Priest Abuse and Clergy Sexual Abuse Information

The Catholic sex abuse cases are a series of lawsuits, criminal prosecutions and scandals related to the sex crimes that were repeatedly committed by Catholic priests and members of religious orders, both under diocesan control and in orders which care for the sick or teach children,
[1] that first rose to widespread public attention in the last two decades of the 20th century.
[2] Although awareness of the widespread scope of these abuses first received significant media attention in Canada, Ireland and the United States, other cases were also reported in a number of other countries.

In addition to the actual abuse, much of the scandal focused around the behavior of some members of the Catholic hierarchy who did not report the crimes to civil authorities, and in many cases reassigned the offenders to other locations where they continued to have contact with minors, giving them the opportunity to continue their sexual abuse.[
3] In defending the church’s widespread sheltering of pedophiles (needs citation), some bishops and psychiatrists contended that the prevailing psychology of the times suggested that people could be cured of such behavior through counseling. In response to the widening scandal, Pope John Paul II failed to firmly declare that sex crimes are a criminal as well as a spiritual offense. He declared instead in 2003 that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young".
[4] With the approval of the Vatican, the hierarchy of the church in the United States instituted reforms to prevent future abuse including requiring background checks for Church employees and volunteers and, noting the preponderance of adolescent males (teenage boys) amongst victims of abuse, warned that a more searching inquiry is necessary for a homosexually oriented man;
[5] and the worldwide Church also prohibited the ordination of men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies".
[6]Rather than acknowledging the church’s culpability, members of the church hierarchy have compared the church with the most depraved parts of the secular world, arguing that media coverage of the issue has been excessive given that abuse occurs in other institutions.
[7] For example it has been estimated by the only official government report comparing sexual abuse between the Catholic church and public schools in the United States that sexual abuse is much more prevalent in public schools than the church. link Sex Abuse by Teachers Said Worse Than Catholic Church, E. Dougherty, Newsmax Monday, Apr. 05, 2004 Other commentators have said that the scandal highlights deep-seated problems with mandatory celibacy in the priesthood of the Catholic Church and how that institution deals with allegations of child abuse by its clergy.
[8] Other experts in the field of sexual abuse counseling contend that celibacy has no effect on rates of child abuse in the Catholic Church, as it has been shown that the rates of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is not higher than in society, other public institutions and other religious denominations.
Have you experienced any abuse?
Should the bishops be held responsible for the cover up?

According to mental health professionals, pedophilia is not connected to celibacy.

This very small group of child molesters would be just as sick or evil whether or not they had taken a vow of celibacy.

For more information, see "10 Myths about Priestly Pedophilia": http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/facts/fm0011.html

With love in Christ.