Sex abuse non-existant in other Churches?

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The Chicago Trib published a very long letter to the editor today where it was stated that the celebacy rule for Priests is what’s responsible for the sex abuse in the Catholic Church. The writer said that by not allowing Priests to marry, the church has been forced to accept candidates for the Priesthood who are mentally ill. She concluded the letter by stating that **sex abuse is virtually non-existant in other religions that allow married clergy which she said proved that the celebacy thing is a bad idea. **

So my question: I thought I had read that, sadly, there is just as much abuse in the Protestant Churches but it doesn’t get the media attention like the Catholic Church. Is that true & are there any statistics to back that up?
 
Your understanding is correct and there are statistics to back it up. I don’t have them at my fingertips. Perhaps someone else who reads this will be able to refer you to the correct information. You may also want to try to Google on Clerical Sex Abuse or Clergy Sex Abuse or Clergy Scandal, etc. You may find a reputable source (or you may find stuff you don’t want to find).

But the stats are out there that the abuse found within the Catholic Church is not above that found in the general population, so her allegations are way off base!

CARose
 
carol marie:
The Chicago Trib published a very long letter to the editor today where it was stated that the celebacy rule for Priests is what’s responsible for the sex abuse in the Catholic Church. The writer said that by not allowing Priests to marry, the church has been forced to accept candidates for the Priesthood who are mentally ill. She concluded the letter by stating that **sex abuse is virtually non-existant in other religions that allow married clergy which she said proved that the celebacy thing is a bad idea. **

So my question: I thought I had read that, sadly, there is just as much abuse in the Protestant Churches but it doesn’t get the media attention like the Catholic Church. Is that true & are there any statistics to back that up?
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Not only is the Catholic Church not the only religious organization having to deal with child abuse. But the incidence of it in the Catholic Church is below that of the general population. By far the majority of sexual abuse of children (under 18) takes place in the family. However schools, camps, daycares, etc. are not untouched by this evil.
 
My impression is this. There have been incidents of sexual abuse of children and teenagers. There has also been homosexual activity between clergy and parishioners. However, there are more incidents of heterosexual sexual abuse stemming from a clergy/parishioner relationship, ones often of a counseling nature.

If there are statistics about this, I would be interested in reviewing; especially, if my impression is inaccurate.
 
Sexual abuse is rampant in all of our society. Go to www.freerepublic.com, then go to an article on this subject," Sexual Abuse in Social Context: Catholic Clergy and Other Professionals". Very good article, puts all of this into prespective.

Love and peace

Mom of 5
 
arieh0310 said:
Here is the Free Republic article for convenience.
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Thanks for the link… I was having trouble finding it.

I guess what strikes me as I read it is that in the Protestant Churches, it’s more likely to be vounteers that are commiting the abuse vs. the Clergy (although a very small percentage) in the Catholic Church. 😦
 
I have no evidence or links to back it up but you hear about Minster’s, Rabbi’s and others cheating on wives, child abuse, I think they are “swept under the rug” because it’s a “family problem” But how about those TV Ministers,a few years ago, Jim Bakker and that chubby guy(sorry his name escapes me, but he cried–“I have sinned!”) he was with a hooker. I was so tired seeing them on the news so much that “my mascara” started to run too:rolleyes:
 
I’ve only got a personal story, no stats. As a PSR teacher, I had to take a “safe environment” workshop. The nun running it said that she had done another one that involved people from other Christian churches. They were talking about the abuse of kids and she said she was surprised that no one specifically mentioned the priest scandal. She was told “that’s because our churches are dealing with it too” and that most of the participants felt that way. Protestant ministers aren’t above sinning, too, and they aren’t required to be celibate.
 
It seems that I quote this every couple of months;

ChristianityToday
May 31, 2002
page 15

The page is titled Under the Sun.
At the bottom is a section called “Go Figure.”
It states that there were 70 child abuse allegations reported against American Protestant churches each week during the “last ten years.”

AND that in 25% of 1999 cases the accused was a pastor.

(And why haven’t we heard about this from the MSM? Oh, c’mon. :rolleyes: )

Anna
 
Anna Elizabeth:
It seems that I quote this every couple of months;

ChristianityToday
May 31, 2002
page 15

The page is titled Under the Sun.
At the bottom is a section called “Go Figure.”
It states that there were 70 child abuse allegations reported against American Protestant churches each week during the “last ten years.”

AND that in 25% of 1999 cases the accused was a pastor.

(And why haven’t we heard about this from the MSM? Oh, c’mon. :rolleyes: )

Anna
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You are right Anna… we don’t hear about that. And we do seem to hear about the Catholic Priest scandal all the time… so I do think that the media is biased… no suprise there.

But this is the thing. According to the other link, Catholic Churches make up only 5% of the Churches in this county… so I’m wondering if - percentage wise, Catholic Priests account for only 5% of the reported abuse? I am terrible at math… I might be trying to figure this out all wrong… ?

Also… I agree that it seems that we hear of Pastors having sexual relationships with those that they counsel… and of course that is wrong & sinful… but I don’t put that in the same catagory as men having sex with boys, do you?
 
Several denominations including United Churches of Christ, United Methodists, Presbyterians and conservative Jewish organizations have their own Safe Environment-Protecting Children Programs for clergy, rabbies, religious educators, youth ministers and volunteers, so obviously it is a problem across the board. New research funded by the NEA is showing that abuse in the schools dwarfs anything going on in the churches.
 
Well really, it is a homosexual issue, not a celibacy issue. 90% of the cases in the church are among homosexual preists with young boys. Most pedophiles are married women and in that instance it is 90% men and young girls.

Many TV Evangelist a few years ago, one after another were involved in sex scandels. These were all married individuals. Thier scandels werent blamed on the institution of marraige so its not ok to say that these issues are becasue of celibacy.

Marraige and celibacy should be judged bythose who are faithful to thier vows.

So really, you would have more pedophilia if we had less priests since most of the norm is with married men.
 
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Ivornotion:
Check the links at the bottom of this also >>> kensmen.com/catholic/clergysexabuse.html

catholicity.com/commentary/hudson/tenmyths.html
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Most informative - thank you.
 
I don’t have any specific link to back this up, but I have a friend who is a priest in Canada, and he says there’s a major abuse scandal going on inside the Episcopal Church in Canada.

So, we’re definitley not alone…
 
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CARose:
Your understanding is correct and there are statistics to back it up. I don’t have them at my fingertips. Perhaps someone else who reads this will be able to refer you to the correct information. You may also want to try to Google on Clerical Sex Abuse or Clergy Sex Abuse or Clergy Scandal, etc. You may find a reputable source (or you may find stuff you don’t want to find).

But the stats are out there that the abuse found within the Catholic Church is not above that found in the general population, so her allegations are way off base!

CARose
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In depth research was done by a chap named Jenkins demonstrating this. He has also pointed out that anti-Catholicism is the last major acceptable prejudice in the United States.

I also believe that the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has addressed this. (Sorry I can’t get a link here . . . their site is temporarily down.)
 
Celibacy does not cause molestation. First of all, these sickos aren’t interesed in sex with an adult woman. Allowing priests to marry will have no effect on the molesters.

Second of all, blaming celibacy is an insult to all of us who abstain from sex and lead perfectly healthy lives.
 
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Genesis315:
Celibacy does not cause molestation. First of all, these sickos aren’t interesed in sex with an adult woman. Allowing priests to marry will have no effect on the molesters.

Second of all, blaming celibacy is an insult to all of us who abstain from sex and lead perfectly healthy lives.
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I agree with you - celibacy does not cause molestation - and the fact that 98% of Priests do NOT have this problem clearly illustartes that.

However, the letter to the editor’s point was that many men are not able / willing (?) to live a life of celibacy and if the Priesthood could include men who want to marry… there wouldn’t be a shortage of men to choose from. The writer basically said that due to the Priest shortage, they couldn’t afford to be choosey which resulted in men not suitable for the Priesthood (gay - mental illnesses) to become Priests.

Another thing I’d like to add is that in reading alot of these articles about the sexual abuse problem, a distinction is made that the offending Priests by and large were not “pediphiles” (sp?) - interested in having sex with children - but rather, they involve ephebophilia – homosexual attraction to adolescent boys.

As the mother of a 13 year old boy… I’m not sure how that’s supposed to make me feel reassured?
 
I went to a sex abuse prevention class presented by the local sheriff’s department in a Protestant church about 2 years ago. They showed a video of a married pedophile that molested 90 kids in a Protestant church and he said the reason he chose to be a youth minister in the church was because christians were trusting and gullible.

Perverts seek out churches, sex abuse isn’t a result of a misguided discipline within the church. More should have been done once a predator priest was discovered but it isn’t a result of the celibacy rule.
 
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