>>Psychology is not considered an authority on such matters in Protestant churches.<<
Of course! That’s why there is NEVER any child abuse in Protestant churches.
And I’m not sure where you are getting that it was “legal” to abuse children. Except in your clouded view.
When I worked Psych, we thought that the people were curable. That meant that they would be left in their lives and treated. It was a horrible mistake but it was done. There is an amount of blame for the doctors treating them as well.
That was the Catholic church's view, given before the Irish court. From the article:
“..The commission dismissed as implausible a central defense of the religious orders — that, in bygone days, people did not recognize the sexual abuse of a child as a criminal offense, but rather as a sin that required repentance.
In their testimony, religious orders typically cited this as the principal reason why sex-predator priests and brothers were sheltered within the system and moved to new posts where they could still maintain daily contact with children...”
That's your church for you.