The cover up part aside, whether it's Boy Scouts, Little League (or other coaches of other sports), teachers, etc, it seems like parents need to be more careful and diligent about whom they leave their kids with. It seems like almost any organization in which kids are active have some risk of being exposed. Yes, the cover up part is disgusting, but the Catholic Church is not alone in having this problem. For years, people just assumed that those who have regular contact with kids and are in leadership positions are automatically trustworthy. Obviously, this is not the case.

 

Nobody loves your kid unconditionally like you, the parent. (Ok, maybe Grandma.) You have to be vigilant and wary of those that you trust with your precious treasures. Your kid depends on you to do that for them. If you fail, there are no do overs.

Edited October 14, 201312 yr by hoops5

New York Times had an article that referenced the priest abuse problem at 4% of priests from the 1950's to 1992. Best estimates in the at large population ranged from 10% up. I doubt if it's 10% in the general population but statistically speaking, the priests were not more likely to abuse so celibacy is probably not an issue in the problem.

Speaking of the New York Times ... the newspaper has neatly packaged its past stories of this decades-old/centuries-old scandal. I would urge anyone seeking to learn more about this worldwide problem to visit the following site:

 

Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases News - The New York Times

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Not necessarily apropos to this thread, but we desperately need a Vatican III to update some thoughts / guiding principles of our Church.

 

NCF, I'm certain that everyone is as disgusted as you. I have two young children, one in Catholic elementary and one will be soon, and it is in the back of my mind more often than it should be.

If I'm not mistaken, there are a certain set of jobs that tend to attract pedophiles because they offer the opportunities to regularly be in contact with children.

 

Some of those include: clergy, teachers, coaches, etc. Obviously, this isn't to say that anyone in those professions is likely to be a child molester, just that child molesters are drawn to those occupations psychologically.

 

Don't know the statistics but that makes sense.

Absolutely. I do applaud the steps that have been taken to reduce the chance of it happening in the future but past actions/inactions were most certainly disgusting and in my opinion there are still a lot of people in the Church that need to be dealt with.

 

This pretty much sums it up.

Don't know the statistics but that makes sense.

 

Yea. I don't know the exact statistics or anything either, but I had heard it mentioned in a psychology class. That list of occupations isn't necessarily exclusive, but the idea is that they place themselves in a job that allows them to be around children and in a position of trust.