Study Finds 10,600 Children Abused by U.S. Priests

[Wonk]

Fri Feb 27, 2004 11:12 AM ET
By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 10,600 children said they were molested by priests since 1950 in an epidemic of child sexual abuse involving at least 4 percent of U.S. Roman Catholic priests, two studies reported on Friday.

The two studies, which were commissioned by U.S. Catholic bishops in 2002, said the abuse peaked with the ordination class of 1970, from which one in 10 priests was eventually accused of abuse.

(snip)

The report revealed that 10,667 children were allegedly victimized by 4,392 priests from 1950 to 2002, but said the figures depend on self-reporting by American bishops and were probably an undercount.

more...
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4456465

[Skittles]

1. and the church passes the plate to pay the victims off

:puke:

[Bridget Burke]

7. And the victims take the money

Rather than calling the police.

[Maddy McCall]

9. Blame the victim? WTF?

[MountainLaurel]

11. Very few people reported molestation before 1980 or so

And when children are being told by the perps that they'll burn in hell if they tell, or that their parents won't love them anymore or believe them, FROM A PRIEST, who in a lot of segments of American society have more authority than the fucking president, those same CHILDREN are not likely to do so, now are they?

:nuke:

[Robb]

2. This is the part that got me

...when I saw it earlier today. 4%.

4%?!?!?

So line up 25 catholic priests from this time period and one of them was involved in a child sexual abuse case?!? :wtf:

[MountainLaurel]

12. 4 percent reported

That doesn't include victims who are still hiding memories in their subconscious, those who ate a bullet because of the shame, and those who still feel that they were to blame for "leading them on."

[Hell Hath No Fury]

13. Yes, those are just the numbers of folks....

who reported an incident.

I dated a guy who had four male members of his family (including himself) molested by their family priest.

Not one of them had ever said a thing to their family or reported the incidents to their church.

I have no doubt we will ever know the true numbers.

[Ripley]

3. Holy Crap!

4% did that much damage? What a sick organization to cover for those monsters for decades. I heard the church often knew these guys were doing that and just moved them to another area. What kind of morals are those?

[tigereye]

6. this continues to disturb me since I was raised

in a very Catholic environment - two of my uncles were seminarians and then priests and many of my great aunts were nuns. None of the priests I encountered in my many years as a practicing Catholic behaved this way and they would be and are horrified by what others have done. It makes me sad for the loss of trust and the good that the clergy and the church have done, as well as horrified that such abuses were condoned by those who were given so much trust.

[Frances]

4. Just how seriously should we take the Church's position

on sex? It seems that the Church has no moral authority on that issue.

[Not Me]

5. Humor me this...

Why is this not being pursued as a criminal conspiracy?
Where is the outrage, especially in places like Boston where there were really high (and recent) incidences?

Cardinal Bernard Law has stepped down, but that should not clear him from criminal questioning.

WTF!!

[Name removed]

Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hlthe2b]

10. Dear, dear, Dear Sharpton American...

I've seen your posts all over today... all so seemingly supportive of Bush?

We all want to welcome you to our discussion of progressive ideals and hope you'll long benefit from joining us here at DU. :toast:

[smirkymonkey]

15. Because they are too busy opposing

gay marriage - does anyone see a major disconnect here??

What hypocrites!!!

[Say_What]

8. Wonder what the pre-1950 numbers are.... n/t

.

[leetrisck]

14. This is devastating but I do wonder

if there are any numbers from any other Church in this country that could or would provide numbers for matters like this. The Catholic Church cannot possibly be the only one.

[demoman123]

16. I suspect the numbers are higher in the Catholic Church.

Because of the Church policy of celibacy. Some paedophiles are attracted to the priesthood because they think that they can "cure" themselves in an atmosphere of spiritual self-discipline. Of course this doesn't work, so they end up using their status as priests to prey on children.

[Boomer]

17. And from another angle

It may not even be that conscious either. The rigorous denial of celibacy may not bother someone with a confused or immature sexuality. The may see the Church as a place that will help them hide from facing their psychological problems. But in time these men give in to sexual urges with the least threatening partners -- children.

[Rich Hunt]

19. celibacy

The church mandates celibacy, but do you really think that priests don't have consensual adult relationships?

Obviously many pundits think so, since this seems to be a favorite explanation of the misdeeds of corrupt priests. What’s the solution? Equally obvious: abolish the pernicious doctrine of celibacy. Start marrying off the priesthood. If each man is provided with a compliant lifelong sexual servant—er, partner—of his own, then his wife can absorb any aggressive sexual energies he may contain, so that the larger community won’t be harmed.

Woman as blotting paper; woman as lightning rod; woman as sacrificial anode. Any woman who has desperately negotiated and pleaded to keep an abusive husband or boyfriend’s sexual attentions focused on her rather than her teenage daughter, knows what this is all about—putting her body between the dominant male and his chosen prey.

Behind these blandly respectable proposals to marry off the priests, to end the “barbaric” doctrine of celibacy, which “forces” men to abuse children, is an unspoken message: adult women are more expendable than little boys.


http://www.zmag.org/ZMagSite/Oct2002/Feature/clarke1002.htm

Child molesters want sexual relations with children. They don't rape children because they can't find a willing adult.

[formernaderite]

20. Very well said...

...paedophilia and not remaining celibate are very differnt issues. I find the whole idea of priesthood outdated beyond it's time...but it is more than odd that paedophiles are attracted to this career path.

[Boomer]

21. It's not a personal choice

Not just anyone can become a priest, just because they want to. It's not like studying to be a lawyer and then passing the bar exam. Presto, you're a lawyer. Seminaries have the responsibility to assess candidates from the students who are studying theology -- and the ability to reject them for the priesthood.

So perhaps the salient question is: Why is the Church allowing so many pedophiles into its ranks?

[leetrisck]

18. Probably so but do you think

any other Church would have records, kept records, had numbers - ever once in awhile you hear of a really vile case in a Protestant Church but then it dies down and goes away - I've never known of any major investigation into a Church for these reasons.