Daily Mail
May 18, 2011
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388274/Roman-Catholic-Church-sexual-abuse-scandal-Bishops-blame-60s-turmoil.html
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| Blame game: The Woodstock Festival symbolised changing attitudes towards sex and society in America |
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| Defrocked: Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan in court in 2002 |
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| Demonstration: The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, where protesters gathered this week |
Neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality caused the Roman Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis, according to a five-year study commissioned by bishops from the faith.
It says the abuse occurred because priests who were poorly prepared and stressed landed amid the social and sexual turmoil of the 1960s and 70s, The New York Times reported yesterday.
The 'blame Woodstock' explanation has been floated by bishops for years but the study was likely to be regarded as the most authoritative analysis of the scandal in the Catholic Church in America, the paper reported.
Widespread abuse scandals involving Roman Catholic priests in Boston has led to the U.S church making settlements totalling some $3billion (£1.8billion).
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops planned to release today the report by researchers at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
The researchers concluded that it was not possible for the church, or for anyone, to identify abusive priests in advance, according to the newspaper, which obtained an advance copy of the report.
The study concluded that many more boys than girls were victimised, not because the perpetrators were gay, but simply because the priests had more access to boys than to girls, the newspaper reported.
The Vatican has for years been struggling to control the damage that sexual abuse scandals in the United States and several European countries have done to the Church's image.
On Monday, the Vatican told bishops around the world that they must make it a global priority to root out sexual abuse of children by priests.
The Roman Catholic Church said in a letter that bishops should cooperate with civil authorities to end the abuse.
The clergy sex abuse scandal first erupted in the U.S back in 1985 when Louisiana priest Gilbert Gauthe pleaded guilty to the molestation of young boys.
It reached a crisis point after former Massachusetts priest John Geoghan was accused of sexual abuse involving 130 boys.
He was defrocked in 1998 and sent to jail for 10 years in 2002 for indecent assault and battery. He was later murdered in his cell by a fellow inmate.
The Geoghan scandal led to the resignation of Boston's archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, and the direct intervention of the Vatican, which printed guidelines on dealing with paedophile clergy and stated that Rome would oversee all future cases.
The latest scandal in the U.S has seen the archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigalie, this week suspend 21 priests accused of sex abuse, following a two-year investigation.
Protesters have been distributing leaflets about sexual assault outside the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia .
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