Politicus USA
May 23, 2011
http://www.politicususa.com/en/catholic-sex-abuse-study
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It is a universal truth that humans, as well as most of the animal kingdom, have an intrinsic drive to protect their young at all costs. Human beings depend on other adults to keep watch over children, but there are trusted relatives and friends who are given the ultimate responsibility to care for children without parents present. School teachers of both genders are counseled against being alone with a child to mitigate the appearance of impropriety regardless that teachers face background checks and constant monitoring as protection for both teachers and students. However, there is no such provision in the law for members of the clergy to undergo background checks or monitoring because they have elevated status and special treatment by the government and general population alike because they are god's servants.
Of all the horrors perpetrated on children, sexual abuse is by far worse than physical abuse, and although the two are related, sexual abuse tends to engender more outrage. For several years there has been increased scrutiny on the Catholic Church for obfuscating sexual abuse by priests and the problem transcends other denominations. There is sexual abuse reported in every church, and Protestant denominations' statistics mirror or surpass instances of Catholic priest's pedophilia. However, Protestant abuse statistics include young males, girls, and married women skewing the numbers based on a larger statistical set.
There are many factors and excuses proffered as to why reports of Catholic priests raping young boys is higher than other denominations, but regardless, rape is not acceptable whether it is Republican-approved rape of women, or priests raping young boys. The Catholic Church has sanctioned a study and report detailing reasons why priests rape boys, and they offer remedies and strategies to diminish the frequency of abuse. The Catholic Church in America has placed the blame solely on societal factors that appear to be little more than pre-emptive defenses for impending court cases and lawsuits.
A study and report released this past week titled, "The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010," placed the blame on everyone except the clergy who perpetrated the rapes. The lengthy report was conducted by Karen J. Terry with funding from various Catholic Organizations which may give insight into the study's outcomes. Terry presented the report to a group of lay Catholics who oversaw the project and to Bishop Blase Cupich who chairs the U.S. Bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People. Generally, it is recognized that a study commissioned by the group under investigation may not be the most objective report; this is not an indictment of John Jay College or Dr. Karen Terry; it is an observation of this author.
The report failed to place the blame on the offending priests or the Catholic Church that turned a blind eye to the problem for decades. According to Terry, "The increased frequency of abuse in the 1960s and 1970s was consistent with the patterns of increased deviance of society during that time." She also stated that "social influences intersected with vulnerabilities of individual priests whose preparation for a life of celibacy was inadequate at that time." So according to Terry, society was at fault for the abuse during the 60s and 70s, but she failed to find any causal relationship for the decades preceding those years or the 1980s forward to the present. It is offensive to society and the children who were victimized to designate a 20-year time span as the cause of generation's worth of sexual abuse by priests around the world. The report was limited to clergy-rape in the United States, but worldwide sexual abuse is just as rampant. In South and Central American countries where Catholicism is the predominate faith, lawsuits and reports to law enforcement are virtually non-existent suggesting that the problem may be much worse than in America.
The other aspect of the report that is arguably more disgusting than blaming society for pervert-priests is the contention that priests who rape young boys are not pedophiles. Apparently, Terry believes that, "Most of the priests who had allegations of abuse, abused pubescent or post-pubescent minors." According to Terry and the Catholic funded $1.4 million study, "the victims of pedophiles are defined in the study as being 10 years old or younger." It is true that the study defines pedophilia as sexual abuse of children under the age of ten, and it is unfathomable that Terry and her research team delineate one year to define a heinous act by the clergy. It is important to note that for the purpose of defending the Catholic Church against litigation from victims of clergy-rape, abusing an eleven-year-old boy does not carry the stigma of pedophilia, even though the 11-year-old boys who suffered brutality at the hands of trusted priests are no less physically and psychologically damaged than a ten-year-old.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) own report focused on the damage that the victims caused the Church and their impetus was keeping the victims as members instead of removing the offending priests. In California, a priest who raped multiple young boys was transferred up and down the state where he left a trail of damaged children, and unbelievably ended up back in the same parish where his career as a rapist originated. The priest was eventually sent to South America where he continued raping young boys. The Church knew of his actions from the start and instead of reporting him to law enforcement, continued assigning him to different parishes and is fighting numerous lawsuits to this day.
The USCCB's recommendation called for treating the offending rapists and attempting to rehabilitate them with prayer and supplication. In one area of the report, the Bishops intimated that there should be no difference in handling the pervert priests regardless if they or the young boys initiated the sexual contact. Attributing blame to a 10-year-old child as if they would initiate sexual conduct with an adult priest further demonstrates that the Church is no different than a criminal rapist who blames a young girl for wearing a bathing suit at a swimming pool. The Catholic Church is no better than Republicans who attempted to redefine rape or label a rape victim an accuser instead of a victim. It is no wonder Catholics fund Republican efforts at denying women the right to choose their own reproductive health. They quite literally are cut from the same cloth and subscribe to the same twisted set of principles.
The Catholic Church does not care about the victims of priest-rape and the study only focuses on America. There is little doubt that if our judicial system did not allow for lawsuits against the Church, the study and report would never have been commissioned. Indeed, the Vatican has been remiss in removing pedophile priests for decades and has only recently made attempts to assuage the damage. They still do not acknowledge that there is an endemic problem that needs drastic action and prompt intervention to save more children from undergoing the physical and psychological trauma from trusted priests. The Church is concerned, but their concern is borne out of paying damages and losing members.
At least the issue is being addressed in the United States, but there have been no large-scale studies in any other part of the world. The present Pope is complicit in priest rape because when he was a Bishop, he covered up the problem instead of actively removing the rapists.
This problem is not limited to the Catholic Church and in every Christian denomination in the United States there are rapists, pedophiles and serial child abusers standing at the pulpit on Sunday morning and raping children in the evening. The primary difference between Catholic rapists and Protestant sexual predators is Protestant ministers engage in acts with young boys, girls, and married women in their congregations. The similarity is both Catholics and Protestants cover up the sexual predation to maintain the image of being holy and doing god's work as well as avoiding punitive damages.
The study commissioned by the Catholic Church may have blamed society and exonerated priests for raping young boys by denying it is pedophilia, but society has a different standard. Parents who trusted their children to perverted priests felt betrayed and had to go to the courts for satisfaction or there would be no study. Despite the study's definition of a pedophile, the priests raped young boys and regardless the label, they are sexual predators and pedophiles. The priests belong in prison and anyone who helped conceal the crime belongs in prison, and that includes the Pope. They are vile criminals, pedophiles, and child rapists but they continue because society is deluded in thinking that because they hold a bible, pray to god, and erect crosses, nothing is off limits; not even 10-year-old boys.
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