Myth: Sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy is much more predictable than other religious sects.
Based on media coverage, it seems that this is so. This view is simply not supported by the facts, according to one of the leading researchers in the country.
Harol Shekshaft, a professor at Hofstra University in New York, states: "There is no reliable national statistics what the percentage of children used by Catholic clergy or employees."
As part of a report by the US Department of Education, Shekshaft outlined the problem parameters at another large national institution — the school system, where she found that seven percent of students report physical and sexual exploitation by a teacher or another school wage worker. Shekshaft notes that the sexual exploitation of children is reported in other religious denominations and in groups serving young people, such as scouts.
These studies clearly show that the sexual exploitation of children is a universal problem.
Shekshaft came to another interesting conclusion. The teachers' response to the problem of abuse in schools is now at about the same level as the Catholic Church in the 80s and 90s.
Only a few articles on research into abusive practices have been written (Haywood, Kravitz, Grossman, et al., 1996; Hayward, Kravitz, Wasyliw et al., 1996; Jenkins, 1996; Fönes et al., 1999; Plante, 1999 Langevin , Kurne and Bane, 2000); or victims of these atrocities (Rosetti, 1995; Isely, 1997; Berezin de Guiter, 2000; Fater and Mullaney, 2000; Disch and Avery, 2001).
Of the four articles devoted to the survival of sexual abuse in the clergy, only two used samples of a size ten or more. Disch and Avery (2001) collected data on the mixed population of survivors of clergy, medical, and mental health. In their research it was reported:
o a greater number of men are abused by members of the clergy: 26.3%, in contrast to 9.5%, which is abused by medical workers and 6.7% - by mental health specialists.
o with the abuse of clergymen, a larger number (94.4%) of abusers were men, while a smaller number (64.3%) of abusers was heterosexual than in the other two groups.
o Rosetti examined 1,800 adult Catholics divided into three groups: those who did not report sexual abuse in childhood (n = 1,376), those who reported sexual abuse against children, but not the clergy (n = 307), and who reported sexual abuse by children of the clergy (n 40). Rosetti (Rosetti, 1995) found that those who were abused by the clergy reported a significantly lower level of confidence in the priesthood, the church, and God than those in the other two groups.
o Vater and Mullani described a small sample of seven men who were sexually interrupted by the clergy as children. All reported anger and spiritual distress.
o Berezin de Giter (2000) sent a single study of a 10-year-old boy, whose father died when he was 2 years old when his priest was abused; The boy's sexual response, anger, and violent reactions to these life events are typical of a boy who has been sexually abused by someone other than the clergy.
Isely (1997) wrote his thesis on the consequences of abuse by clerics, interviewing nine men who were interrupted by the clergy as children. Isly described the symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, guilt, low self-esteem, loss of religion, anger, difficulty managing and maintaining interpersonal relationships, and depression. These consequences are consistent with sexual abuse survivors who were interrupted by a family member, family friend, neighbor, or other trusted adult.
Myth: The Archdiocese prevented the prosecution of victims accused of abusing minors.
This myth arose from the fact that the archbishops achieved the protection of spiritual and confidential relations between practitioners and the archbishop, chancellor and vicar for the clergy, whose privacy is at the core of how the Catholic Church practices religion. The district attorney believed - and some reporters bought into it - that the DA needed documents to prove.
As a result, common sense soon showed the fallacy of this. The fact is that for many years in California and the United States, sex offenders from all walks of life were convened without any private and protected information that DA thought from the archdiocese.
True - and this is rarely reported - the archdiocese offered to provide the district attorneys with the names of all the accused, their assignments and other relevant information. In addition, the district attorney has testimony from victims and others.
Myth: The Archdiocese has gone to the Supreme Court, trying to block the public release of proposals.
The Archbishop wanted to free them; these were the archbishop's attorneys who prepared them to assist in the prosecution.
Instead, objections to the issuance of proposals that summarize the essential content of the tests, personal files, were raised by a series of named actions. It was their appeal, first to the California State Court of Appeals, and then to the State Supreme Court, which deferred release. The practice has legal representation, completely separated from the archdiocese. The archbishop's attorneys do not know which course to pursue, and they did not ask.
The archdiocese's attorneys proposed a profile procedure. The goal was to provide the information needed by the parties concerned to discuss a fair and reasonable settlement of civil cases involving the clergy, while at the same time protecting the spiritual and confidential messages between the accused trials and their authorities in the Church. An alternative would be years of litigation that could delay settlement.
All parties to the mediation and settlement process agreed to the service provision procedure.
Myth: The Archdiocese did little to help victims of sexual abuse by the victims.
Interest in allegations of abuse has increased; the more attention is paid to the efforts of the Archdiocese to assist the victims and their assistance. These efforts have been extensive and intense.
Cardinal Mahoney has publicly apologized for the harm caused by the offenders inside the Church, and acknowledged past mistakes that were made in the fight against offensive practices. He participated in a number of private prayer and apologies with the victims of the abusive behavior of the clergy and their families.
The Ministry of Assistance works throughout the Archdiocese to find solutions for the needs of the victims, working on organizing grassland propaganda, counseling, housing, housing, education, insurance and childcare. Representatives of the ministry are constantly at a community meeting with people who have been abused. Several victims of abuse act as advisers to the Office.
The Ministry of Assistance Office has participated in 125 cases since the beginning of 2004. Only 40 of them concerned allegations of abuse (present or past) against the clergy. The rest were related to allegations against teachers, coaches, volunteers and family members.
