International Aspects of the U.S. Abuse Crisis It is well known that U.S. bishops often transferred accused Catholic priests to other parishes or dioceses after receiving allegations. But the hierarchy also moved accused priests across international borders to other countries, where they continued to work with children and were often able to evade prosecution or extradition. These transfers are one of many ways in which global Catholicism affects the abuse crisis in the United States. On this page, we offer a selection of documents and articles on the international aspects of the U.S. abuse crisis.

Immigration from Catholic Europe and South America has created Catholic enclaves in many American cities, and abusive priests who worked among these traditional populations sometimes took advantage of their preferred status to abuse the children in their care. Bishops prized the priests who could minister to immigrant populations, and priests in those ministries sometimes took advantage of their diocesan appointments in order to abuse children. All immigrant populations are vulnerable in this dynamic, which can be seen operating in Irish, Portuguese, Mexican, and other immigrant communities.

The priest shortage has led to an influx of priests from Latin America and Africa who have not been subject to recent attempts by U.S. bishops to vet their seminarians. Once abuse is revealed, accused priests have often taken advantage of connections with their native countries to evade prosecution in the United States and to continue working among vulnerable populations. Bishops and superiors of religious orders have sometimes facilitated the flight of accused priests.

Bishops in the United States have sometimes used diocesan missionary societies to send non-Latino priests who have been accused into unsuspecting populations, and the superiors of religious orders have sometimes used the international structures of their orders in the same way. Extradition can be difficult, especially if a religious order or foreign bishop is uncooperative.

Abusive priests often use vacation areas in the United States as venues for abuse, and as international travel has become more common, children have been abused during trips to Mexico and Europe. Priests have also practiced sex tourism with minors in places such as Thailand. The Internet has facilitated these practices.

Below we offer a selection of documents and articles that illustrate these developments.

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