The Catholic League raises necessary questions

SEXUAL ABUSE IN SOCIAL CONTEXT:
CATHOLIC CLERGY AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS

Special Report
by
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
February 2004

PREFACE

The purpose of this special report is to put the recent scandal in the Catholic Church in perspective. It does not seek to exculpate anyone who had anything to do with priestly sexual misconduct, but it does seek to challenge those who continue to treat this issue in isolation. Indeed, to discuss the incidence of sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests without reference to the level of offense found among the clergy of other religions, or to that of other professionals, is grossly unfair.

Specifically, this report was prepared to guide the discussion that will inevitably follow two major studies that will be issued on February 27. One of them, a national study on the extent of sexual abuse of minors by priests since 1950, will be released by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. The other is a study of the causes and consequences of the abuse crisis; it will be released by the National Review Board that was established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Both studies were done at the request of the U.S. bishops.

It is the belief of the Catholic League that no meaningful conversation can take place on this issue without having some baseline data regarding the incidence of abuse that occurs outside the Catholic Church. That was the sole intent of this special report, and if it contributes to that end, then it will have been a success.

William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President

Finally, a voice of reason. Personally, I find it extremely distasteful and repugnant that certain people were appointed to the National Review Board and that the new department "overseeing" compliance at the USCCB seems to be growing into a large bureaucratic entity needing more and more funds. The most "eye raising" part of the initial report was this from the report and Deal Hudson's e-letter discussing the Jan. Report:

McChesney then listed general recommendations of the report for the bishops in the future. She first mentioned the importance of auditing individual parishes -- all 19,000 of them -- to see how well they implemented the charter on a local level, where it's most important. She also urged that "safe environment programs" be developed to help protect young people. Another recommendation was that this audit be repeated annually and contain hard numbers so that a diocese's progress could be measured over time.

Somebody, it seems is looking for long term employment. Something just doesn't smell right in all of this and I think William Donohue is on the right track to call these people to account and present useful data and information. Here is his full report.