[Arthur McGowan]

The bishop is addressing Catholic people. He is answering their question: Is there something peculiarly wrong with the Catholic Church?--for instance, is celibacy the reason for this? Pointing out that married men commit 90% of child sexual molestation, and that the married clergy of other churches molest children at roughly the same rate as Catholic priests, is not meant to excuse any Catholic molester. But it does indicate that the blame does not lie with celibacy itself. It is necessary to point this out because agitators in the Church, and anti-Catholic bigots (like Pat Oliphant), have kept up a drumbeat linking celibacy and sexual abuse.

[american colleen]

The bishop is addressing Catholic people. He is answering their question: Is there something peculiarly wrong with the Catholic Church?--for instance, is celibacy the reason for this?

You are right, I am wrong. I just re-read the article, and reading it again with different eyes has put the whole thing in context regarding the press. I am, in a sad and depressed way, happy that the press "outed" this problem. But the Peter Jennings episode does indicate that *some* reporters are not balanced in what they produce.

[american colleen]

I just wanted to mention that it is pretty hard to pinpoint sexual abuse in Protestantism unless it is in the "mainstream" denominations. There are so many small denominations and if a problem occurs, the minister/pastor is fired, end of story - he slinks away into the night.

In Catholicism, as you know, we are all under one great big tent, we hold ourselves to be a "moral beacon" and therefore are much more open to criticism in all that we do.

[Torie]

The assertion that the rate of sex with minors is the same in the clergy of other churches as in the Catholic Church strikes me as unsubstantiated speculation. Less speculative is that the Catholic Church has a higher percentage of gay clergy than other churches. There is a body of data that gays have a higher rate of illicit sex with minors.

The article also fails to mention the inept way the Catholic Church has handled the PR, its failure to make a clear statement of repentance and commitment to change, its failure to hold the top echelon accountable (at least to date), and its execrable record of sealing up lawsuit records and alleging contributory negligence on the part of the parents and minors as a partial defense.