Jewish Sam Miller On Catholics And Sex Scandal

[Servus_Mariae]

Thanks for making that clarification Protestant Pastor, no offense intended.
We Catholics, as a whole, have been wounded by this scandal and for one reason among many others we are so wounded because we are being singled out for what is in truth a societal problem. Our culture has made pedophilia a stereotype for priesthood which comprises primarily good, holy, virtuous men who love our Lord Jesus Christ and wouldn't harm anyone. I suppose we tend to jump on information that proves this fact...certainly it is improper to condemn our brothers in sisters in Christ for something they are not guilty of and to do so would be to do as the media has done with the Catholic Priesthood.

Speaking to the OP...it is quite encouraging to see some decency out in the world about this scandal. Thank God for honest people like Sam Miller who, gaining nothing, are willing to not buy into propaganda and defend what is true.

[cmotherofpirl]

[u][/u]I'm just finished reading "The New Anti-Catholicism" by Phillip Jenkins where he discusses this. " THe most reliable source available is the Chicago study comissioned by Cardinal Berardin during the previous wave of abuse crisises in the early 1990s. A committee of experts examined the personnel files of all men who had been priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago between 1951 and 1991, or 2252 individuals....Between 1963 and 1991, 57 priests and two visiting clerics had been the subject of allegations of sexual abuse, in addition to the two visiting clerics. The comission reviewed all chages, not by te standard ofcriminal cases, which insists on proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but on the civil criterion of the preponderance of the evidence. In addition, evidence was used that would not have been acceptable in a court of law, including hearsay testimony. Where there was a doubt about a case, the commision decided to err on the side of the accuser rather than the priest involved. By these standards, the charges in 18 cases were judged not to involve sexual misconduct, at most they involved "inappropriate and immature behavior". Removing these cases left vaild charges against 39 priests and the 2 externs.
In short, 2.6% of Chicago's archdioceasan clergy were the subject of complaints, and the charges againnst 1.7% were probably true."

page139-140

and importantly on the next page this sentence "In the Chicago study, only a single priestout of over 2000 fell into the pedeophile category: one priest, not 1 percent of priests. All of the other offenders were active with young people in their mid to late teens."