Catholic Church: Only 5% of clergy involved in child sex abuse

October 1st, 2009 7 Comments

7
Comments

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi

Yesterday may have been International Blasphemy Day but this story is no joke. In response to accusations of covering up child abuse and violating many provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Catholic Archbishop Silvano Tomasi sought to counter-attack and deflect criticism.

According the Guardian:

In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males.

[He] defended its record by claiming that “available research” showed that only 1.5%-5% of Catholic clergy were involved in child sex abuse.

He also quoted statistics from the Christian Scientist Monitor newspaper to show that most US churches being hit by child sex abuse allegations were Protestant and that sexual abuse within Jewish communities was common.

The Catholic Church has been plagued by scandals involving sex abuse of children for decades, and has made solid pledges to clean up its act. However, these things continue to haunt the church.

Of course, Mr. Tomasi is right about one thing, the Catholic Church certainly has other things that need to be cleaned up. For instance, there was the case earlier this year in Brazil where a 9 year old girl was raped by her step father, got pregnant, and later had an abortion. The Catholic Church excommunicated everyone involved in the case except the girl and her rapist.

Tomasi’s statement in defiance of the UN Human Rights Council is further compounded by the assertions about the molesters not being pedophiles, but homosexuals who just happened to be attracted to ‘adolescent males’. This is a fine route for further persecution of gays worldwide, and only demonstrates that with people like this reaching the level of Archbishop, perhaps the Catholic Church does have more to worry about than sex abuse scandals.

Find more articles about clergy abuse at S.M.A.R.T. – Ritual Abuse Pages

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7 Comments »

Joseph said:

Oh……Tornasi is torn between statistics and child molestors and pedos. Someone teach him what the percentage means or implies when it comes to being a priest and going around and molesting people. Come on…….Mr. Archbishop……try to address the issue rather than defend it or use your limited statistical knowledge.

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# 1 October 2009 at 2:04 pm

smartnews said:

Thank you for your article on clergy abuse. We have information on clergy abuse and child abuse crimes at : http://ritualabuse.us/research/clergy-abuse/

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# 1 October 2009 at 7:04 pm

ben karnes said:

Please, do not let these few bad priests influence your views of the Catholic Church. There are a lot of good priests out there doing a lot of good work that isn't heard of in the news. The priests that commited these crimes are not the norm, nor are they by any means a representation of the Church.
A good priest would never think of doing something so terrible, and believe me when I say there are a lot of great priests out there.

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# 1 October 2009 at 10:07 pm

DunkanDonuts said:

What's the percentage for scientists? I'm just curious.

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# 2 October 2009 at 1:22 am

uncajoe said:

The fact that this estimate is being made by a Catholic Archbishop and he seems to think it's an acceptable level seems to escape your attention. Your “estimate” of a 9000% increase is the very reason “blind faith” cannot be part of any reasonable argument.

Besides, where have you been Dunkan your Donuts?

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# 2 October 2009 at 1:40 am

novenator said:

I agree Ben. Even though I am an atheist who has seen the bad side of prejudice most of my life, I think it would be wrong to stereotype everyone based on this shocking statistic. I admire the charity work that Catholics devote themselves to, even if I disagree with their religious beliefs.

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# 2 October 2009 at 2:22 am

Marge said:

Just more lies and more attempt to cover up. Not about gays, and way more than 5%. Better check the real facts before spouting off. Continues to show their ignorance and lack of credibility.

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# 2 October 2009 at 11:31 am