WHOSE FAULT IS CHILD-ABUSE: Have we not all (Catholic and non-Catholic) failed?
Melbourne’s Catholic Archbishop, Denis Hart, has prepared a letter of apology for crimes of sexual abuse by clergy.
He refers to the acts as ”crimes”, and “a grave evil”.
He makes it clear that the majority of cases happened at least 30 years ago.
He attributes the reduction since then to systems set up in the 1990’s to weed out suspect applicants for priesthood.
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The Age newspaper cannot, however, mention the Archbishop’s apology without commenting that the hierarchy has “finally” recognised how much damage has been done, and that this response had to be “dragged” from the Church.
Which could well be true.
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What would also be handy would be to “finally” get an admission “dragged” out of the media, like The Age – but not just The Age – conceding that they do infinitely more harm than does the Church in demoralising the young.
Tireless, relentless, never-ending mockery of traditional marriage, of faithfuless to marriage, of fatherhood and of family loyalties, has produced its inevitable results – both of them intended.
One: the people owning the media becoming very rich.
Two: a generation of consumer-addict young people considering immodesty normal, chastity before marriage ridiculous, respect for and obedience to one’s elders etc. uncool and unthinkable.
Do I exaggerate?
Ask your family GP.
Of all his/her patients complaining of past sexual abuse, what proportion was at the hands of – not priests – but ordinary TV-watching, newspaper-reading, celebrity-goggling mum’s boyfriends or other similar extended-family contact?
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A recent American study has reported that during the last 50 years, just over 4 percent of American priests were accused of sexual relations with minors. Just 0.1 percent (one in 1000) were convicted. (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York)
Another similar study found the rate of sexual abuse of students by teachers in schools to be 100 times greater than that by priests. (Professor C. Shakeshaft, Hofstra University, New York Department of Education, Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature, Washington, D.C., 2004)
I read and understand what you wrote and are saying. From my perspective as a survivor there is an essential part lacking in that there is no call for a global policy in regards child safety, there is no call for the establishment of independent healing centers or services for the victims, there is no call for appropriate compensation for the victims and their families, there is no call for the Vatican to release to civil authorities information they hold in regards crimes committed by some clergy.
No matter which part of the world when you speak to victims of clergy abuse these points are repeatedly made as they are repeatedly omitted. I personally feel that the church will continue to slide until it adjusts and takes genuine steps and actions in these areas as the world no longer accepts the argument of look at all the good work the church undertakes as quite simply the world is saying that the harm done far outweighs the good work done.
The following gives a present day view and understanding of the general experience of hundreds of survivors across the globe of clergy abuse and the continuing cover up; while this focuses on several instances reports of survivors across the globe say this fits the same general description across the world regardless of the country. http://www.molestedcatholics.com/Not-in-my-lifetime
You will be shocked by the global estimates of the numbers of those sexually abused by Catholic clergy. http://www.molestedcatholics.com/Estimating-the-numbers-global.php#stats
Another similar study http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/crimes-violence/201005/priest-abuse-male-compared-female-victimization-impact found “Catholics in the U.S. and Canada found a closer ratio, that 1.7 percent of the females and 3.3 percent of the males had been sexually abused in childhood by a priest.” — globally that is some 30 million victims of sexual abuse by priests; abuses by nuns and other hierarchy would be in addition to this. Add the low reporting rate and there is more than sufficient reason for the Age and all other newspapers to report far more strongly than they do.