NYT: Church Report Cites Social Tumult in Priest Scandals

[Rocky21]

A five-year study commissioned by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops to provide a definitive answer to what caused the church’s sexual abuse crisis has concluded that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality were to blame.

Instead, the report says, the abuse occurred because priests who were poorly prepared and monitored, and were under stress, landed amid the social and sexual turmoil of the 1960s and ’70s.

Known occurrences of sexual abuse of minors by priests rose sharply during those decades, the report found, and the problem grew worse when the church’s hierarchy responded by showing more care for the perpetrators than the victims.

The “blame Woodstock” explanation has been floated by bishops since the church was engulfed by scandal in the United States in 2002 and by Pope Benedict XVI after it erupted in Europe in 2010.

But this study is likely to be regarded as the most authoritative analysis of the scandal in the Catholic Church in America. The study, initiated in 2006, was conducted by a team of researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City at a cost of $1.8 million.

Click here for the rest....

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/us/18bishops.html?_r=2&ref=us

[Thiebear]

The cases rose because they:

Were happening and were not being fixed.

/end

[FanboyOf91]

$1.8 million to blame the hippies?

No wonder the Mormons are winning.

[mardi gras skin]

No wonder the Mormons are winning.

The Mormon Church grew to 6,058,907 members in 2010...and the Roman Catholic church grew to 68.5 million members last year.

[Ellis]

The Mormon Church grew to 6,058,907 members in 2010...and the Roman Catholic church grew to 68.5 million members last year.

Hey! Never let facts get in the way of truth!

[China]

The Mormon Church grew to 6,058,907 members in 2010...and the Roman Catholic church grew to 68.5 million members last year.

I wouldn't say the Mormons are winning, but where did you get those numbers? In searching, I've come up with figures for the Mormon church ranging from 11-12 million.

Link 1

Link 2

That second link also lists the number of Catholics at over a billion (approximately 1.1 billion).

I suspect that Mormon winning comment was based on the belief that they are increasing their membership by a higher annual percentage than the Catholic church. But when your membership is 1.1 billion you can gain a smaller percentage of new members and still gain more members in sheer numbers than if your total membership is only 12 million.

[Stadium-Armory]

Of course its not their fault. That is consistent with the entire premise of life, which is that nobody is accountable for their actions, something else is always in control.

[Rocky21]

$1.8 million to blame the hippies?

I laughed.

So you think there is a fallacy in the church's thinking on this?

[mardi gras skin]

I wouldn't say the Mormons are winning, but where did you get those numbers?

Here:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/2011-church-membership-southern-baptists-decline-jehovah-witnesses-increase-48984/

My number were just for the United States. Or maybe all North America, I didn't look too hard. Either way, the RC dwarfs Joe Smith's clan.

[Spec138]

So they still haven't thought about if celibacy could be the cause of the rape?

[jnhay]

So they still haven't thought about if celibacy could be the cause of the rape?

"has concluded that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality were to blame"

That means they considered it and found it not to be the case.

[grhqofb5]

If the synopsis is correct, I think the church is saying that it is their fault. The church allowed ill-prepared priests into the priesthood, the heirarchy failed to monitor those priests, and when it became obvious that there was a problem the heirarchy showed more concern for the molesters. Sounds like an admission of wrongdoing to me.

[Stadium-Armory]

If the synopsis is correct, I think the church is saying that it is their fault. The church allowed ill-prepared priests into the priesthood, the heirarchy failed to monitor those priests, and when it became obvious that there was a problem the heirarchy showed more concern for the molesters. Sounds like an admission of wrongdoing to me.

Good point.

[mardi gras skin]

If the synopsis is correct, I think the church is saying that it is their fault. The church allowed ill-prepared priests into the priesthood, the heirarchy failed to monitor those priests, and when it became obvious that there was a problem the heirarchy showed more concern for the molesters. Sounds like an admission of wrongdoing to me.

I agree. I think people have already come to the conclusion that celibacy was the root problem. Since the report disagrees with that assumption, the knee jerk reaction is to assume the Church is shirking blame.

[Koolblue13]

"has concluded that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality were to blame"

That means they considered it and found it not to be the case.

Pedophiles have nothing to do with sexuality in almost every case.

I blame them allowing it to continue and covering it up, therefor making it a safe haven for people with serious mental issues and tendencies towards the mental illness that causes people to become pedophiles.

[Rocky21]

Kristine Ward, the chairwoman of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition, said the cultural explanation did not appear to explain why abuse cases within the Catholic church have shaken places from Australia and Ireland to South America. “Does the culture of the U.S. in the 1960s explain that? It’s hard to believe,” she said.

[grhqofb5]

Kristine Ward, the chairwoman of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition, said the cultural explanation did not appear to explain why abuse cases within the Catholic church have shaken places from Australia and Ireland to South America. “Does the culture of the U.S. in the 1960s explain that? It’s hard to believe,” she said.

The "1960s" was not limited to the United States. There were similar cultural movements arising in many other nations.

[Spec138]

"has concluded that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality were to blame"

That means they considered it and found it not to be the case.

Yes, because raping boys isn't homosexual at all, nor could celibacy be a factor in the sexual urges of the criminals

[Koolblue13]

Yes, because raping boys isn't homosexual at all, nor could celibacy be a factor in the sexual urges of the criminals

It's neither homosexual or funny.

[Spec138]

It's neither homosexual or funny.

Is it heterosexual?

I'm laughing at the thinking that causes people to defend this bull**** response. They found a way to blame it on the counter-culture of the 60s and 70s instead of the whole celibacy thing.

[Koala]

Admitting a systemic fault within the Church would naturally make people wonder whether or not the Church really is the conduit to God. And thats a dangerous question for the Church. They are, in essence, fundamentally predisposed to ducking the blame for...anything.

[Koolblue13]

Is it heterosexual?

I'm laughing at the thinking that causes people to defend this bull**** response. They found a way to blame it on the counter-culture of the 60s and 70s instead of the whole celibacy thing.

Molesting children doesn't have a sexual orientation and is more of a power or pervert type of thing.

[techboy]

Yes, because raping boys isn't homosexual at all, nor could celibacy be a factor in the sexual urges of the criminals

Oh wow, are you on the wrong side of this.

From Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation:

In a more recent literature review, Dr. Nathaniel McConaghy (1998) similarly cautioned against confusing homosexuality with pedophilia. He noted, "The man who offends against prepubertal or immediately postpubertal boys is typically not sexually interested in older men or in women" (p. 259).

You should probably spend a little less time in knee jerk responses about anything you think makes a group of Christians or Christianity look bad, and a little more time actually investigating the issues.

Especially since you accidentally fell on the wrong side :

It has also been raised in connection with scandals about the Catholic church's attempts to cover up the abuse of young males by priests. Indeed, the Vatican's early response to the 2002 revelations of widespread Church cover-ups of sexual abuse by priests was to declare that gay men should not be ordained.

[jnhay]

Yes, because raping boys isn't homosexual at all, nor could celibacy be a factor in the sexual urges of the criminals

It has as much to do with it as heterosexuality does with men molesting little girls. What you're basically doing is saying "Here's a report. I will not consider it at all because I've already come up with the correct conclusion after doing almost no research myself." My original point is that you failed to read, or comprehend, the first sentence in the article.

[Corcaigh]

The "1960s" was not limited to the United States. There were similar cultural movements arising in many other nations.

Their argument about "permissive times" being a factor would be a lot more convincing if there was a corresponding flood of cases of child rape by school teachers and youth group leaders in the 60s. To my knowledge that's not the case.