical necessity), asking a child to look at or touch someone else's private parts, etc.
I know of a case where a Catholic girl was being sexually abused by her father. Unfortunately when the mother found out she called a priest rather than the police. The priest just told the father not to do it again. Useless!
The comic book for older kids is very vague about what sexual abuse is, and when a kid tries to report the abuse to teachers at the school, none of the teachers believe him at first. Gee, that kind of story will really make kids feel confident about reporting abuse.
Other Comments by Rosemary
29. Comment #95383 by doodinthemood on December 8, 2007 at 8:17 am
Man, how unhelpful is that booklet? It puts out the message that all child molestors are people you don't know, your parents don't know, and go around smiling like lunatics. It has a "find a friend" bit with loads of non-threat people. IE. people who are drawn smiling, and have police officer's uniform or some such thing.What if your brother molests you and you don't like it? Well, your brother is a friend, so that's fine. What if a priest keeps rubbing your belly and you don't like it? The bathing suit test does nothing!
I don't see the need for stereotyping in productions like this. Much better advice is just don't give people an undue amount of trust. And if something you don't like happens, draw attention to it.
Other Comments by doodinthemood
30. Comment #95803 by aquilacane on December 9, 2007 at 8:35 am
We know 7% have been denounced. We don't know how many have not yet been denounced, but should be. I think it's safe to assume, the percentage is actually higher than seven. However, they are innocent until proven guilty, so who knows how many will actually be convicted. Other Comments by aquilacane
31. Comment #96140 by hungarianelephant on December 10, 2007 at 3:53 am
Nails, the Ferns enquiry into paedophile priests in part of Wexford, Ireland, concluded that a number of people did indeed join the priesthood because of the opportunities it afforded for trusted contact with children.I'd take issue with doodinthemood's view that it is not necessarily the Church's fault. Where there are isolated incidents, that may be true. But the Church created the conditions where priests were likely to get away with abuse. Then when it found out, instead of putting its house in order, it moved the priests to another parish and tried to cover it up.
Other Comments by hungarianelephant
32. Comment #155676 by Raiko on April 5, 2008 at 7:43 am
Is anyone here actually concerned about child abuse? Other than to just use it to hit the church? If this colouring book keeps just one child safe it's existence is praiseworthy.
You're right and you're wrong at the same time, I would say. There are by far better ways to save many children from abuse where this book will maybe save one. Instead of putting time and money into a real project to save many children, it was wasted on some sort of insurance ("Yes, we did something to tackle the problem...") and on saving a few - while the rest of the many children will still get abused. So this book might save a couple of children - but at the expense of how many?
Other Comments by Raiko
33. Comment #165752 by Fsbof90 on April 22, 2008 at 8:31 am
I heard somewhere that crime rate went up in countries where there were too much men for the number of women. It would seem that unsatisfied males have more chances of becoming criminals. Now, what if a man vows to stay a virgin all his life for an entity that doesn't exist ? I'd go crazy too, maybe not a pedo but crazy nonetheless. Other Comments by Fsbof90
34. Comment #184980 by JeremyH on May 26, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I applaud this book. Maybe when the children see this conflicting issue of "do whatever your priest says, he is a good man who does gods work" and "your priest is probably a sick pedofile who wants to touch you in naughty places" they will begin to realize that the Catholic church is just plain wacky! This is a good thing, to help prevent child abuse and to get kids out of their culty religion. (I say culty becuase if i say c*lt I'll get sued!) Other Comments by JeremyH
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1. Comment #94898 by juandelaforet on December 7, 2007 at 1:25 am
Other Comments by juandelaforet