GO TO SOURCE


WASHINGTON, D.C. March 10, 2002: Excerpts from this long article: “As the Roman Catholic Church faces a widening scandal over child abuse by priests in Boston and around the country, some Catholics cite cases of misconduct by clergy of other religions and ask: Does the Catholic Church really have a bigger problem with sexual abuse? Or are the public and the media just more fascinated by stories involving priests? Many victims, psychologists and academic researchers believe that the Catholic Church does have a greater problem. They point to egregious abusers long protected by superiors, such as John Geoghan, the former Boston priest accused of molesting more than 130 children. They argue that … the church’s structure allows abusers to move around and avoid exposure.” … “Sylvia M. Demarest, a Texas lawyer, began tracking allegations against [Catholic] priests in the mid-1990s, when she won a $119 million jury award on behalf of former altar boys abused in Dallas. As of 1996, she said, she had found 1,100 priests accused of molesting children. She plans to update the list and expects that it will top 1,500 names — between 2 percent and 3 percent of the roughly 60,000 [Catholic] priests who have served in the United States since 1984. A.W. Richard Sipe, a former Catholic priest turned therapist, estimates that 6 percent of U.S. priests have had sexual contact with minors — 4 percent with adolescents and 2 percent with younger children.” …”‘I’m convinced that there is higher sexual abuse of minors in the priesthood than in other professions and religious groups,’ Sipe said. ‘If there were somebody in the Washington, D.C., school district with Father Geoghan’s history, would he have gotten away with it for 20 years? No. Not in any private industry either. There is a dynamic in the church that allows this to be covered up.'” … “a wealth of information could be collected from counseling centers that have treated hundreds of priests for pedophilia and other psychological problems. These include St. Luke’s Institute in Silver Spring; St. Michael’s Paraclete Center outside St. Louis; St. John Vianney Center in Downingtown, Pa.; the Institute of Living in Hartford, Conn.; and Southdown Hospital near Toronto. But church leaders have rejected the idea.”

Post Views: 239