By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
- 28 February 2004
Two church reports yesterday painted an even more shocking picture of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy than previously imagined, stating that the scandal at its worst involved 10 per cent of all priests ordained in the year 1970.
Both studies were commissioned by US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The first, ordered when the scandal erupted in 2002, found that over the previous half century in all 4,392 priests - 4 per cent of those practising the ministry over the period - had been accused of sexual abuse. "These leadership failings have been shameful to the church," the panel said.
The average age of victims was 12. In many cases they were lured into sexual contact by alcohol or drugs. In four out of five cases the abuse, most often in the priest's home, was homosexual. The report said it was unclear whether that was because the number of homosexual priests grew, or because they had easier access to boys than to girls.
More than half of all offenders were accused in just once instance, while just 149 priests - just over 3 per cent of the total - accounted for 27 per cent of offences.
The 145-page study, its cover in the colour purple to signify atonement, was written by academics at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, who sent out questionnaires to every diocese and Catholic religious order in the US; 97 per cent replied.
The fault, the report's authors concluded, did not lie in Catholic doctrine, but a lack of proper screening for seminarians entering the priesthood, and the outward indifference of bishops and other church leaders, once it was clear that sexual abuse was relatively common.
Victims' advocates immediately decried the figures. "Thousands of victims haven't reported and dozens of bishops aren't telling all they know," said David Clohessy, of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Over the years, according to the John Jay study, only 14 per cent of priests accused of abuse were reported to police, most in the 1990s. In the archdiocese of Boston alone, where the scandal broke in 2002, 7 per cent of all priests ordained since 1950 were accused of abuse. In total the archdiocese spent $120m (£64m) to settle related lawsuits.
Among those interviewed for the second report, on the deeper reasons for the crisis, was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in charge of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As the crisis broke in the US, he claimed that only 1 per cent of Catholic priests were involved. The true figure, it now transpires, was almost four times higher.
Source: Independent.Co.UK
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