[RobbyS]

I believe the sexual abuse crisis represents no isolated phenomenon and no new failure, but rather illustrates a state of slowly worsening clerical and episcopal corruption with its roots well back into the 1940s. Its principal tributaries include

1. a critical mass of morally depraved and psychologically defective clergymen who entered the service of Church seeking emoluments and advantages unrelated to her spiritual mission, in addition to 2. leaders constitutionally unsuited to the exercise of the virtues of truthfulness and fortitude.

Right! Contrary to some people's thinking, it did not begin with Vatican II.

[Fifthmark]

The John Jay report commissioned by the USCCB revealed that the peak year of ordination for abusive priests was 1970, five years after the close of the Council. From a Washington Times article:

"The John Jay study was praised as the first of its kind to study sexually abusive practices among a category of the American populace. The priests involved — 4,392 — constituted 4 percent of the 109,694 clergy who were working in the Catholic Church from 1950 to 2002.

The peak year for sexual abuse by the clergy was 1970, according to the report, which said sexual acts against children, defined as those under the age of 18, were often perpetrated over many years. Seventeen percent of the victims had siblings who also were abused.

The year 1970 was also the peak when abusive clergy were ordained, the report said, adding that more than 10 percent of all priests ordained that year were accused of sexual abuse."