Press TV
April 13, 2011
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/174657.html
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| Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights |
The anti-gay Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is going on the attack against "those who are distorting the truth about priestly sexual abuse."
The group bought an expensive full-page ad in The New York Times Monday that places the blames for the church's scandals on "homosexuality, not pedophilia."
And perhaps most shockingly, it also claimed that some children were active participants in the abuse. Raw Story
HIGHLIGHTS
"The refrain that child rape is a reality in the Church is twice wrong: let's get it straight -- they weren't children and they weren't raped," self-appointed Catholic League president Bill Donohue said. Catholicleague.org
"We know from the John Jay study that most of the victims have been adolescents, and that the most common abuse has been inappropriate touching (inexcusable though this is, it is not rape)," he added. Catholicleague.org
The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, commonly known as the John Jay Report, is a 2004 report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, based on surveys completed by the Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States. usccb.org
"The Boston Globe correctly said of the John Jay report that 'more than three-quarters of the victims were post pubescent, meaning the abuse did not meet the clinical definition of pedophilia.' In other words, the issue is homosexuality, not pedophilia," Donohue wrote. Catholicleague.org
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSAsaid there were "so many problems with what Mr. Donohue is saying." The Advocate
She pointed out that Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) figures showed that half of those abused are female. The Advocate
"He avoids what is in many ways the larger sin -- the cover-up and enabling of abuse," she added. The Advocate
Phil Attey, executive director of Catholics for Equality, told The Advocate that "all of the arguments we see in this ad are scapegoating attempts." The Advocate
FACTS & FIGURES
Allegations of sexual abuse involving the Roman Catholic clergy in the United States rose sharply last year to nearly 700 from around 400 in 2009, according to a church report Monday. Raw Story
The vast majority of the allegations, 653, involved alleged abuse that occurred decades ago but whose "victims/survivors are just now finding the courage to report" them, the study said. Raw Story
In the United States, Roman Catholic archdioceses have collectively paid some $2 billion in settlements to victims since the priest sex scandals first erupted in Boston nearly a decade ago. NYT
In 2011, a Roman Catholic diocese in Delaware agreed to settle 142 claims of sexual abuse by priests for $77 million. Later that year, two Roman Catholic priests, a former priest and a Catholic school teacher were charged with raping young boys. NYT
Seventy-eight percent of the victims of sexual abuse in U.S. churches were between the ages of 11 and 17. NYT
Time and again the Roman Catholic Church has been forced to defend itself against charges that top officials tried to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by priests. NYT
Pope Benedict XVI himself has not been spared from these charges, especially for his actions as an archbishop and as the head of a Vatican watchdog group. NYT
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