Tag Archives: Clerical sexual abuse

Catholic Church, Culture, Media, The Left

How does the Catholic Church compare?

Many times I have pointed out that the incidence of child sexual abuse is no higher in the Catholic Church than in comparable organizations. Indeed, most sexual abuse of children occurs by far in a family situation. The research is there for all to discover.

But these facts mean nothing to such organizations as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who jealously maintains its place at the head of the forces determined to destroy the Catholic Church in Australia. But what about the public school system? What goes on there? Lauren Southern lifts the lid on the US public school system in The Horrors of The Public School System.

Catholic Church, Media, Political correctness, The Left

The great slander: the Church condemns sexual pleasure

Canadian Jean Vanier was highly admired for his work with intellectually disabled individuals. News that accusations of ‘sexual misconduct’ against him appeared credible disappointed many Canadians. But instead of regretting the weakness of one man and holding him responsible for his actions, the usual sort of leftist pretend Catholic wanted to blame the Church’s sexual morality for Vanier’s action. Catholics under the influence of Catholic teaching have a ‘deep fear of sexual pleasure’, it is alleged. Donald Demarco in the comment below blows this idea away with some facts about the Church’s teaching. This refutation is relevant to the Pell case and to clerical sexual abuse in general because many (on the left) blame clerical celibacy for the abuse. Such a view cannot be sustained on the evidence. Demarco has written a timely piece in Crisis Magazine.

Jean Vanier’s Sins Are His Own

DONALD DEMARCO

According to a report released by L’Arche International, Jean Vanier, the Catholic Canadian founder of a network of communities for intellectually disabled individuals, sexually abused at least six women. This news comes as both a disappointment and a shock to all those who regarded Vanier as a man of exemplary virtue.

“I was horrified,” writes Dorothy Cummings McLean for LifeSiteNews, “by revelations that its founder, the late Vanier, has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct by six women.” Discretion requires that we not go any further into what the report has revealed. Added to this unhappy revelation, however, is a bizarre criticism of the Catholic Church, as if it were as much to blame for Vanier’s lurid behavior as he was.

In an opinion piece for Canada’s Globe and Mail, Professor Michael W. Higgins (who calls himself a Catholic) stated the following in response to the Vanier revelations: “The deep pathology that runs through centuries of Catholic teaching on sexuality—a pathology marked by a deep fear of sexual pleasure with its body versus spirit dualism—needs to be recognized for its destructive potential. And the aftershocks of patriarchy reverberate throughout all of society. It’s time for a new and healthier anthropology.”

Read on…

Catholic Church, Culture, Religion, UK

Myths about Clerical Abuse

Top 10 Myths About Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church

Psychology Today, Aug 01, 2019

Sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests has been headline news for years. But even with so much press attention, there are many commonly accepted myths about this issue. Remarkably, evidence-based research doesn’t always receive attention, while sensationalized stories that create a particular—but sometimes false—narrative do. This ultimately misinforms and harms the public—not to mention efforts to keep kids safe in and outside of the Church.

As we approach the year anniversary of the recent uptick in media attention due to the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report (as well as the now-former Cardinal McCarrick abuse allegations), let’s review the top 10 myths about clerical abuse in the Catholic Church. 

Myth 1: Sexual abuse is more common among Catholic priests than other groups of men.  

About 4 percent of Catholic clerics had credible or substantiated accusations of child sexual abuse of minors (both prepubescent children and postpubescent teens) during the last half of the 20th century (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2004, 2011). Research data, although from limited small scale studies, finds the prevalence of clerical abuse among non-Catholic religious communities consistent with the Catholics. If you review insurance claims against Church communities for sexual victimization perpetrated by their clerics, you’ll find that that there is no difference between Catholic and non-Catholic groups (Zech, 2011).

Read on…

Catholic Church, Law, Media, Religion, The Left

A vicious hack closed my website

Four days ago, coincidentally after I had posted a series of critical and mocking tweets about the appalling result of Cardinal Pell’s appeal, my website suddenly turned crimson, warning about the dangers to be met within. Nobody could access it.

However, due to the actions of a very clever son, the corrupted files were found and annihilated. The website is now back online as safe as it could be.