Interesting op ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal by a Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University. He argues that the problem is largely an American one because vocations are rising in Latin America and Africa, and there have not been same level of abuse in those areas. In USA standards were relaxed in the 70s and 60s to make up for declining vocations. Most cases involve older teenagers and so should be described not as pedophila but homosexual. As global organization, Catholic Church unlikely to change views on celibacy given popularity of its conservative views in third world, while US accounts for only 6% of all Catholics. He suggests the whole issue is being used by liberals and conservative Catholics within US to push their own agendas re celibacy and other issues.

NY Post has an article saying that abuse in Orthodox Jewish communinities is even worse and easier to conceal because it is such a closed society.