Catholic Priests Are Not More Likely To Commit Sexual Abuse
Table of Contents
The Media Overstates The Clergy Sexual Abuse Problem
I have already written about the mainstream media overstatement of the clergy sexual abuse problem before, but I figured this topic deserves it’s own article.
Firstly, no one can deny that there have been priests that have sexually abused others.
I just wanted to get that out of the way, since I know people will call me out if I deny this.
However, what is not true is the lie that priests sexually abuse more than the general population.
The infamous John Jay study, conducted in 2004, showed only 4% of Catholic clerics had accusations of abuse.
4% is still too high (it should be 0%) but Catholic priests are sinners, just like the rest of us.
Moreover, juries only convicted 6% of those 4% of priests.
This means juries have only convicted around 0.24% clergy members for sexual abuse.
That’s still more than the ideal of 0%, but that’s not really a significant number of clergy.
This low conviction rate also means that it is likely that many accusers are lying.
Also, the media acts like this is still a big problem, when the studies show that the problem is actually going away:
Myths Of Clergy Sexual Abuse Busted
Myth 1 – Priests Commit More Sexual Abuse
Actually, non-Priests commit sexual abuse more, on average:
A U.S. Department of Education study found that about 6 percent of public school teachers had credible or substantiated claims of sexual abuse of minor children under their charge (Shakeshaft, 2004a, 2004b) during the same timeframe as the Catholic clerical data was obtained. Furthermore, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) report that approximately 3 to 5 percent of men meet the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia. These numbers increase significantly if you include men who sexually violate postpubescent teenagers, which is illegal in most jurisdictions, but not a diagnosable psychiatric disorder according to the DSM-5.
There is no evidence that Catholic priests sexually abuse children or teens at rates higher than other groups of men, in or outside of religious communities.
Psychology Today
Myth 2 – Priests Are Still Abusing Children Today
On the contrary, there have been only a couple of cases reported to happen in the 21st century:
The Church has gone from averaging about 660 new cases of abuse per year during the 1970s to about 1 new case per year since about 2014 (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2011; Steinfels, 2019; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2018). In fact, few realize that the well-known Pennsylvania grand jury report on clerical abuse in that state during the past 70 years found only two cases from the 21st century—with both cases already known and managed (Office of Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 2018; Steinfels, 2019).
ibid.
Myth 3 – Priests That Commit Sexual Abuse Have Many Victims
Of the very small amount of priests that commit sexual abuse, a minority of those committed most offenses:
However, the average number of victims per offender is about one, and only 129 clerics accounted for more than a quarter of all known cases of abuse. This suggests that a small number of serial offenders caused much of the abuse crisis (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2004, 2011).
ibid.
Myth 4 – Celibacy Leads To Sexual Abuse
Also, some people will blame celibacy for sexual abuse, but that’s not a cause either:
Celibacy for any reason—such as religious vows, not having a suitable sexual partner, conflictual partnered relationships, medical or psychiatric disabilities, or personal choice—does not turn someone into a pedophile where children become the object of sexual desire. Celibacy may cause challenges with adult sexual expression that might result in a priest violating their religious vows with other adults but it doesn’t increase the risk of child sexual abuse (Manuel, 2012).
ibid.
Myth 5 – Priests Get Ordained To Hurt Children
Moreover, some people believe some priest get ordained to abuse children, but this isn’t true:
Research on sex-offending clerics tells us that most of these men had no intention of abusing anyone when they entered seminary (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2011; Plante, 1999, 2011). There is no evidence that these men decided to attend seminary to become priests with the express purpose of sexually abusing children.
ibid.
Myth 6 – The Reason The Numbers Went Down Is Because People Are Too Afraid To Come Forward
Some people may say today’s reports are low because it takes decades for victims to come forward, but this isn’t true anymore:
In the past, victims were reluctant to come forward and report abuse by Catholic clerics. This is also true of non-Catholic abuse cases, as well as abuse perpetrated by other high status and powerful individuals (e.g., teachers, coaches, esteemed relatives). Back in the mid to late 20th century, there were good reasons to keep reports of abuse quiet. First, no one would likely believe a child’s report of abuse, especially when the offender was a high-ranking and respected member of the community, such as a priest. Second, boys were not thought to be targeted as sexual abuse victims as people generally thought that only girls were victims. Third, law enforcement and health care professionals were not trained about the signs and symptoms of child sexual abuse until the mid-1980s. Fourth, mandated child abuse reporting laws didn’t become commonplace until the 1980s. And finally, victims were typically further victimized if they did come forward—they were routinely disbelieved or were blamed for whatever happened to them (see Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis, & Smith, 1990; Shakeshaft, 2004a, 2004b).
Though barriers remain, many of these reasons to avoid reporting child abuse have significantly lessened in the 21st century. There are many more incentives to report abuse today than in the past. For example, cultural shifts mean that victims are more likely to be believed, cash settlements are often made available to victims, and mandated reporting laws make reporting more common than it once was. Research suggests that we should not necessarily expect a large wave of reports decades from now for clerical abuse committed in more recent years (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2011).
Myths About Clergy Abuse
Myth 7 – Everyone That Claims They Were Abused Is Telling The Truth
Moreover, some people that claims of sexual abuse are just not true:
Some victims are sincere in their reporting but, sadly and tragically, their reports themselves are not truthful. Some victims have come forward, for instance, who experience significant psychopathologies such as schizophrenia and other thought disorders that involve delusions and hallucinations. Others have been susceptible to the suggestion of therapists, lawyers, the press, and others regarding repressed memories (Ahrens, 1995; Loftus, 2002 Price & McDonald, 2003). High-profile examples include abuse reports against Cardinal Bernadine in Chicago and Cardinal Mahoney in Los Angeles that were discovered to be false claims. And most tragically, some reports of abuse are intentionally untrue for those seeking large cash settlements or attention (Valladares, 2012).
ibid.
Other Groups That Commit More Sexual Abuse Than Priests
With that out of the way, how does this compare to the general population?
Firstly, married men account for 76% of the people that commit sexual abuse.
And, as we know, most Catholic priests aren’t married.
Also, this refutes the myth that celibacy is the cause of sexual abuse, as I already refuted above.
Secondly, up to 5% of men in the general population are pedophiles.
Thus, this means if only 0.24% of priests commit sexual abuse, this means that most pedophiles do not become priests.
So you people that call Catholic priests pedophiles need to stop, since this is demonstrably false.
Thirdly, sexual abuse by teachers is on the rise, and was up to 7% of all teachers accused in 2017.
The U.S. Department of Education study, from 2004, I quoted above had the number at 6%.
My guess is that this is higher now, what with all the teachers trying to convince children to become sodomites or gender benders.
As I keep saying:
THEY ARE COMING FOR YOUR CHILDREN!
Either way, public school teachers are more than 100 times more likely to commit sexual abuse than Catholic priests.
Fourthly, sexual abuse in Jewish communities is 4 times as much as the general population.
And did you know that when the mohel circumcizes a Jewish boy, he sucks his penis afterwards?
Eww… Gross!
And this also gives these boys genital herpes, for life! Talk about sick and twisted!
So why don’t you people that rail on Catholic priests, rail against this one for a while!?
But I digress…
In conclusion, all of these numbers are higher than the amount of priests convicted of sexual abuse.
Therefore, we don’t really have a clerical sexual abuse problem, but rather a problem with people lying about the truth!
I will end by admonishing us all to keep the Lord’s Commandment:
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus 20:16