Posted on 04/04/2010 6:04:36 AM PDT by bronxville
Pedophilia Only a Catholic Sin?
It turns out pedophilia is an incorrect term, and Catholics aren't responsible for most of it.
Shockingly, AP breaks out of their typical liberal mold and reports Insurance companies shed light on extent of sex abuse in Protestant churches, that sexual abuse of minors has been rampant. But in their statement, they indirectly say members of the Catholic Church are not the majority abusers.
AP discusses the raw numbers from three companies that insure the majority of protestant churches in America (Church Mutual, Guide One, and Brotherhood Mutual), and typically receive 260 reports/yr of people under 18 being sexually abused. Compare that with ~228 credible accusations/yr against Catholic clerics since 1950 (documented abuse records).
Together with that information, it is known that the Catholic Church greatly outnumbers any specific Protestant denomination, and the data for Protestant churches is available only for the last seven years. Ever since the first sexual abuse cases had been reported, Catholics have had requirements: 1) police background check done on all volunteers--including priests, 2) a second person be present at all religious functions, and 3) all personnel involved with minors must take routine checks with "Protecting God's Children".
Without a doubt, sexual abuse of a minor is one of the most despicable crimes and sins that man can perpetrate. But predators seem to thrive in an atmosphere where the base congregation is one of the most trusted organizations that exist.
Philip Jenkins, in his 1996 book Pedophiles and Priests, [[link edited for length]], looked at the problem objectively and dispassionately. Jenkins (who is not Catholic) found that true pedophilia is extremely rare, and perhaps more common among Protestant clergy, and is even more common among married laymen.
He found that in most sexual abuse cases (under the age of consent), the behavior is actually a variety of homosexuality. This sexual attraction with very young men that combine the charm of boyishness with sexual maturity is actually called ephebophilia. Pedophilia is really a psychiatric term meaning sexual interest in children below the age of puberty.
Even a book review by William A. Donahue [Review: Pedophiles and Priests] reveals how accurate Jenkins is in his observations over the years. Deal Hudson makes 10 valid points about priestly pedophilia [link edited for length] no one should overlook.
True pedophilia (Leon Podles/ Clergy Sexual Misconduct: Just a Catholic Problem?) occurs most often within families. Celibacy removes most Catholic priests from those types of temptations, and clergy in churches that do not require celibacy have the same (if not worse) problems.
But it has been a media target for any child abuse. More so because many enjoy 'shooting down' something they believe to be "holier than thou". But the Episcopal Church has a comparable problem, and some of the worst abuse cases have been in fundamentalist and Pentecostal churches [[link edited for length]].
Up until the AP report, comprehensive studies were only done on the Catholic Church. The rate for school teachers, residential home-counselors, social workers, or even scoutmasters, never existed because they had no method of accounting for sexual abuse. But the recent AP investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic. (Jacoby/Townhall) rightly states the same sort of outcry that came with Catholic sexual abuse has not existed with public school teachers.
It seems obvious that the legit but skewed condemnation of the Catholic Church is likely coming from the devil, himself. It's only logical his first and sometimes only, victim would be the church with the correct answers.
The problem of sexual abuse seems much bigger than the public will admit. And abuse from church organizations seems to be the minority. Reported sexual abuse seems only the tip of the iceberg. As despicable as Catholic abuse is, it is no where near just a Catholic problem. And finally, it seems as though the public has the wrong impression of who's responsible for accusations of ephebophilia.
And they don't seem to be able to know the differences in phobias, either.
Kevin Roeten can be reached at roetenks@charter.net
Biblically, weren’t some humans having children while 13 years old, or such?
There are several differences and one glaring omission from the OP:
-how many cases of molestation ended in criminal prosecutions comparatively speaking between the RCC and the other Denominations that were studied?
-the OP’s reference work is 14 yrs old, and could only study data that was pre publication in 1996.
-the study does not include Europe or Asia
I’d think a new study is needed as well as the Catholic Church cleaning their own pulpits as it were.
To me, the Catholic Church is one of the cornerstones of the West, I’d prefer to see her strong and confident and righteous moving forwards.
“Other people do it also is not a valid defense. Especially by those claiming to be God’s representatives on earth.”
This thread is about child molesting Protestant Pastors as I’ve already noted more than once. Are Protestant Pastors God’s representatives? They appear to be difficult to target by the LSM as are the teachers for some reason.
The Associated Press reported recently that three insurance companies receive upward of 260 reports each year of young people under 18 being sexually abused by Protestant clergy, challenging the assumption that clergy sexual abuse is an exclusively Catholic problem that does not take place in other churches.
That is a higher number than the annual average of 228 “credible accusations” brought against Catholic clerics in records reported by the Catholic Church in response to media scrutiny, a priest observed in a Fox News commentary questioning why the story isn’t garnering more attention.
While the report about abuse in Protestant churches doesn’t absolve guilty Catholic priests or those who enabled them, said Father Jonathan Morris, it offers a more complete picture. “The problem of sexual abuse has no denominational boundaries,” he wrote.
The AP obtained figures on sex-abuse claims from three companies that insure the majority of Protestant churches in America—Church Mutual Insurance Company, GuideOne Insurance and Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company.
The largest company, Church Mutual, reported an average of about 100 sex-abuse cases a year involving minors over the last decade. GuideOne, with about half the clients of Church Mutual, said it has received an average of 160 reports of sex abuse against minors every year for the past two decades. Brotherhood Mutual said it received an average of 73 reports of child sex abuse and other sexual misconduct every year for the last 15 years but did not specify how many victims are younger than 18.
That compares to at least 10,667 people who reported plausible claims of childhood sexual abuse by 4,392 priests or deacons between 1950 and 2002 in a study commissioned by the Catholic Church with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York as part of its response to its clergy abuse scandal. That represents 4 percent of the approximately 110,000 diocesan and religious priests who served in the United States in those years.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops offers an extensive annual report monitoring sexual-abuse claims. There were 635 new allegations reported in 2006, 9 percent fewer than in 2005. A total of 14 allegations (2 percent) involved children under the age of 18 in 2006. The remaining 621 allegations were by adults alleging abuse as minors in previous years.
Protestant numbers are harder to come by, the AP reported, because the denominations are less centralized than the Catholic Church. Many churches are independent, making reporting even harder.
“This bad news for Protestant Churches is sad news for all of us,” Father Morris wrote. “I would prefer the problem be limited to any one church—even if that church were my own—because it would mean more kids would be safe. But as I have said repeatedly over the last few years, the problem of sexual abuse of minors is not an issue of religious affiliation because there is nothing religious about abusing children. The phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors in church settings is the story of sick human beings taking advantage of their position of moral authority to prey on the weak and vulnerable. If Catholic clergy were to be faithful to their church’s teaching, there would be no abuse in the Catholic Church. The same goes for Protestant clergy. The problem, then, is not one of corrupt doctrine, but of individuals being unfaithful to the most basic precepts of their own religious belief.”
Insurance officials told the AP the numbers of sex-abuse cases has remained steady over the past two decades, but churches are doing more to prevent child-sexual abuse by conducting background checks, installing windows in nurseries and play areas and requiring at least two adults in a room with a child.
Still, said Patrick Moreland of Church Mutual, churches are particularly vulnerable to abusers.
“By their nature, congregations are the most trusting of organizations, so that makes them attractive targets for predators,” he said. “If you’re a predator, where do you go? You go to a congregation that will welcome you.”
America’s largest Protestant group, the Southern Baptist Convention, voted last month to refer a motion to study the feasibility of establishing a database of Southern Baptist clergy and church staff who are credibly accused of, have confessed to or were convicted of sexual abuse or harassment to the SBC Executive Committee.
This year’s convention also adopted a non-binding resolution expressing “moral outrage” against the victimization of children.
http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=9149
“Protestant numbers are harder to come by, the AP reported, because the denominations are less centralized than the Catholic Church. Many churches are independent, making reporting even harder.”
Actually it’s quite the opposite. The report is only recent as child molesting Protestant Pastors are more difficult to track and they’ve only been tracked for the last decade.
PS: I believe I linked to this report above - if not - here it is in full.
**Pedophilia Only a Catholic Sin?**
NO
**data for Protestant churches is available only for the last seven years.**
Hmmm
**And please note Pastor’s can marry.**
Which makes them all the more apt to abuse children.
Think about this:
The most probable pedophiles in order are:
Fathers
Teachers
Coaches
Protestant ministers
Priests are way down on the list.
So if a father is a teacher of mid-high history, coaches the girl’s basketball team and is a youth minister at his church on weekends/Sundays — watch out! He would be much more prone to pedophilia that any priest.
But, but, but that does not support the real agenda.
“To me, the Catholic Church is one of the cornerstones of the West, I’d prefer to see her strong and confident and righteous moving forwards.”
Thank you. And vice versa. I’m relieved to see the Southern Baptists took a vote on attempting to rid them from their Churches but that’s only one arena.
The point being the numbers. The Church did indeed protect priests, and in a way that forgot that the Church must be held to a much higher standard than
others and which in many cases sank to a CYA level. This is a case of blowing out of all proportion, and primarily aimed to tar the reputation of an institution that is a threat to the powers that be in our society. The very timing of this is suspect. We are just beyond the passage of radical legislation that will, in the end, man the end of the independence of Catholic hospitals and by extension to
other Catholic social services. The complicity of liberal Catholics in the passing of this hideous new law suggests that they had a role in this new campaign of villification of the pope, a pope whom they hate because he stands in their way.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
“With Christian friends like this, who needs the NYT and AP and the commie Left and secularists?”
And therein lies the problem.
One wonders if this pair will be as eager to voice their concerns about child molesting Protestant Pastors as they were about Catholic Priests -
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2484819/posts?q=1&;page=113#113
As I and others have pointed out, the problem for the Church is not the comparative incidence of pedo/ephebophilia in the Catholic vs. Protestant churches.
It’s the coverup and (to be blunt) quiet transfer of predators to new locations with continued access to fresh meat.
If you can come up with examples, hopefully quantified, of simiar behavior by the Protestant churches and public schools you reference, we’ll have something to discuss.
Until then, your objections are just irrelevant.
Totally agree, and they’re falling into the trap. I posted pretty much the same thing on the freerepublic link above but it’s like talking to the wall. Their eagerness to attack the Catholic Church blinds them to all else. Very sad really as they’re next on the chopping block. Christianity out - Islam, which have similar beliefs and outcomes as commies, are in...they’re also much more easy to control by their imams whom I believe are in collusion with the lefties.
Nope. You left two out at the top.
Mom's boyfriend.
Step-father.
Way out in front of biological fathers.
Actually, the article is more a complaint about disproportionate attention being paid to Catholic than Protestant issues in this area.
Well, assume that is true, how many of the SBC accusations that were credible were then followed up with criminal prosecutions?
I do happen to keep an eye on media reports in my area and there have been 3 public accusations that were followed up with criminal prosecutions with the average sentence being 12 yrs in prison.
To me, that is the key difference, an insurance claim can mean a number of things, including it is easier to settle the lawsuit than bankrupt the Congregation.
Criminal Prosecutions that end in conviction are a much more trustworthy statistic.
A point we all can agree on is, it is impossible to know for certain “who” will molest children in a given population, but statistically there will be molestors in a given population.
Imho such statistical certainty points to a mental illness as the core problem, if a population of 10,000 doctors or 10,000 plumbers is certain to contain offenders, then it would point to a subset that has a mental issue.
I agree the issue is being blown out of proportion for political reasons.
Which doesn’t mean the Church didn’t do some very bad things.
Notice the equation: celibacy = pedophilia. The notion that letting priests marry will solve the problems the priesthood has faced since 1965 is false. The collapse in morale suffered by priests after Vatican II was caused by radical reforms that seemed to make their special mission meaningless. The aim seems to be to redefine their role so as to make it virtually the same as that of Protestant ministers. Except that Protestants see ministers as simply law persons vested with a special office, not people set apart by special graces, by employees of a church or congregation rather than persons vested with authority by bishops who are themselves vested with authority by Christ himself.
In short, Protestant ministers are thought to have a calling which is higher than but not different in kind from the calling of a teacher or lawyer or a plumber. A priest on the other hand IS thought to be someone permanently marked as another man is marked by his vows of marriage or every Christian is marked by baptism.
“If you can come up with examples, hopefully quantified, of simiar behavior by the Protestant churches and public schools you reference, we’ll have something to discuss.”
Read the article. As they stated it’s difficult to track 30-60,000 denominations. The only reason there has been an;y reports at all is because of their Insurance Companies. The Southern Baptists, to their credit, are going to attempt their part in ridding their Churches of child molestation by their Pastors.
“Until then, your objections are just irrelevant.”
My thread is about Child Molestation by Protestant Pastors - if you believe the thread topic is irrelevant then why are you posting on it?
Thanks for the ping.
Thanks for that stupid, Obama-like attack. Pedophiles are in every religions AND in many, many public schools. Yes, but let’s kick the Catholics!
Playing into the hands of the Marxists, you too attack religion. Brilliant!
F***ing stooge.
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