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srayzie ago

I believe that they don't even go thru our criminal system. They have their own right? That shocked me. So the church is the one that is in control of the punishments right?

Vindicator ago

The Catholic Church has it's own judicial system, which was the foundation for the European system (it's about 1000 years older). From Wikipedia:

The Catholic Church has what is claimed to be the oldest continuously functioning internal legal system in Western Europe,[9] much later than Roman law but predating the evolution of modern European civil law traditions. What began with rules ("canons") adopted by the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem in the first century has developed into a highly complex legal system encapsulating not just norms of the New Testament, but some elements of the Hebrew (Old Testament), Roman, Visigothic, Saxon, and Celtic legal traditions.

Archdiocese are bound by their bishop to report crimes that break secular law to secular authorities. The buck stops (or doesn't if they're corrupt) with the bishops, who are all pretty much equals (in authority, not in political power and influence) and responsible for their diocese.

So the church is the one that is in control of the punishments right?

Depends. The Church can do little to "punish" a lay person, and it's all spiritual. More can be done to priests -- including losing their pension and livelihood. However, the Church is bound by the teachings of Christ, who required mercy and forgiveness of sins for the repentant, and by canon laws such as the seal of the Confessional, under which a priest may not disclose to ANYONE under pain of excommunication anything told him during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They cannot report crimes confessed during the sacrament to the police or anyone else, nor can they be compelled to testify in secular court about what they may have heard. All they can do is require the person to self-report before they give them absolution (forgiveness of sins).

srayzie ago

That's just wrong to me. I've seen them just get probation or something. For molestation! They should go to prison like anyone else. If a Christian pastor molested someone, he would have to go thru our Criminal Justice System.

I believe in mercy and forgiveness. But, we should still have to suffer the consequences of what we've done. Maybe that's why there are so many pedophiles in the Catholic Church.