U.S. priests accused in 700 sex cases in 2011: report

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story

WASHINGTON — About 700 people launched new claims of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy in the United States last year, including 21 who are still minors, according to a new report released by US bishops.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in the report released Tuesday that of the 683 adults who reported allegations for the first time, “most allegations reported today are of incidents from previous decades.”

Sixty-eight percent of the complaints relate to events that took place between 1960 and 1984 — the majority from 1975 to 1979, the report says.

Many of the clergy members accused have since died, or been relieved of their church duties. More than 280 of them had been accused in the past, it said.


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/11/u-s-priests-accused-in-700-sex-cases-in-2011-report/

[xtraxritical]

1. Jump on the "band wagon", easy money.

[CoffeeCat]

3. That's really a disgusting comment...

You are accusing people who have disclosed their own childhood sexual abuse--of being money-grubbing liars.

Why would you do that?

This sick institution--the Catholic Church--has a proven track record of employing, coddling and protecting active pedophiles. All the way up to the Pope--the Catholic Church has intentionally kept secret the epidemic of pedophilia within its ranks--knowing that more children were being victimized due to this conspiracy of silence.

People like you--who attack adults who have the courage to come forward--after being abused and damaged for decades--only help the pedophiles and those who want to keep childhood sexual abuse hidden. It's a slap in the face to all survivors.

You have absolutely no proof that any of these people are not telling the truth.

Isn't it time that we started supporting those who have gone through hell as children--instead of attacking them with baseless, ridiculous suggestions? These victims should be applauded for their courage. They were broken as children, but they picked up the pieces and decided to reclaim their lives and break the silence. They've got more courage than most of us and they've endured pain that most can't even imagine--unless you've lived through it.

I stand with these victims!

[the antichristie]

6. Let's make sure they're victims first

If they are, the Church owes them an apology and SERIOUS money. But there have been cases of false accusation.

[BlueToTheBone]

10. and are you going to perform the virginity test?

What are you talking about?

[joeglow3]

11. So, we throw out innocent until proven guilty?

I stand for the truth. Let it come out and we can judge everyone after the cards have been played.

[tawadi]

12. Thanks for stopping by

[hedgehog]

15. Given the "take no prisoners" response by the bishops,

hardly easy money!

[Lost-in-FL]

2. Not surprising but still unfortunate. nt

[Kablooie]

4. The damned abstinence policy is what causes most of the problems.

If they were allowed regular sexual relationships like anyone else, there wouldn't be any more sexual abuse than in any other sector of society.
You don't hear of many ministers doing this. They can date and marry like anyone else.
It will never be normal for people to abstain from sex based on organizational policy. (There are some people who abstain as a personal desire which is different.)

[fasttense]

5. Pedophilia has a very, very high recidivism rate.

Pedophiles will hunt down victims even after jail time and therapy. There is no known cure except for castration (chemical or otherwise).

A pedophile has as their sexual desire children. How that developed is tied to their sexual history. Most of the pedophiles priests were probably pedophiles before they joined the Catholic Church. But most pedophiles (like 97%) will hunt down and exploit children repeatedly even if given access to adult sex.

I use to work with abusers and a social worker put it this way: "If someone were to show you pictures of children would you be sexually aroused? NO, because you are not sexually attracted to children. Do you think there is anything anyone can do to make you sexually attracted to children? NO, then there is probably very little society can do to make these people attracted to adult sex." These pedophiles are sexually attracted to children and that is very rarely changed. Adult sex is NOT what they want.

I suspect that pedophiles joined the Catholic Church as priest because they could have access to children and the Catholic Church protects them.

[Ian David]

8. It's not just abstinence that causes it. Abstinence also ATTRACTS it.

You have a religion that tells you that being gay is a mortal sin unless you're abstinent, so the priesthood attracts people who see abstinence as their one shot at saving themselves from damnation.

The abstinence policy attracts people who are gay, who are pedophiles, or who have sexual dysfunctions.

And then it gives those people access to children.

[happyslug]

9. No Connection between Abstinence and Pedophilia.

Numerous studies have shown that to be the case. Pedophilia runs in certain families, which throws any generalities out the windows , but out side of families with a long history of Pedophilia, seems to be related to power, i.e. "I can do something you can not, force you to have sex with me", which makes it more like rape then anything to do with consensual sex.

I never had a case involving sex with a religious person but I use to do a lot of Children and Youth, and you will be surprised at how much Pedophilia occurs. Since CYS hearings are closed to the public the only cases we hear of are the cases where someone is suing someone for money. That tends to be religious groups, for family members rarely have money and the public schools claim sovereign immunity (i.e. you can sue the teacher but NOT the school).

700 i NOT that high a number given the time frame and the size of the Catholic Church More people would understand this if CYS hearings were open to the public.

[joeglow3]

13. I have read studies that would dispute that

I read a couple articles that said priests of other religions (that allow marrying) have similar rates of assaults. Additionally, both groups are in line with what you see amongst teachers.

[Kablooie]

14. If that's the case, why do we often hear about Catholic priests but not other religious leaders?

Catholic priests and teachers that abuse children are often in the news but rarely do I hear of other religious pedophiles.
It seems unlikely that the media wouldn't report these stories.
Any religious personage involved in this kind of scandal would make an effective news article.

[hedgehog]

16. It's not the abstinence policy that makes people into pedophiles,

it's a culture of infallibility and obedience to authority that attracts pedophiles and allows them to flourish. The seminaries do tend to instill celibacy by turning out men who are emotionally immature (it's amazing the number of priests who think girls have cooties!). When you are brainwashed into thinking that all sexual activity is bad, pedophilia doesn't stand out. When you are brainwashed into thinking that all lay people are out to tempt you, it's easy to blame the victims!

[Namvet67]

7. For almost 2000 years they have thought themselves immune to consequences

Catholic priests have done whatever they want...they lived in a seperate world with their own president and congress in rome.................. Not any more.