Recovery Board
: RfM
Recovery from Mormonism (RfM) discussion forum.
A rather disturbing article about the status of Catholic priests accused of committing sexual abuse (and note the 5,768 figure below):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120206646.html
<quote>
...
Although the vast majority were removed from ministry long ago - barred from celebrating Mass in public, administering the sacraments, wearing their clerical collars or presenting themselves as priests - church officials say they have no way to monitor where the men are now. Nor do they keep official data on how many were defrocked, or stripped of their priestly status; how many were imprisoned or placed on sex-offender lists; how many are working; and how many are dead.
The priests have largely vanished from public view. Their fates are often a mystery to their victims, their parishioners and even their attorneys.
Independently compiling data about what happened to the men is nearly impossible. Reports by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops show that at least 5,768 priests were accused from 1950 to 2009. Although the church deems most of the allegations credible, the vast majority have never been proved, and many of the priests have never been publicly identified.
...
<endquote>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120206646.html
<quote>
...
Although the vast majority were removed from ministry long ago - barred from celebrating Mass in public, administering the sacraments, wearing their clerical collars or presenting themselves as priests - church officials say they have no way to monitor where the men are now. Nor do they keep official data on how many were defrocked, or stripped of their priestly status; how many were imprisoned or placed on sex-offender lists; how many are working; and how many are dead.
The priests have largely vanished from public view. Their fates are often a mystery to their victims, their parishioners and even their attorneys.
Independently compiling data about what happened to the men is nearly impossible. Reports by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops show that at least 5,768 priests were accused from 1950 to 2009. Although the church deems most of the allegations credible, the vast majority have never been proved, and many of the priests have never been publicly identified.
...
<endquote>
"Some of the accused priests have been able to retire with church pensions and benefits"
So, not only does the Vatican suppress accusations of abuse, they pay for the abusers to live happily ever after. What more could a pedophile want?
So, not only does the Vatican suppress accusations of abuse, they pay for the abusers to live happily ever after. What more could a pedophile want?
The Catholic Church is an ideal environment for a pedophile. One wonders if this has always been so.
(If the only RCC had immediately pulled the offender from active service, and sent him to some remote monastery to copy old manuscripts or grow vegetables - as they certainly had the authority and means to do! But no....)
The RCC deserves every brick thrown their way, and then some. It is just nearly impossible to correct pedophile behavior, and these men are still out there - no help from the church to find them and put them safely away.
P.S. A few years ago in Texas a priest was wanted for questioning by the police. When they asked his superior where he might be, the response was "unknown". Luckily The Dallas Morning News was able to track him down to a new parish on a little island in the Pacific. The island authorities were not very happy to learn their new resident was wanted by the police! Apparently islands and remote, uneducated rural communities are the dumping grounds of priests who have "problem" behavior. Shameful!
(If the only RCC had immediately pulled the offender from active service, and sent him to some remote monastery to copy old manuscripts or grow vegetables - as they certainly had the authority and means to do! But no....)
The RCC deserves every brick thrown their way, and then some. It is just nearly impossible to correct pedophile behavior, and these men are still out there - no help from the church to find them and put them safely away.
P.S. A few years ago in Texas a priest was wanted for questioning by the police. When they asked his superior where he might be, the response was "unknown". Luckily The Dallas Morning News was able to track him down to a new parish on a little island in the Pacific. The island authorities were not very happy to learn their new resident was wanted by the police! Apparently islands and remote, uneducated rural communities are the dumping grounds of priests who have "problem" behavior. Shameful!
I'm told that these bad priests are dealt with by the diocese, and are sent to a "farm". Guess its kinda like a convent for priests.
re: "5,768 priests were accused from 1950 to 2009"
The Boston Diocese' own records of sexual misconduct by priests go back to the mid 1940's. I've often wondered:
Did the practice of priests using children for sexual comfort somehow spring forth in the modern era: 20th C, 19th C, 18th C, ? - or is it a 'tradition' spanning millennia?
Call me jaded, but I suspect the latter ...
The Boston Diocese' own records of sexual misconduct by priests go back to the mid 1940's. I've often wondered:
Did the practice of priests using children for sexual comfort somehow spring forth in the modern era: 20th C, 19th C, 18th C, ? - or is it a 'tradition' spanning millennia?
Call me jaded, but I suspect the latter ...