The numbers are utterly shocking. 300 Roman Catholic priests in just one state, Pennsylvania, are suspected of committing sexual offences against children. Three hundred.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court made public one of the broadest-ever investigations into Catholic clerical sex abuse of minors in the United States on Tuesday. The document, a 1,400-page grand jury report, is the result of an 18-month probe by Pennsylvania state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and names at least 300 priests accused of child sex abuse by more than 1,000 victims throughout the state.
Some of the priests’ names in the report have been redacted. The report’s release was delayed after several clergy members named in the report filed legal challenges against its publication. Shapiro told reporters at a news conference that the report details “systematic coverup by senior church officials in Pennsylvania and at the Vatican.”
Three hundred. Those numbers put evangelist preachers to shame. Mind-boggling. Did the priesthood in Pennsylvania turn into some diabolical pederastic cult?
Unfortunately, only a handful of priests can be changed as the statue of limitation has expired. That wouldn't be the case in Canada, which had no time limit on sexual assault charges.
ReplyDeleteHow people can still argue that religion is a necessary condition for morality is beyond me.
Cap
ReplyDeleteThis report left me shaken, Cap. I always thought the problem was a bad apple here and there. Either Pennsylvania is a really grotesque exception or that church has become a pedophiliac cult.
It seemed to be institutionalized and some of it was obvious. Of course, you could think that it might just be a local problem. It always struck many of my RC pals during my adolescence as odd that the adults either didn't know or didn't care. I think there was a certain element of acceptance or, at least, an attitude that it's better to let Mother Church pretend to look after things. And don't talk about it. The Church figured that the kids were theirs, entrusted to it by God as a type of property in effect. By its direct relationship with God and the understanding of sin derived from it, the Church considered itself not only entitled but obliged to overrule civil authority for the benefit of all parties including the victim. Never mind that crimes were being committed. That's a social construct.
ReplyDeleteIf you had to get involved in formalities you behaved "like a man", grew past the danger and got out. I couldn't understand the guys who were sure about it but still carried the Church with them into adulthood. I think it might have been going on for hundreds of years all over the place. But then again, I remember that a lot of child and youth predation outside of the Church used to be handled in family courts, again "for the benefit of all parties".
No, the Catholic Church turned into a diabolical pederastic cult, because there's no way this was limited to just Pennsylvania.
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