Tuesday, January 11, 2011
More cases of widespread sexual abuse by clergy.
From Fr. Gordon MacRae:
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“There are cases of sexual abuse that come to light day against a large number of the Catholic clergy. Unfortunately it’s not a matter of individual cases, but a collective moral crisis that perhaps the cultural history of humanity has never before known with such a frightening and disconcerting dimension. Numerous priests and religious have confessed. There’s no doubt that the thousands of cases which have come to the attention of the justice system represent only a small fraction of the true total, given that many molesters have been covered and hidden by the hierarchy.”
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This isn’t an editorial in yesterday’s New York Times, nor is it the opening gun in a new lawsuit by Jeffrey Anderson. It also isn’t a quote from S.N.A.P. or V.O.T. F. It is part of a speech delivered on May 28, 1937 by Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda for the Third Reich. - Catholic Scandal and the Third Reich
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Some facts from Dr. Thomas Plante, PhD:
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“Catholic clergy are not more likely to abuse children than other clergy or men in general.” [As I pointed out in "Due Process for Accused Priests," priests convicted of sexual abuse account for no more than three (3) out of 6,000 incarcerated, paroled, and registered sex offenders.]
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“Clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic church cannot be blamed on celibacy.” The majority of men convicted of sexual abuse are married and/or divorced.
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“Almost all of the clergy sexual abuse cases that we hear about in the news are from decades ago,” most from the 1960s to 1970s.
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“Most clergy sex offenders are not pedophiles.” Eighty percent of accusers were post-pubescent teens, and not children, when abuse was alleged to have occurred.”
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“There is much to be angry about,” Dr. Plante concluded, but anger about the above media-fueled misconceptions is misplaced. Why this isn’t clearer in the secular press is no mystery. As one observer of the news media wrote, “More than illness or death, the American journalist fears standing alone against the whim of his owners or the prejudice of his audience.” Lewis Lapham, Money and Class in America, Ch. 9, (1988). - ibid
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Click here for more information on Fr. MacRae.
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h/t Spero News and Pewsitter
Terry, I'm really surprised no one commented on this - I think it is an important post.
ReplyDelete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteTerry#1 and Terry#2: Maybe the freaky picture of the assassin right under the combox link to this post has scared commenters away? =P Just saying . . .
Anyway, for all the lip service we pay to remembering history so that we never repeat it, we seem to have very selective memories. I know I've heard of Goebbels' targeting of the Church before--several times before, in fact--but I just kept forgetting it.
I always forget too - until someone reminds me.
ReplyDeleteSigned, Another Terry
I agree that the horrors of the past can be visited upon us in the present if we are not vigilant. The author of this post, Fr. Gordon MacRae, writes a riveting weekly post at www.TheseStoneWalls.com. I highly recommend it. There is much there to help keep our eyes open.
ReplyDelete