So why is this such a thing with priests then? Just because they have access to kids in a way that other professions don't? I guess I don't get why it's SO SO many priests. They all individually had the same idea? Weird.
shareThey touched on it in the movie briefly - it's the whole celibacy thing. What other organization enforces this? Since celibacy is mandatory, there is already so much secrecy as (the movie said) 50% don't follow it. Add the psychosis behind all that (think the crazy priest that was open to interview and truly felt he didn't rape them or do anything wrong - although he was raped!).
shareIt's not just Catholic priests and their celibacy. There have been a string of horrendous sex offenses in the Church of England. Anglican priests, reverends, bishops, archbishops have been disgraced and have lost their places because of sex offenses on young boys. Ex-Bishop Michael Perham was a married man and sex offense accusations were made against him. He resigned because of it. Protestant clergymen can marry. Yet, these offenses have been happening a lot in England. I feel religion is such fruity BS, it attracts fruity people. Hence, these attacks on children. Getting rid of religion would take care of a part of the problem. Sadly, there are also many other sex offenses in England's famous BBC and its government.
share[deleted]
Yes, MyOpinionOK. Christianity and Judaism teach that men who lay with men should be put to death. (As if straight men don't have same-sex quickies.) Religion seemingly puts a lot of gay men in denial. They marry and have children and become Christian clergymen and rabbis, but their frustrations are taken out on little boys. The same thing with celibate priests. The world needs to get over this Christian/Jew crap so the planet can eliminate these disgraceful lecherous men.
shareaccording to statistics 6% of Priest are involved in child sex abuse is the same percent as anyone else involved in child sex abuse. the sorry thing about the priesthood is the cover up which allowed it to continue. Much like teachers involved you hear about and remember it. the local butcher or accountant isn't memorable
shareActually:
What is it with priests with molesting BOYS--same sex children?
All comments=my own opinion not reflecting my voluptous pinup profile girl, Courtney Thorne-Smith
They said it in the movie, or at least made a guess at it -- boys were less likely to tell because of reputation worries.
shareThey also have easier access to boys as Alter Boys. Also parents are probably more likely to let a Priest be alone with a son than a daughter.
" parents are probably more likely to let a Priest be alone with a son than a daughter." Why is that? I am not disagreeing, but I want to understand your reasoning.
shareI'm not going to get into an argument over statistics, but let's say for argument's sake the homosexual population is 10%.
That makes the heterosexual population 90%.
The chances of a man messing with a girl are 9x greater than him messing with a boy.
I see that. It makes sense.
In a normal population, I would agree. However, the priesthood seems to attract men who are attracted to boys ( I have no stats to back that up) . I would say in non-Catholic churches, your scenario would be more of threat, but this is speculation.
Thanks for the clarification.
Extremely controversial, especially in the Catholic church, which denounces homosexuality, re: the priesthood seems to attract men who are attracted to boys.
I tend to agree with you, because of the whole celibacy requirement, at least in relation to the Catholic Church. Men who are really interested in getting married and having kids, are not drawn to the priesthood.
The real issue that's being forgotten here is that before stories like this came to light, most devout church-going parents wouldn't have worried one bit about leaving either their son or daughter alone with a priest, because back then the idea of a priest committing any sort of unsavory acts was literally unthinkable to them.
shareRight. It happened because they were HORNY AF from celibacy, and they could get away with it. I spoke to a Marriott manager once back in the day of "Pay-per-view X rated hotel movie channels", and she said there was more porn watched during their religious retreat weekends than any other time of the year.
shareI typed this in another post, but will add it here too:
I am no expert on the root cause of the pedophilia epidemic in religious institutions, but I think there may be some commonalities: many people trust churches and pedophiles thrive in places where trust abounds; it is likely a cyclical phenomenon where some of the abused return to become the abusers, as pedophiles are often abused themselves as children [like said above when that priest told Sacha he was raped but did not consider his own actions as rape]; and people with sexual disorders have guilt and may initially turn to the church for atonement then choose it as a career.
It's not just priests. It's really any closed system. Religions seem to have more of a problem because
1. no one wants to report or turn in or hold accountable a religious leader. The "he is a man of god' catch all covers a lot of crimes.
2. It's religion. Especially in the US, freedom of religion gets in the way of a lot of what should be done to these criminals. Secular groups where this kind of problem comes up are forced to change, religion not so much.
The Australian Royal Commission is uncovering a LOT of this stuff going on in all kinds of closed groups (where they police their own)
I think you might be looking at it from the wrong angle. Instead of wondering why so many priests molest children, maybe you should ask why so many pedophiles become priests? What better job could a pedophile have, than one where parents willingly usher a steady stream of young children into their perverted embrace?
shareIt's not just Catholic priests. It's an abundance of married Protestant clerics who are fathers and grandfathers within the Protestant Church of England. Protestant priests, bishops, and the highest level of the hierarchy, archbishops, have lost their jobs, served time in prison, and two years ago ex-archbishop of the Church of England Lord Hope resigned over the disgusting paedophile scandals, cover-ups, and "systemic failures" within the Protestant Church of England's hierarchy. These Protestant clerics aren't celibate and are allowed to marry. They are trusted so-called pillars of their communites and supposed to be well-respected clerics. Yet, parents are willing to usher a stream of unsuspecting children into their licentious embrace. It needs to stop!
shareI believe you are on the right track. The wikipedia article on John Geoghan, the pedophile priest in the article that started the Globe investigation, mentions an assessment of him as "markedly immature" when he started to study for the priesthood.
www.freerice.com
Over one million grains earned.
The Church has been invaded by jews. Catholics are a remnant. The jews objective is to destroy the Church. They attack Her from within and without. That is why they shuffle the pedos around instead of punishing them. And make movies about it.
shareThat is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
shareOh, FFS...
shareThe numbers are about the same in Protestant day camps, Jewish insitutions and certainly in public schools. Public schools are the worst for molestation.
shareIt's not just about priests. I grew up in an evangelical church and it happened there too. It's about certain individuals (both men and women) using the power and control, that are central to abusive behaviour, in order to seek sexual satisfaction from children. The church that I was raised in covered up sexual abuse as well, but that denomination doesn't have as much media coverage as the Catholic church.
This movie, however, is specific to the Catholic church. It's set in Boston, known for it's large population of Catholics. If you picked a different part of America, or even were to look into some of the evidence concerning massive churches like Hillsong, you'd find similar rates of it happening in other denominations.
If you want to find more case studies in other organisations, check out the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Not exclusive the the Catholic church but celibacy and the way the church is organized allowed this to happen more.
No longer do we take 11 year olds and put them in these pre priesthood seminaries. They had many of these prior to the 1980s. The result was psycho sexual stunted men whose only sexual experiences would have been with other boys. At least that was changed.
I was with the Dominicans 2 years from 1983-1984. One year in Denver and one year in St Louis. I did see some of the cracks in the fabric and just wanted a more normal life. I eventually became a nurse which made me far more fulfilled.
Of the 7 of us 3 in my class of novices had no intention of ever being celibate. One was a guy who openly flirted with women including sister novices we socialized with. The other 2 were obviously gay.
In one group discussion about sexuality I was all but called a Nazi for simply saying that the vow of celibacy means not having sex with anyone. I said nothing hateful or condemning about those who slip up and I said nothing about masturbation but you would think I did.
One of our gay brothers named David thought that sex was a tender way to minister to somebody hurting. How wrong is that? David incidentally died of HIV in the order about 6 years after I left.