Jim Carroll says:

If widespread sexual abuse had taken place in schools throughout the education system and if the collegues of the abusers had ignored what was happening, the school authorities had hidden and not reported them to the appropriate authorities and had pressurised the pupils and parents into signing a pledge of silence, and then moved the offending teachers on to other posts where they were free to continue that abuse - what do you feel should happen to ALL the guilty parties, abusers and accomplices?

Well, gee, Jim. I think they should be arrested, tried, convicted, and punished. Why would you think I would say anything else? - or is it by asking these questions, you are trying to mislead people into thinking I would support child abuse and molestation in any way? Nobody in his right mind supports crime, Jim - unless that person is a criminal himself.

As for Ed T playing statistics games - Ed, take a look at the data sheet I linked to at bishop-accountability.org. Note the information supporting the 5.1% figure: The U.S. bishops have reported receiving allegations of abuse by 5,600 priests in 1950-2008, or 5.1% of the 109,694 U.S. priests active since 1950.

Many incidents of child molestation go unreported, although I think the recent publicity had changed that tendency. Still, it does appear that a good proportion of the incidents are reported by the victims many years after the incident, after the victim has become an adult; and many, many incidents are NEVER. Therefore, it is well-nigh impossible impossible to collect completely accurate statistics of incidents. Still, the 5.1% number reflects the number of molesters who have been accused of even one incident - not those who have been convicted, and not limited to accusations that have been proved to be credible. I'm sure a few priests slipped through the cracks undetected.

Note the chart in #3 (Year abuse began) on the data page - the highest incidence of molestations appears to be in the period 1968-1983, and the number drops dramatically after 1990. I think the post-1990 number will rise significantly as victims get old enough to want to report these crimes, but my guess is that the number will not be anywhere near the 1968-1983 rate. I'm guessing that overall, the number of U.S. priests who molested was somewhere between five and ten percent. And let me make it clear that I think that is outrageous and disgraceful, a deep mark of shame on the Catholic Church. Don't try to put words in my mouth and and attempt to make it appear that I think otherwise. I am outraged at this scandal, and I am outraged at the bishops who did nothing to stop it - and I am outraged at the pope and the bishops for a hell of a lot of other things....birth control, anti-homosexuality, repression of nuns, refusal to ordain women, misuse of funds, mollycoddling hateful ultra-conservatives, and on and on and on.

A good third of the people, priests, and bishops in the Catholic Church are a real pain in the ass to me. They worship authoritarianism and pietism and small-mindedness and fear and prejudice and misogyny and anti-intellectualism and ultra-capitalism and a sheaf of other things that I think are absolutely contrary to the gentle, generous teachings of Jesus Christ.

But I've found a home with the other two-thirds.

-Joe-