When is the last time that you were having a heated discussion or debate with someone about Catholic teaching and were winning the debate? Your opponent, backed into the corner, doesn't have an answer so they responded by changing the subject or making a different accusation. Usually it comes in the form of an attack against the Catholic Church such as priest abuse. Here's a couple of examples that I recently found on Facebook.
"Hmmm. 450 clery abused 2000 kids in illinois..which is probably a conservative estimate. multiply that by 50 states. Hmm seems to me Bill you have way bigger issues to deal with."
"Youre right..Its Catholic clergy abusing little kids..and bloated old messes like Bill D ignoring that."
"Breaking News: More than 1,900 minors were abused by people in the Catholic Church in Illinois over almost seven decades, the office of the state’s attorney general said Tuesday in an investigative report"
The tactic actually has a name. "Whataboutism".
Whataboutism is defined as the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counteraccusation or raising a different issue.
But never fear. I have done my research and have an answer for this these accusations.
In the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen
"There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be."
Many people reject Jesus because of bad experiences with religious people. But here's the thing... Jesus had bad experiences with religious people, too! Infact they killed Him. Most organizations have scandals at one time or another. Even Jesus Christ's ministry had a scandal when Judas sold him out. The thing to remember is that people will let you down. Jesus won't.
These accusations don't change the fact that Catholic Church is still the one true church started by Jesus Christ. As the Apostles answered Jesus Christ in John 6, when they didn't understand His teachings on the Eucharist and all of His followers were leaving. “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." These accusations don't change the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The grace that we receive through the sacraments will still save us.
Any time children are abused, it is serious stuff and we should be concerned. What you're not being told is that the Catholic Church has fixed, those problems. What you're not being told is what the Catholic Church has done to fix the problem.
Many people including the mainstream are critical of the Catholic Church. It is sad anytime a child, teenager or adult is sexualy abused. What they don't tell you is that most of the cases that you read about in the mainstream media are decades old. The mainstream media sees the Catholic Church as an easy target and likes to recycle old news. What they also don't tell you about are the great strides that the Catholic Church has done to correct the problem. They have settled many of those cases out of court.
After the Church reforms articulated in the Dallas Charter and Essential Norms (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2002a, 2002b), the number of new cases in the United States averaged about a dozen per year; during the past five years, it went down to about one new case per year. The Church has gone from averaging about 660 new cases of abuse per year during the 1970s to about 1 new case per year since about 2014 (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2011; Steinfels, 2019; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2018).
There are about 25,000 Catholic Priests in the United States. What they don't tell you about is all of the good priests who don't abuse children. What they don't tell you that a higher percentage of public school teachers abuse children. Do you support public schools? What they don't tell you that there are far more children sexualy abused in their homes. Why not? Maybe because the Catholic Church is an easy target.
There are about 25,000 Catholic Priests in the United States. What they don't tell you about is all of the good priests who don't abuse children. What they don't tell you that a higher percentage of public school teachers abuse children. Do you support public schools? What they don't tell you that there are far more children sexualy abused in their homes. Why not? Maybe because the Catholic Church is an easy target.
The Catholic Church does background checks on anyone who works with children. I just retired from my job last year and signed up to be a catechist teaching kids religion class at church. They take it very serious. I had to take a class on child abuse. They also do a background check.
Check out the following article from the Catholic Diocese of Oklahoma City for more information on this subject.
https://archokc.org/myths
https://archokc.org/myths
