Catholic Church Receives 1,092 New Claims of Sexual Abuse -NYT

[Rose Siding]

Auditors for the Roman Catholic Church reported today that 1,092 new allegations of sexual abuse had been filed against 756 priests, as part of a second annual survey of the church's procedures for handling and preventing such abuse by clergy and employees.
...
The 1,083 people, mostly men, who reported sexual abuse would raise the number of reported victims within the Catholic Church from 1950 to 2004 to 11,750, based on tallies from a study published a year ago by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. The actual number of victims is likely much greater but will probably remain unknown as many people never come forward, Dr. McChesney cautioned.

Of the 756 priests implicated in the report, about half already faced prior allegations of abuse, the report noted. Most of the priests are now dead or out of the ministry, the auditors found.

The scope of the auditors' work so far is to determine if the American church's 195 dioceses have instituted programs and processes to help victims and educate employees and parishioners. It does not evaluate the actual efficacy of the programs themselves, the report stated. Nor does it guarantee against future abuse or "ensure that all offenders or potential offenders have been appropriately removed from the ministry," the report said.

http://nytimes.com/2005/02/18/national/18cnd-catholic.html?hp&ex=1108789200&en=44a9565606a74bac&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Ironpost]

1. the last time I posted on this I was severely flamed.

[Erika]

3. And Bush wants to give our $ to faith based charities?

Just another reason for separation of church and government. Wait until they start using our tax $ to defend these people because our government contributed to the "cause".

I don't think the Catholic Church has more deviates than any other religion. A Mormon stake leader, with five kids, just plead guilty of enticing a supposed 14 year old over the net and sending digital pictures of him masturbating to her. The 14 year old was in reality an adult vice cop. But at least the Mormons have no desire to accept federal funds.

[uppityperson]

2. As more cases get positive results, more will file.

Once people figure out that their coming out (so to speak) about church sex abuse will have a positive effect rather than just negative connotations, more will be willing to go public. Good brave job people.

[Ironpost]

4. I was born and raised baptist but now agnostic

it seems that the Catholics have a problem here. We baptist have wifes and families.

[DemBones DemBones]

9. You Baptists have married pedophiles, as does every

denomination that allows married clergy. Statistically, the numbers of priests accused of pedophilia are comparable to the numbers of clergy of other denominations accused of pedophilia. The vast majority of Catholic priests and other clergymen are not pedophiles. We need to remember that while also being vigilant about weeding out the ones who are child molesters. Remember, too, that "accused" is not synonymous with "guilty"; it's inevitable that some accusations are false.

Those who are sexually interested in children often choose careers tbat put them in contact with children, such as teaching, ministry, coaching. In every child molestation case I can recall that involved a minister or rabbi, the clergyman was married. Marriage does not stop a man from pursuing deviant sexual interests. Neither does fatherhood -- any love they feel for their own children doesn't stop them from sexual abuse of other children, since they have convinced themselves that children want sex. NAMBLA's motto is "After eight is too late," meaning boys should have sex with men before their eighth birthday.

As long as people like you convince yourselves pedophilia is a "Catholic problem," YOUR children will be at greater risk because you assume that kids are only endangered by Catholic priests.

[CoffeeCat]

5. It's about time...

...that more survivors feel comfortable coming forward.

How many of these sexual-abuse survivors kept their pain hidden and all of the shame inside, for so many years?

I applaud these courageous survivors for coming forward and for fighting back.

Their innocence and vulnerability were egregiously violated by a priest...A PRIEST!!

If coming forward, receiving retribution and breaking the silence can help these strong individuals heal--then more power to them. They deserve to talk, to heal and to be told that the abuse was not their fault.

I know a person who remained silent for years; even after the first publicized cases of priest about came out. It takes a guts and a great deal of reassurance for any survivor to speak out. Perhaps, the recent Shanley guilty verdict helped them to feel safe enough to break the silence.

Breaking the silence heals your soul. When you heal yourself, you begin to change your family, your community and those around you. When communities change, the world changes. So, when a survivor tells and heals--they're changing the world. It's just that important.

Silence only protects the perpetrator.

[Erika]

6. Great post

But it is so "scary" to speak out against the establishment. The deck is stacked in their favor, psychologically and every other way.

[CoffeeCat]

7. I totally agree...

it is so "scary" and intimidating to speak out against the establishment.

Many survivors have trouble trusting others and believing in themselves. For them to come forward, is a major feat.

When it comes to the Catholic Church, the deck was stacked heavily against these victims of sexual abuse. Twenty years ago, no one wanted to hear about this. If a child told, it is likely the parents would not believe them and it is also likely that the parents would urge the child to be silent, to avoid controversy. If a child did come forward, we all know from publicized reports--that the church did nothing for these victims. They moved priests around and were not actively involved in healing these innocent victims.

It sounds like the Catholic Church is helping to stack the deck in favor of the survivor who tells. The Church has a long way to go on this issue--but it is easier today to come out and tell, and to be believed.

You're so right though Erika--survivors face a great deal of fear when they contemplate "telling." It's not just victims of priests either. Many victims feel they will not be believed. Many did tell in childhood and were not believed. Survivors fear being re-victimized by a society that has its head buried in the sand about the epidemic of child sexual abuse.

[cliss]

8. If there is any doubt in anyone's mind at this point,

scroll back up and look at those numbers.

1,092 ALLEGATIONS.

756 PRIESTS.

Visualize, for a moment, 756 priests. Imagine them doing sordid things, all under the canopy and protection of the church.

This is the end of the church. It simply cannot survive this. For one thing, it's going to be bled dry from all the lawsuits.

Secondly, this shows that the Vatican is simply unable to understand what's happening.

Like a building that's been exposed to decades of dry rot, the beams are swaying. The plaster is falling from the ceiling. The walls are caving in. This is it.

[Erika]

11. I do not think it is the end of the Catholic Church

but they better look into what their priests are doing every bit as much as the Mormons should. I think that maybe Christian behavior is beyond their ability to understand. Catholic fathers must be celibate but Mormons can marry and the results on sexual deviates remain the same.

[DemBones DemBones]

13. Visualize FORTY-SIX THOUSAND priests in the U.S.

Just to keep things in perspective. 756 is 1.6% of 46,041. 1.6% of priests accused of molestation.

One priest who molests a child is one too many, and no child molester would like to hear what I would say to him. However, the statistics for every denomination's clergy show that between 1-2% are pedophiles. Pedophiles apparently have a preference for becoming clergymen. And, when you look at some of the stories about other denominations, guess what you find? People trying to cover up the story! Covering up embarrassing stories is not just a Catholic thing, by any means.

This is indeed costing the Church horribly, and not just in money. All Catholics have been sickened by the reports. But the Church won't die. The Church is growing in Africa, Asia, and South America, and those continents and cultures are the wave of the future. The cultures of North America and Europe are dying; Europe will be Muslim by the end of the century and the U.S. will be Hispanic, thus probably Catholic but there'll be a lot of evangelical Protestant Hispanics, too. Projections suggest that the future will belong to fundamentalist conservatives, whether Muslim or Christian. I'm betting they won't allow pedophilia to flourish among the clergy or anywhere. I'd bet on the death penalty for pedophiles.

One last thought: as some of us were pointing out two years ago here at DU, the media had an agenda when they decided to make pedophilia in the Roman Catholic priesthood a major story. It's not a new story and it's not unique to the Catholic priesthood, yet the media never expanded it to discuss the Baptist/Methodist/Presbyterian preachers, the Jewish rabbis, the Mormon elders, the Jehovah's Witness elders, and all the other clergy accused of, even convicted of, child molestation. What was behind the media push?

[Nashvilliberal]

14. To put this in perspective...

In the United States, there are:

43,304 PRIESTS

64.3 MILLION CATHOLICS

Georgetown Catholic Statistics

Visualize, for a moment, 42,000 Priests. Imagine them humbly serving their parishioners, counseling the troubled, serving the poor and the least among us. Taking a vow of celibacy so that they can completely dedicate themselves to the service of God and their parish. Imagine the accompanying sacrifice and loneliness.

Now imagine these honorable men (most of whom have 4 years of college, and 4 additional years of Seminary, and whose median salary is $17,000 per year), now bearing the shame cast on them by the actions of a relative few. Like the Nuns, these men devote their lives to serving their fellow men, women and children, and they deserve to be praised, not slandered.

Make no mistake, even ONE case of sexual abuse by a Catholic Priest is a tragedy and betrayal of indescribable proportions. I mean that -- there are no words adequate to describe how terrible this is. The suffering of the victims, and the failure of Church leadership to embrace and console the victims, to punish and isolate the guilty Priests, to react in a way that is consistent with Christian principles has been a source of terrible sadness and shame and anger for many of us in the Catholic community.

But the Church is not only its leadership, more so the Church is the life-long Catholics in the pews, those of us who find wisdom, strength, and beauty in the celebration of Holy Mass, the communal expression and celebration of our Christian faith, and who find in our undeniable, visceral connection with God the hope and determination to fight life's battles, great and small. And that includes this one.

The Catholic Church is two thousand years old. Many terrible things have been done in the name of the Church. But many more great and wonderful things have also been done. The list of my sins is long. But that doesn't mean that I'm not forgiven, and that I can't learn from the things I've done wrong, and try my best to live a better life. The same is true of the Church. Thankfully, the auditors found that most of the Priests mentioned were either dead, or out of the Priesthood. I believe many Catholics feel a new sense of ownership in the Church, and will hold Church leadership more responsible in the future.

I normally don't respond to Catholic threads, because it's usually just so much ignorant Catholic bashing. Don't like the Church's stand on abortion? You don't have to. It's not going to change, and even though I sat in the waiting room twenty years ago while the girl I was dating had an abortion, I neither expect nor want it to. Don't agree with celibacy? Fine, but that's up to the Priests. Don't like the Church's position on contraception? Then use contraception. Don't like the very, very few Bishops who supported Bush, or the outspoken Catholic Republicans? Neither do I. Don't like the Pope? You don't have to do that either...if he's faithful to his calling, it's not a popularity contest. And he really doesn't care if you make fun of his funny hat.

So no, the walls are not caving in, and we are far from the end. The overwhelming majority of Catholics are people to whom faith is a personal matter; they won't come knocking on your door trying to covert you, but they'd be good people to call if you need help. There is much healing to do, but we are a compassionate people of strong faith, who believe all things are possible with God's help.

So flame away, those who are so inclined. I don't care if you make fun of my funny hat, either.

(sorry DemBones...we were posting at the same time)

[DemBones DemBones]

16. Hey, welcome to DU, Nashvilliberal!

:hi:

You have a different figure for # of priests; the one I found was for 2002. Is yours 2004?

Have you seen our Catholic/ Orthodox DU Group? Stop by and say hello sometime.


Edit: Hey, don't apologize for posting at the same time. Your post was great; I just had to go back and read it again.

[Nashvilliberal]

17. Thanks!

I just edited my post to include the link to the Georgetown stats. I took the numbers from 2004, but even at 40,000 I think the point is well made.

[DemBones DemBones]

18. Perspective is important, though as we both said,

ONE case would be too many. I hate it that anyone would ever hurt a child like that.

But I also hate it that the 98% of priests who never would hurt a child are tarred with the same brush as the perverts.

When those 756 priests were in the priesthood, there may have been more like 50,000 (or more) U.S. priests, since the number has declined since Vatican II. Without knowing the exact year of each accusation, there's no way to figure it out, but we can know that they were always a tiny minority in the priesthood.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. The newly reported abuse all occurred decades ago,

according to the article, which also said most of the priests are now dead or have been defrocked, about half having been accused of abuse by others before this.

I'm NOT suggesting the abuse doesn't matter because it was long ago. I'm suggesting hope that this means there are no active pedophiles in the priesthood today.

I hope this means that the Catholic Church is nearing the end of this scandal involving hundreds of deviants who became priests and abused children or teenagers.
These men should never have been ordained to the priesthood.

I don't know that it will ever be possible to eliminate pedophilia but every religious denomination and every school must be vigilant about screening new clergy and teachers and supervising experienced ones.

[Erika]

12. A question in philosophy

Are you saying that proportionaly every group will have these deviates? So how does that promote religious entities? They should receive our tax $ because? We should trust them with our kids because of?

[DemBones DemBones]

15. Sure, the problem has been studied and it's

1-2% of all clergy (see more in what I just posted responding to cliss.)

I'm not in favor of funding faith-based charities with tax dollars. Some do great work but the government would have to give to all faith-based charities or spend a ton of money investigating them all to justify not giving to each and every one.

Don't trust anybody with your kids in a situation where abuse could occur. Some of these cases involved parents allowing young boys to sleep over at the priest's house or travel with him, which to me displays incredible naivete about pedophilia. There have always been pedophiles in the clergy, how could anyone not know? Keep your eyes wide open about family members, teachers, coaches, Scout leaders, as well as clergy. And talk to your kids about sex and good touch/ bad touch, and repeat it a lot, with variations. I used to worry that I talked too much about sex as a mom but my grown daughter told me recently that I gave her the best sex education and best attitude about sex of anyone she knows. I was surprised when she mentioned this out of the blue but glad to know I'd given her a good start. (When I was 11, I overheard my mom tell a friend she'd already told me "everything" -- when I was 4. Needless to say, it went in one ear and out the other when I was 4, but at least I knew then that I'd be wasting my time waiting for mom to give me "the talk"! I vowed to do better by my own kids, though.)