Catholic child abuse in proportion

[lemonbeam]

There seems to be no end to the scandals buffeting the Roman Catholic church about the abuse of children; most recently in Germany, where the headmaster a school associated with a choir once run by the pope’s elder brother Georg Ratzinger has been exposed as an abuser. And there is no doubt that a lot of children were damaged for life by priests, and that this was mostly covered up by the hierarchy until recently. But was the Catholic church unfairly singled out? Aren’t all children vulnerable to exploitation, especially when they are poor and unwanted?

These questions lead into a thicket of horror. The most detailed statistics on child abuse for the Catholic clergy that I can find come from the John Jay Institute’s report drawn up for the American Catholic bishops’ conference. From this it emerges that the frequency of child abuse among Catholic priests is not remarkable but its pattern is. Although there are no figures for the number of abusers in the wider population, there are figure for the number of victims. These vary wildly: the most pessimistic survey finds that 27% of American women and 16% of men had “a history of childhood sexual abuse”; while the the most optimistic had 12.8% of women and 4.3% of men. Obviously a great deal depends here on the definition of abuse; also on the definition of “childhood”. In some of these surveys it runs up to 18, which is a couple of years above the age of consent in Britain.

The Catholic figures show that between about 4% of priests and deacons serving in the US between 1950 and 2002 had been accused of sexual abuse of someone under 18. In this country, the figure was a 10th of that: 0.4% But whereas the victims in the general population are overwhelmingly female, the pattern among American Catholic priests was quite different. Four out of five of their victims were male. Most were adolescents: two out of five were 14 or over; 15% were under 10.

This is vile, but whether it is more vile than the record of any other profession is not obvious. The concentration on boys makes the Catholic pattern of abuse stand out; what makes it so shocking is that parents trusted their children with priests. They stood in for the parents. But this isn’t all that different from the pattern in the wider world, either, where the vast majority of abuse comes from within families. The other point that makes the Catholic abuse is that it is nowadays very widely reported. It may be the best reported crime in the world: that, too tends to skew perceptions.

There are, however, some fragments of figures from the outside world suggesting that not many professions do better. Last year, it was reported that half of the girls fostered in social democratic Sweden in the 50s and 60s had been abused; according to Camila Batmanghelidjh 550,000 children are reported to the social services in this country every year.

So why the concentration on Catholic priests and brothers? Perhaps I am unduly cynical, but I believe that all institutions attempt to cover up institutional wrongdoing although the Roman Catholic church has had a higher opinion of itself than most, and thus a greater tendency to lie about these things. Because it is an extremely authoritarian institution at least within the hierarchy, it is also one where there were few checks and balances on the misbehaviour of the powerful. The scandal has been loudest and most damaging in Ireland, because it came along just at the moment when the church was losing its power over society at large, and where it was no longer able to cover up what had happened, but still willing to try. Much the same is true in the diocese of Boston which was bankrupted by the scandal.

It doesn’t seem to be true, though, that this was a problem spread by Irish priests around the world, as some traditionalists have argued. Certainly, the geographical spread across the US was fairly even, and not concentrated in areas of high Irish settlement and tradition. But in Ireland the state was happy to hand over the problem of unwanted children to the church.

Certainly the safeguards against paedophilia in the priesthood are now among the tightest in the world. That won’t stop a steady trickle of scandals; but I think that objectively your child is less likely to be abused by a Catholic or Anglican priest in the west today than by the members of almost any other profession.

Read more: guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2010/mar/11/catholic-abuse-priests

 

[Eblessed46]

I have to say that I’m becoming more and more concerned over the child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. It seems as though a day doesn’t go by without hearing about another scandal whether in the United States, Europe or now connected directly to the Vatican. I read an article the other day about a priest that was well known for his exploits having been one of Pope John Paul II’s highly recognized and protected. I’m finding it more and more difficult to respond to my children and my peers when the abuses continue to surface and am devastated to think that a man I so highly admired and respected, John Paull II, may have been turning a blind eye to it all. I have always been proud to be a Catholic but am starting to feel like maybe I should hide and begin to look elsewhere. Any suggestions?

:

Libby

 

[Scoobyshme]

I think we need to keep a few things in mind:

1. A lot of these cases which the media presents were not done all at once or recently. They just came to light recently. They were done over a long period of time, in some cases decades back, by a very small percentage of priests, etc.
2. I really do think that the heirarchy was infiltrated some time back by those looking to destroy the Church. They had, in mind, to create such scandals and discredit the Church.
3. It would not surprise me if the media knows about more scandals, but rather than bring them all to light at once, they’re cleverly feeding them peacemeal, one at a time, to try to make it seem like this stuff is rampant all over, all of the time, and only in the Catholic Church. Percentage-wise, it’s slightly worse in Protestant churches, as a whole. But you’re never going to hear about it in the media like you do the Catholic Church!
4. I think most seminaries (but, unfortunately, not all) are being more careful these days as to whom they allow in. I am seeing many more faithful young priests coming out of the seminaries than in previous decades. The ones from previous decades are unbelievably worldly.
5. Remember that even among the Apostles, whom Jesus hand-picked, there was a Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him! (1/12th or 8% - much higher than the percentage of these priests being accused.
6. There is a much smaller percentage of those being accused who are really “pedophiles” by definition. Most are homosexuals who have had situations with teenage boys. However, the media likes to place them all in the same light. They shouldn’t. And, if the media really was that concerned about abuse of underage children, why not go after the vast majority of cases in public schools and homes?

So, yes, these are terrible things that have happened. Those accused and found guilty should be prosecuted by the law, just like anyone else. But it’s no less terrible than what Judas Iscariot did. And the abuse is no worse than non-Catholic denominations, by percentage. And we aren’t given an accurate picture by the media of these things, in any way. They try to feed us these things in such a manner as to take it all out of proportion, so they can bash the Church, and, therefore, Christ.

Just my opinion…

 

[Abenadar]

I have to say that I’m becoming more and more concerned over the child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. It seems as though a day doesn’t go by without hearing about another scandal whether in the United States, Europe or now connected directly to the Vatican.

I think we should all be more and more concerned over the fact that the problem, while present among a small portion of Catholic clergy, is far, far worse elsewhere (including among protestant denoms, synagogues, and especially public schools). Why is it that this problem is so over reported when priests are named, and yet the places where the problem is worst, namely public schools, get a pass?

Any suggestions?

Yes, just stay strong in your faith and realize that the disproportionate attacks against the Catholic Church are merely a tool to try to discredit it. Similarly, the largely liberal media can’t help but to try to ignore the problem elsewhere because their bias over the last eight years would quickly become painfully obvious, and would also damage the image of one of the favorite social engineering tools, aka public schools.

 

[EmperorNapoleon]

Why is it that this problem is so over reported when priests are named, and yet the places where the problem is worst, namely public schools, get a pass?

The reporting is in proportion to the Catholic Church’s claims of moral superiority and I think you missed the memo. The issue, as far as the media is concernced, isn’t that abuse occured/occurs. It’s the fact that an institution claims to be the world’s greatest moral authority while sweeping decades of sexual abuse under the rug and shuffling the abusers from parish to parish.

 

[dekutrash]

I think we should all be more and more concerned over the fact that the problem, while present among a small portion of Catholic clergy, is far, far worse elsewhere (including among protestant denoms, synagogues, and especially public schools). Why is it that this problem is so over reported when priests are named, and yet the places where the problem is worst, namely public schools, get a pass?

When it happens in schools it is reported widely, they don’t get a pass. Coverage when it comes to abuse by priests will be much higher simply because it comes from someone society expects more from. A representative and servant of Christianity will be scrutinized much more due to the morality they profess.

And once again we have someone else citing that it is higher elsewhere, What does it matter? It makes no difference, saying that “Yeah we have it here but it’s much worse elsewhere” is an absolutely disgusting way to take the high ground when it comes to child abuse.

 

[Brucealeg]

I don’t agree about other groups not getting passes. The teachers union has worked miarcles to cover their scandals of child abuse. The cases in NYC are sickening. Media wise no one is hunted like the Catholic Church period.

That said there us no excuse for these cover ups. I don’t care where it was worse, only that we did not handle it better then the rest of the world. I can understand being ill equiped to deal with this decades ago, but we should have never allowed these children to be abused, then told they might be wrong. Priests should have been examined, turned in as required from the start vs shuffled.

We should have been an example of right and not a disgrace. We’ll get through this together, I just pray for real renew. More so I pray for forgiveness from the victims. The damage they suffered is too terrible to imagine.

Bruce

 

[rep140]

a man I so highly admired and respected, John Paull II, may have been turning a blind eye to it all.

It is regrettable that the single blot on JP II’s papacy is that he did not take seriously the abuse of the young. The Mass. attorney general cited several auxiliary bishops who were involved with the actions of Cardinal Law who were later promoted to bishops of their own dioceses. Cardinal Law did resign, but then went to Rome where he could not be subpoenad
and was given a basilica to preside over. He was also appointed to a congregation that recommends men to be ordained bishops.

Fortunately, even as Cardinal, B 16 looked at abuse in a different light.

 

[Brucealeg]

a man I so highly admired and respected, John Paull II, may have been turning a blind eye to it all.

It is regrettable that the single blot on JP II’s papacy is that he did not take seriously the abuse of the young. The Mass. attorney general cited several auxiliary bishops who were involved with the actions of Cardinal Law who were later promoted to bishops of their own dioceses. Cardinal Law did resign, but then went to Rome where he could not be subpoenad
and was given a basilica to preside over. He was also appointed to a congregation that recommends men to be ordained bishops.

Fortunately, even as Cardinal, B 16 looked at abuse in a different light.

I don’t know. When did JP2 know and what did he do once it was obvious what was happening? I hate the he said she said part of this and at some level I don’t buy it or care. What I mean is this should have been handled better by the bishops and up as it become things were known. The best we’ll have now is some solid evidence mixed with speculation and rumors. That’s where the real damage will come from. Dan Rather made stuff up and almost got away with it because no one knows what the truth is in detail. The fact that the media are eager to embellish this tragedy only makes it worse.

I just wish we had handled this better, we only have ourselves to blame now. The true crime just might be all the people push from the Church or God because of this stain.

 

[rep140]

When did JP2 know and what did he do once it was obvious what was happening?

He should have known when everything was hitting the fan. He certainly would have known when the Mass. A.G. report came out and named names. Some of these names he appointed bishops. Maybe it was age.

 

[Brucealeg]

When did JP2 know and what did he do once it was obvious what was happening?

He should have known when everything was hitting the fan. He certainly would have known when the Mass. A.G. report came out and named names. Some of these names he appointed bishops. Maybe it was age.

That’s why I’d like to know. I think he had his mind, but age and illness had really affected his health. Even at the start of this his speech was going. I’m not sure how much he could have done or how much he attempted to do. I just don’t know and I would like to.

I do wish people and media would be more responsible until they know. It’s the constant barrage of half truths that’s making this hard on me. I want to know and repair the damage as best as we can, but it’s hard to do that like this.

 

[lemonbeam]

Read more: guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2010/mar/11/catholic-abuse-priests

bump

 

[Cinette]

It occurred to me that it is only relatively recently that paedophiles have been declared incurrable - previously it was believed that they could be counseled and cured. So it must not have been only Catholic Bishops that sent a repentant priest to another parish thinking that he was “cured” but Ministries of Education, Protestant bishops etc must have done the same thing in regard to ministers and teachers etc etc…

I think that we the laiety have become emboldened and our children are more “educated” in these matters and woe to anyone who tries to abuse…!!!

How many abusers remain in the Church? Because after all the Church is something else - priests who are guilty of abuse have betrayed the Church and the Body of Christ.

God bless
Cinette