. . . [A soon to be released study], "The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010," conducted for the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) by the John Jay Research Company, found no statistical evidence that gay priests were more likely than heterosexual priests to sexually abuse minors. The study also found that the rise in the number of gay priests from the late 1970s onward actually corresponded with "a decreased incidence of abuse – not an increased incidence of abuse."
"That our bishops are looking at this as an institutional and systemic problem in our church is a step in the right direction," says Catholics for Equality Executive Director Phil Attey. "Initial reports that the study found no link between the sexual orientation of the priests and the sexual abuse crisis leads us to believe the Vatican and our bishops will stop trying to scapegoat this problem on gay priests, but whether they're ready to address the institutional lack of transparency that allowed this problem to continue is not yet clear."Catholics for Equality also calls on anti-gay political operative Bill Donahue [right], President of the anti-gay conservative Catholic League, to issue formal apologies to New Yorkers and to the nation for using the sexual abuse scandal to demonize gay people. Donahue, in April 11, 2011, commissioned a full-page ad in the New York Times, asserting that homosexual priests were the root of the sexual abuse scandal. The timing of the ad coincided with the introduction of legislation to make civil marriage legal for gay and lesbian couples in New York. . . .
– Excerpted from the media release,
"Catholics for Equality Calls Sexual Abuse Study a Step in the Right Direction"
Catholics for Equality
May 18, 2011
"Catholics for Equality Calls Sexual Abuse Study a Step in the Right Direction"
Catholics for Equality
May 18, 2011
Recommended Off-site Links:
Causes of Catholic Abuse Scandal Pinpointed by Study – David Gibson (Religion News Service via The Huffington Post, May 18, 2011).
Church Report Cites Social Tumult in Priest Scandals – Laurie Goodstein (New York Times, May 17, 2011).
Homosexuality Did Not Cause Church Child Abuse Scandal, Report Says – Jessica Geen (PinkNews.com, May 19, 2011).
Study Identifies Culture Shift as Root Cause for Catholic Clergy Sex Crimes – Lisa Wangsness (The Boston Globe, May 18, 2011).
Catholics Respond to New Abuse Report – Kilian Melloy (Boston Edge, May 19, 2011).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Donohue's "Blame the Gays" Tactic Refuted by John Jay Study Researcher
Blaming the Gays
Quote of the Day – April 1, 2010
Report: Homosexuality No Factor in Abusive Priests
An Abuse Survivor Speaks on the Scapegoating of Homosexuality
Archbishop Weakland, the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal and Homophobia
The Catholic League's New Poster Boy?
What Is It That Ails You?
1 comment:
Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, who is unfortunately the nicest and most honest Catholic left in the congregation, is so horribly dishonest.
He says “The report says ... 78 per cent were post-pubescent". What he doesn't tell you is that they changed the cut off age for pedophilia to be 10 instead of 13 years old, which is the value that the American Psychiatric Association uses. If they used the 13 year old cut off, about 60% of the cases would be pedophilia.
This should make parents of 13 year old child rape by their priest feel comfort.
Donahue also says, "Since 100 per cent of the abusers were male, that’s called homosexuality, not pedophilia or heterosexuality.”
No, it's called "child rape", or "statutory rape", and is a crime everywhere except in the Catholic church.
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