In UN Presentation, Vatican Sets Record Straight on Sexual Abuse

[Catholic_Press]

Some critical things to know about the nature of acts of sexual abuse committed by priests, its prevalence among Catholic clergy compared to its incidence among other groups, and the response of the Church to the sexual abuse crisis:

More…

 

[Zoe_Brain]

Up to 1 in 20 have molested children?

ONE IN TWENTY?

And a minimum of 1 in 60?

Molestation of 11 year old boys isn’t considered “pedophilia” now?

And the defence is like the old Monty Python sketch:

As a naval officer I abhor the implication that the Royal Navy is a haven for cannibalism. It is well known that we now have the problem relatively under control, and that it is the RAF who now suffer the largest casualties in this area.

And meanwhile, there’s this from CBC News:

The bishop of a Roman Catholic diocese in Nova Scotia has resigned after overseeing a $15-million settlement with people who said they were sexually abused by priests dating back to 1950.

Raymond Lahey, 69, announced Saturday he is stepping down as bishop of the diocese of Antigonish. In a letter to parishioners, he said he needed time for “personal renewal.”

A representative of the church, Father Paul Abbass, said Lahey’s resignation doesn’t mean the church is reconsidering the settlement.

“We wouldn’t want in any way to convey that there is any second thinking or any considerations that would jeopardize what is for us — and for him — an extraordinary piece of our ministry,” Abbass told CBC News Monday.

The multimillion-dollar compensation deal has been hailed as the first time the Roman Catholic Church has apologized and set up a compensation package for complainants without fighting the charges in court.

When Lahey announced the deal on Aug. 7 at a news conference in Halifax, he also issued an apology to the victims of sexual abuse.

“I want them to know how terribly sorry we are, how wrong this abuse was and how we are now trying to right these past wrongs,” he said at the time.

“Personal Renewal”… “terribly sorry”…

And now this:

The archbishop of Halifax is expected to hold a news conference Thursday about a Nova Scotia bishop charged with possessing and importing child pornography.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Raymond Lahey, 69, the former archbishop of the diocese of Antigonish who brokered a $15-million settlement for victims of sexual abuse by priests.
…
Nova Scotia RCMP said Lahey is still at large and has not contacted them.

I’m no Catholic. I don’t consider myself a Christian. Nonetheless, I have defended the Church because I truly believe that although it is composed of human beings, and is thus fallible, it tries so very hard to do the right thing. I will continue to defend the Church against the Catholic-bashers motivated by hatred, using “justice” as an excuse.

BUT… Any institution, be it a bureaucracy, a religious organisation, a commercial firm, a social group, that admits that up to 1 in 20 of its officialdom are child molesters, and tries to excuse that by saying “others are worse… and forcing sex on an 11 year old really isn’t pedophilia anyway…”… any such organisation where senior members say they’re “terribly sorry” for others sins, then go on the lam one step ahead of the law when their own are exposed…

There’s something terribly, terribly wrong. Wrong with the system. It’s not a “few bad apples”.

Please don’t try to excuse or minimise this. Please don’t throw away all the great good the Church is accomplishing.

Forgiveness requires free confession of the sin, and a sincere and contrite repentance. What outsiders can’t help but see is that there is no free admission, it’s always hedged with excuses, and apologies aren’t meant at all. They’re sorry - sorry that they got caught.

I hope the Church will survive. But dealing with this by covering up, concealing, minimising the extent of the rot, preserving the facade while letting the corruption fester within is not the way to do it. In the Name of all that is Holy, Confess and Repent!

I have no right to ask this, not being a member of the Catholic congregation. Not even Christian. But believe me when I say that I truly fear for the Church if it does not, as an Institution, stop trying to deal with such matters sub secretum.

And for those who are Christian : pray for those who have committed these acts. Pray that they confess, repent, and make acts of contrition with a humble and contrite heart. Pray also for the victims who have been so grievously wronged, both by the assault, then by the Church’s continuing refusal to admit guilt so it may be forgiven.

You know what? The problem really is worse amongst some other Christian sects. The fact that the Church is admitting the scope of the problem is cause for Hope. The fact that they’re saying that “it’s much worse in the RAF” though makes me want to weep. I’m so dreadfully fallible, I can’t cast the first stone, all I can do is to implore the Church to open up on this. Please.

 

[rtconstant]

Molestation of 11 year old boys isn’t considered “pedophilia” now?

Yes it is considered a different disorder. Under the law its all the same, but psychologically its a different illness. Pedophiles tend to not have a gender preference they are attracted to small children. Being attracted to adolescents is different in that gender becomes a factor.

This is why that homosexuals get mad when people say that they are more likely to be pedophiles because really being “strait” or “gay” has nothing to do with it. But for people who go after adolescents then these other factors start to come into play. To my knowledge ephebophilia is a similar disorder to men who chase after adolescent girls. Its just in the case of the later it tends to get “winked” at more, though that is changing.

The reason the difference is important is that ephebophilia can be overcome. While nothing has been shown to be affective against pedophilia.

This is just an FYI not a defense or anything.

 

[St_Francis]

Yes it is considered a different disorder. Under the law its all the same, but psychologically its a different illness. Pedophiles tend to not have a gender preference they are attracted to small children. Being attracted to adolescents is different in that gender becomes a factor.

This is why that homosexuals get mad when people say that they are more likely to be pedophiles because really being “strait” or “gay” has nothing to do with it. But for people who go after adolescents then these other factors start to come into play. To my knowledge ephebophilia is a similar disorder to men who chase after adolescent girls. Its just in the case of the later it tends to get “winked” at more, though that is changing.

The reason the difference is important is that ephebophilia can be overcome. While nothing has been shown to be affective against pedophilia.

This is just an FYI not a defense or anything.

OTOH, incidences of sexual abuse among foster children are 40:1 male/male.

 

[St_Francis]

Up to 1 in 20 have molested children?

No, mostly teens, which is only slightly less bad.

And the defence is like the old Monty Python sketch:…

I have not yet heard the Church or anyone high up in the Church mention this; however, I think that in the context, it was necessary.

Since statistics show that the prevalence is as high or higher among Protestant denominations, those of other nations should be aware of that so that they do not focus only on the Catholic priests and religious and ignore the others.

Part of the problem is that they are all split up; you don’t get the same impact from hearing this problem occurred with a Baptist and this problem occurred with a Methodist, and this problem occurred with an Episcopalian as you would with this problem occurred with 3 Catholic priests.

 

[ryecroft]

“His presentation of these facts is a necessary action taken to correct the public record on the matter, to repair the damage caused by media misrepresentations of the true nature of clergy sexual abuse, and of the reality that this egregious and criminal misconduct is not more common among priests than among other clergy or among other groups that oversee the care and welfare of minor children”

I don’t even see the point of saying this - because in other religions it occurs more - is this suppost to comfort us or something - it just turns my stomach all the more. It still seems to me that most faiths where this occurs are treating it “sub secretum” - I don’t know the answer - if all acknowledge it there would be a media blitz and I expect all religions would fear letting their children be alone with members of the clergy - but yes, I think instead of this type of commenting, the Church needs to come out and say “yes this is still occuring - we are very sorry for all that have had situations regarding this but we will do our best to help those it has occured to…” Also “when we know of a priest who has committed these acts we will have him prosecuted and he will no longer be able to work at a Parish where he could have private contact with children” - one of my fears is what happened to a good friend of our family who was a Priest- we had come back from the states and were in North Florida - our friend was a priest at a church - someone at his former Parish accused him - at the time he had been diagnosed with cancer - the Bishop (without really finding out about what happened) moved him to a smaller parish (even with a huge amount of parishoners begging to have him stay) - he was far away from the medical care he needed and less than a year later was dead from a stomach cancer. My parents tried to clear his name but the Bishop wanted nothing to do with anything regarding him.

 

[Neithan]

Up to 1 in 20 have molested children?

ONE IN TWENTY?

And a minimum of 1 in 60?

Molestation of 11 year old boys isn’t considered “pedophilia” now?

And the defence is like the old Monty Python sketch:

And meanwhile, there’s this from CBC News:

“Personal Renewal”… “terribly sorry”…

And now this:

I’m no Catholic. I don’t consider myself a Christian. Nonetheless, I have defended the Church because I truly believe that although it is composed of human beings, and is thus fallible, it tries so very hard to do the right thing. I will continue to defend the Church against the Catholic-bashers motivated by hatred, using “justice” as an excuse.

BUT… Any institution, be it a bureaucracy, a religious organisation, a commercial firm, a social group, that admits that up to 1 in 20 of its officialdom are child molesters, and tries to excuse that by saying “others are worse… and forcing sex on an 11 year old really isn’t pedophilia anyway…”… any such organisation where senior members say they’re “terribly sorry” for others sins, then go on the lam one step ahead of the law when their own are exposed…

There’s something terribly, terribly wrong. Wrong with the system. It’s not a “few bad apples”.

Please don’t try to excuse or minimise this. Please don’t throw away all the great good the Church is accomplishing.

Forgiveness requires free confession of the sin, and a sincere and contrite repentance. What outsiders can’t help but see is that there is no free admission, it’s always hedged with excuses, and apologies aren’t meant at all. They’re sorry - sorry that they got caught.

I hope the Church will survive. But dealing with this by covering up, concealing, minimising the extent of the rot, preserving the facade while letting the corruption fester within is not the way to do it. In the Name of all that is Holy, Confess and Repent!

I have no right to ask this, not being a member of the Catholic congregation. Not even Christian. But believe me when I say that I truly fear for the Church if it does not, as an Institution, stop trying to deal with such matters sub secretum.

And for those who are Christian : pray for those who have committed these acts. Pray that they confess, repent, and make acts of contrition with a humble and contrite heart. Pray also for the victims who have been so grievously wronged, both by the assault, then by the Church’s continuing refusal to admit guilt so it may be forgiven.

You know what? The problem really is worse amongst some other Christian sects. The fact that the Church is admitting the scope of the problem is cause for Hope. The fact that they’re saying that “it’s much worse in the RAF” though makes me want to weep. I’m so dreadfully fallible, I can’t cast the first stone, all I can do is to implore the Church to open up on this. Please.

Yes, the problem is everywhere: not only among Catholics and Christians; Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and all the multifarious secular worldviews. Child abuse is a horrendous human problem. We simply cannot select the Church as a convenient scapegoat. I thank God that He is giving us this opportunity for purification but I wonder about the rest of the world, which is just as sick, but not as aware of their own need for healing. The Body of the Catholic Church is indeed infected with sin - that is not news! But for the Church we wouldn’t even have the diagnosis. Sin is ubiquitous, and child abuse - the corruption and destructuon of our own most innocent and vulnerable - is the worst kind.
It’s a human problem.

 

[Zoe_Brain]

To see how widespread… fetidfruit.com/

Some of the articles:
Jan 12 :
Christian Leader Sentenced for Rape of Teenage Girl
Pastor Sentenced for Molestation
Catholic Priest Sentenced for Rape of 8 year old.

But only the Vatican had an advisor on Sexual Matters who recommended a policy of active non-co-operation with secular authorities in investigating these cases.

Interestingly enough while he hates on transgender people, McHugh doesn’t show the same level of vitriol toward child molesters. Check out this August 21, 2002 Washington Times report by Judith Reisman and Dennis Jarrard entitled Strange Bedfellows.

*If you found the clergy sex abuse scandal shocking, prepare for another jolt: the Catholic bishops are getting their “expert” advice on pedophilia from people who have covered up or even defended sex between men and children.

The bishops recently chose Dr. Paul McHugh, former chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, as chief behavioral scientist for their new clergy sex crimes review board.

Yet Dr. McHugh once said Johns Hopkins’ Sexual Disorders Clinic, which treats molesters, was justified in concealing multiple incidents of child rape and fondling to police, despite a state law requiring staffers to report them.

“We did what we thought was appropriate,” said Dr. McHugh, then director of Hopkins’ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, which oversaw the sex clinic. He agreed with his subordinate, clinic head Fred Berlin, who broke the then-new child sexual abuse law on the grounds that it might keep child molesters from seeking treatment.

Dr. Berlin admitted he had covered for the sex criminals, angering legislators, child-advocacy groups and state officials. But his actions were not surprising, because “at least eight men have been convicted of sexually abusing Maryland children while under [Dr. Berlins] treatment there,” according to the March 23, 1988, issue of the Capital. Despite a 1990 Government Accounting Office study that found no therapy program that stopped sex offenders, Dr. Berlin said in 1994 that psychiatry can “effectively control” sex criminals.

Dr. Berlin also considers Sexual Disorders Clinic founder John Money, who openly defends pedophilia, to be one of his most important mentors. Dr. Money once gave an interview to PAIDIKA the Journal of Paedophilia, an “academic” publication that advocates adult sex with children alongside ads for the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) and other pro-pedophilia groups. He told PAIDIKA that a “relationship” that is “totally mutual” between a boy of 10 or 11 and an adult male “would not (be) pathological in any way.”
…
Dr. Berlin co-founded the Hopkins sex clinic with Dr. Money, the Kinsey follower. Yet, it was Dr. Berlin whom the Catholic bishops of the United States chose to be their chief adviser on child sexual abuse. They even had him speak at their annual meeting in Dallas in June and showcased him for the media.*

Look how well that’s turned out.

The thing is… I can’t in all honesty blame the Church overmuch. They attempted to get the best possible scientific advice from the most qualified individuals who were most sympathetic to the most right-wing, conservative Church factions. They can hardly be blamed if those they chose turned out to be complete crackpots, whose “theories” about pedophila (and incidentally, transsexuality) have been falsified by all the evidence. They can however be blamed for sticking by those views in the face of a mountain of evidence that they’re the most complete hokum. And worse, concealing their views behind a veil of secrecy to avoid public outcry.

McHugh’s article on transsexuality in the right-wing religious journal “First Things” is still quoted here and elsewhere as if it came from a peer-reviewed medical journal. His view that it’s only a matter of time before we find a psychiatric cure for this “mental illness” is still current amongst many non-experts. The endocrinologists, biologists, geneticists and neuroanatomists who have shown in hundreds of papers that it’s a biological intersex condition, where parts of the body are male and other parts female, have been ignored.

 

[rtconstant]

Personally the thing I find most disturbing about this article isn’t in any notion that the Church might be “sharing the blame”. But the fact that 1 in 20 is at the LOW end of the spectrum in this abomination. I mean seriously? This horror is so common that 1 in 20 speaks well of an organization??? That is just disturbing beyond words…

 

[Captain_America]

Zoe: thanks for the information and sources. This is a more complicated deal than I’d originally thought.

But here’s a question I suppose anyone can answer: how many electricians have molested children? What percentage of construction industry people are molesters? What percentage of pharmacists? What percentage of race car drivers or grocery store managers?

Years back I was stunned at the percentage of people in the social services industry that were molesters. . . often enough the very people entrusted to deal with children with problems.

 

[buffalo]

No matter your belief we are predisposed to sin and must overcome it through self mastery.

The Church is a hospital for sinners. No one in the Church is without sin. Just being a member does not mean you are healed.

 

[manualman]

The critics completely mistake the point here. They seem to take the Vatican stance as something like “Hey, don’t keep beating us up, others are as bad as we are.”

That’s not the case at all. From late night talk show hosts, to politicians to pundits, this abuse scandal is being treated as a peculiarly catholic problem. What the Vatican is trying to point out is that this is a HUMAN problem, not peculiar to ANY race, creed or profession. The sooner we ALL learn that the better protected our children and teens will be.

This is not a new phenomenon either. Humn nature ALSO tends to disbelieve and downplay the misdeeds committed by those close to us and be suspicious of those NOT close to us. This is why so much of Hollywood instinctively howled at the arrest of Roman Polanski recently! They reacted by tending to protect their own. Catholics (even bishops) are not immune to this human tendency, though it sure would be nicer if they were!

 

[Zoe_Brain]

manualman - it’s not (just) the crime: it’s the cover-up. That appears to be a problem unique to the Church in its extent.

 

[manualman]

The cover-up is predictable, if disappointing human nature as well. Just look at the whole Roman Polanski thing. He did EXACTLY what many of these abusive priests have done and his ‘Hollywood Hierarchy’ think he’s being unjustly persecuted by prosecutors.

Neither the bishops nor Whoopie Goldburg SHOULD be covering for their friends, but they did. And THAT isn’t an isolated example either. Look at this thread I recently posted: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=383744

It is a cultural time capsule from the 1980’s that gives an interesting view of the problem as the culture at large viewed if BEFORE it became a ‘catholic problem.’ Sexual abuse was poorly understood and NOBODY wanted to confront it for what it was/is. Now the bishops SHOULD know better than to trust the secular culture of the day about how to deal with sin, but they made that mistake in a LOT of areas in the 70’s and 80’s…

 

[Aboveallbereal]

No, mostly teens, which is only slightly less bad.

I have not yet heard the Church or anyone high up in the Church mention this; however, I think that in the context, it was necessary.

Since statistics show that the prevalence is as high or higher among Protestant denominations, those of other nations should be aware of that so that they do not focus only on the Catholic priests and religious and ignore the others.

Part of the problem is that they are all split up; you don’t get the same impact from hearing this problem occurred with a Baptist and this problem occurred with a Methodist, and this problem occurred with an Episcopalian as you would with this problem occurred with 3 Catholic priests.

This is a good point and if goes beyond comparison with Protestants etc.

In England at the moment we are learning that several female child abusers were working in nurseries in Portsmouth on the south coast. I don’t know their religious beliefs but as English 30+ 40+ women it is safe to assume that all or most had little or no relationship with any religious group at all.

Imagine this coverage. " Sexually active female de facto atheist coven uncovered in nurseries !" Impossible and ridiculous? Yes

Now if they were catholic clergy that is exactly the tone we would see.

 

[Aboveallbereal]

manualman - it’s not (just) the crime: it’s the cover-up. That appears to be a problem unique to the Church in its extent.

Appears being the operative word. Cover up of sexual abuse is endemic.