Many years of sexual abuse of minors have affected the reputation of many people in in the U.S Catholic Church. A report is set to be released on Wednesday to repeat of the the many scandals over the years. Hit the jump to read more.
NEW YORK (RNS) Nearly a decade after revelations of widespread sexual abuse of minors rocked the Catholic Church in the U.S., a comprehensive report on the scandal is set for release on Wednesday (May 18), hoping to provide answers about a crisis that has raised myriad questions despite years of attention.
Was celibacy to blame for the abuse? Gays in the priesthood? The social revolution of the ’60s, or the benighted seminary education of the repressive 1950s?
The truth turns out to be far more complex, according to a copy of the report by researchers at John Jay College of Criminal Justice that was provided by a church leader who believes the findings accurately reflect the causes of the church’s sexual abuse crisis, for good and for ill.
The findings will likely unsettle both liberal and conservative critics, as well as victims’ advocates.
The 300-page report, formally called “The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010,” upends a number of popular misconceptions. While some will challenge the report’s methodology — and note that U.S. bishops paid for half the estimated $1.8 million price tag — the “Causes and Context” study is clearly a landmark in the research of child sexual abuse.
The first myth challenged by the study is that priests tend to be pedophiles. Of nearly 6,000 priests accused of abuse over the past half century (about 5 percent of the total number of priests serving during that period), less than 4 percent could be considered pedophiles, the report notes — that is, men who prey on children.
