Catholic Church Challenged in New York

Pedophile Priests Are Considered Criminals

(AgapePress) …The sex abuse scandal that has hit the Roman Catholic Church has prompted state lawmakers in New York to take action. State senators in New York have voted unanimously to require church officials to report allegations of child sex abuse involving clergy to the authorities. In supporting the bill, Democrat Daniel Hevesi assailed the current policy of the New York Roman Catholic Diocese's current policy of allowing some discretion on whether it will notify police about such allegations. He says, "There has been a track record of conduct that has permitted the sexual abuse of children. We're talking about child rapists here. They're criminals, they belong in jail."

The State Assembly is also working on its version of the pedophile priest reporting bill. Governor George Pataki says although he wants to see how both versions of the bill evolve, he is ready to sign legislation into law.

Editor's note: It has been reported that as many as 30-50 percent of Catholic priests are homosexual.

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