Catholic Church sexual abuse cases

The Roman Catholic sex abuse cases are a series of accusations of child sexual abuse and related church cover-ups made against Roman Catholic priests.

The incidents involved diocesan priests and members of the various Roman Catholic religious orders, with reports coming from the United States and Ireland. Cases involved seminaries, schools and orphanages where children were in the care of clergy. Criticism of the Church and its leadership focused on the failure to act upon information, and often to move priests who had received complaints from church to church in order to protect them. Some allegations have led to successful prosecutions of the accused, as well as civil cases settling for millions of dollars.

One book publicizing the abuse stated that the "overwhelming majority" of the abused children were male. There had been charges that a minority of the clergy had been practicing such behavior for decades, alleging that a "homosexual collective" within the priesthood viewed child sex abuse as a "religious rite" and "rite of passage" for altar boys and young priests. While the reported sexual abuse dates primarily from the 1960s to the 1980s, some cases occurred in the 1990s. Sexual abuse has also happened in past centuries, having been the topic of Pope Benedict XIV's apostolic constitution Sacramentum Poenitentiae in 1741.

The John Jay Report, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, found accusations against 4,392 priests in the USA, equalling about 4% of all U.S. priests. Figures supplied by the Catholic League, and the U. S. Department of Education suggest that the abuse figures in the Catholic Church are similar to abuse in other institutions such as education.

Sexual abuse

Clergymen, generally trusted by laity, had largely unrestricted contact with people through parish links with families, seminaries and other institutions run by religious orders such as, regular and reform schools, orphanages, hospitals, and social work organisations. Although sexual abuse by priests was of primary concern to the public, media reports during the height of the scandal revealed a number of examples of laity being involved in abuse at these institutions.

The clergy were involved in every aspect of the lives of the families of their communities, from baptising the young to the weekly celebration of Mass, giving children First Communion to marrying couples and being the celebrant of their funerals.

Apart from direct family connections, many Catholic families sent their children to Catholic schools, where priests taught as teachers or visited regularly as the local parish priest or curate. Participation in the Catholic faith involved a close association with, and proximity to, priests. While the vast majority of priests are thought never to have abused any children (99.8%), the small minority of priests who are known to have committed offenses had easy access to children.

One of the worst examples of a clergyman using his links with families to facilitate sex abuse occurred in Ireland, where one priest ² systematically raped and sexually abused hundreds of boys between 1945 and 1990. The scandal over the Fr. Brendan Smyth case, and the related obstruction of justice by the Norbertine Order caused immense damage to the credibility of the Catholic church in Ireland. This was also seen in other cases, such as that of Fr. Jim Grennan, a parish priest, who abused children as they prepared for First Communion, and Fr. Sean Fortune, who committed suicide before his trial for the rape of children. The abuse by Grennan and others in the Diocese of Ferns in south-east Ireland led to the resignation of the local bishop, Brendan Comiskey, while similar scandals in the Archdiocese of Dublin severely damaged the reputation of its archbishop, Cardinal Connell. Although there were other social factors at play, some have argued that the ten-year drop in the percentage of Irish people attending weekly Mass (from 63% to 48%) was related to these events.

Inquiries have established the existence of abuse in institutions, and a failure by those responsible for running and overseeing the institutions when confronted with evidence of abuse to act in the best interests of the victims, or in accordance with the criminal law in their jurisdiction. Governmental institutions have also been heavily criticised for neglecting to adequately ensure that young people placed in those institutions by agents of the state were properly looked after.

Some of the most serious allegations of abuse were made against clergy who either worked in the institutions, or who were allowed unlimited visitation rights and access to young people. As with the clergy in parishes, many allegations have resulted in criminal convictions of the abusers.

In Canada the Mount Cashel Orphanage scandal in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Duplessis Orphans in the province of Quebec were of great public concern.

Policies

Abusers moved to different locations

Some bishops have been heavily criticized for moving offending priests from parish to parish rather than seeking to have them stripped of their faculties. Many dioceses submitted accused priests for intensive psychotherapeutic treatment and assessment, with the priests only resuming pastoral duties when the bishop was advised by the treating psychologists or psychiatrists that it was safe for them to be so assigned.

Critics have also condemned bishops for acting as business managers who viewed the issue as a disciplinary and medical matter for the priest and were concerned about secrecy for optimal financial management rather than the interests of the victims.

• Fr Ramos Reassignment letter
  Fr Ramos Reassignment letter
• Notes demonstrating knowledge of reoccurrence of abuse
  Notes demonstrating knowledge of reoccurrence of abuse

An example of the policy of shifting offenders from place to place is demonstrated in the case of Fr Ramos. Typical of these examples he was reassigned to another parish after treatment. An unknown Church official in 1985 took telephone notes that indicate an awareness of his continuing child molestation by Church officials well after his initial psychological treatment in the late 1970s. In spite of this knowledge that he re-offended, he continued to molest for a further two years and accumulated 25 allegations of abuse in total.

In response to questions, defenders of the Church's actions have suggested that in re-assigning priests after treatment, Bishops were acting on the best medical advice then available. Critics have questioned whether bishops are necessarily able to form accurate judgments on a priest's recovery.

Failure to report criminal acts to police

From a legal perspective, one serious offence was the failure by senior Church leaders with information on criminal acts to report the crimes directly to the police. This happened in many cases in many countries, and is proving to have extremely negative consequences. The Norbertines, for example, knew not merely of Fr. Brendan Smyth's apparently criminal pedophilic tendencies but also of allegations of sexually interfering with children from as early as 1945, yet it was only in the late 1980s and early 1990s that the police forces of the Republic of Ireland, the Garda Síochána, and of Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, were able to gather sufficient information to prosecute Smyth.

In May 2001, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and later elected Pope Benedict XVI on the death of his predecessor, sent a letter to all Catholic Bishops declaring that the Church's investigations into claims of child sex abuse were subject to the pontifical secret and were not to be reported to law enforcement until investigations were completed, on pain of excommunication. The secrecy related only to the internal investigation, and the letter did not attempt to discourage victims from reporting abuse to the police.

In response to the failure to report abuse to the police, lawmakers have changed the law to make reporting of abuse to police compulsory. An example of this can be found in Massachusetts, USA. (See external link near bottom of article)

Allegations of systematic plots to conceal evidence

Reviewers of the Smyth case differ as to whether it was a deliberate plot to conceal his behaviour, incompetence by his superiors at Kilnacrott Abbey, an institution presuming that what happened to its members was its own business, a failure to grasp the human and legal consequences, or some combination of factors. Cardinal Daly, both as Bishop of Down and Connor, a diocese where some of the abuse took place, and later as Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh, is recorded as having been privately scathing at the Norbertine "incompetence".

William McMurry, a Louisville, Kentucky lawyer, filed suit against the Vatican in June 2004 on behalf of three men alleging abuse as far back as 1928, accusing Church leaders of organising a cover-up of cases of sexual abuse of children. Legal experts predict an unsuccessful outcome to this case, given the sovereignty of the Holy See and the lack of evidence of Vatican complicity. Sovereign immunity however, was recently denied upon appeal in a separate (WW II/ Vatican Bank/Ustazhe Genocide) United States federal lawsuit.

Payments to victims

Some have alleged that Church members paid off victims of child abuse, either in settlement of compensation claims, or in order to prevent them reporting to the police. In the mid-1990s, Archbishop (later Cardinal) Connell of Dublin lent money to a priest who had abused altar boy Andrew Madden; this money was used to pay compensation to Madden and to prevent him from reporting the abuse to the police. Connell later claimed never to have paid money to a victim, insisting that he had simply lent money to a priest who independently used the money to pay off his victim.

Implications of the scandal

Seminary training

The late Pope John Paul II took a number of steps to address the problem of priestly formation. On March 25, 1992, he completed the apostolic exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis ("I Shall Give You Shepherds"), one of the longest papal documents in history. This explored the crisis of priestly identity, the renewal of priestly life and the reform of seminaries in detail. Some have attributed the scant number of abuse allegations from the 1990s as evidence that the late Pope's reform efforts were fruitful.

Clergy themselves have suggested their seminary training offered little to prepare them for a lifetime of celibate sexuality; a report submitted to the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 1971, called The Role of the Church in the Causation, Treatment and Prevention of the Crisis in the Priesthood by Dr. Conrad Baars, a Dutch-born Catholic psychiatrist from Minnesota, and based on a study of 1500 priests, suggested that some clergy had "psychosexual" problems. It is a matter of speculation as to how much of the Catholic Church's mishandling of sex abuse cases was influenced by such problems.

In some countries in the aftermath of the crisis caused by the sex abuse allegations, the Church has begun reforming seminary training to provide candidates for the priesthood with training to deal with a life of celibacy and sexual abstention.

Homosexuality within the clergy has also come under scrutiny, as most of the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases involved post-pubescent males. (See Ephebophilia.)

Rome's Congregation for Catholic Education issued an official document, the Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders (2005). Controversially drawing a parallel between homosexuality and paedophilia, the document states that the Church "cannot admit to the seminary or to Holy Orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'".

Declining standards explanation

Traditional Catholics have made the charge that the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) fostered a climate that encouraged priests to abuse children. The council essentially directed an opening of the doors to meet the world. This was considered an appropriate way of going forth and spreading the Good News. However traditional Catholics believe that this led to a conversion of Catholics to secularism rather than vice versa. In the January 27, 2003 edition of Time Magazine, actor and traditional Catholic Mel Gibson charged that "...Vatican II corrupted the institution of the church. Look at the main fruits: dwindling numbers and pedophilia." However it is important to note that abuse by priests was occurring long before the start of Vatican II and that many of the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases did not, strictly speaking, involve pedophilia. For instance the apostolic constitution Sacramentum Poenitentiae which established general notice of the problem of sexual abuse amongst the clergy was published by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741.

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, a retired Archbishop of Washington, blamed the declining morals of the 1960s as a cause of the high number of paedophile priests.

Supply and demand explanation

Catholic clergy are in short supply in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Catholic doctrines and this understaffing combine, it has been claimed, to make Catholic clergy extraordinarily valuable. It is alleged that the Catholic hierarchy acted to preserve the number of clergy and ensure that they were still available to supply priestly services, in the face of serious allegations that these priests were unfit for duty.

Others disagree and believe that the Church's mishandling of the sex abuse cases merely reflected prevailing attitudes of the time towards such activity, in which the tendency was to suppress the information lest it cause scandal and a loss of trust in the institution. Evidence for this view includes the manner in which the media and secular organisations hid damaging information or ignored it, from the sexual promiscuity of leading politicians to domestic violence. They see the Church as having made horrendous but genuine mistakes resulting from their leaders being out of touch with society's increasing demand for accountability.

Celibacy explanation

It has been suggested by some that the discipline of celibacy in the Catholic priesthood has historically played a role in cases of sexual abuse. It is believed that those with a predisposition toward child molestation may be drawn to the celibate lifestyle due to a confusion about their sexual identity or orientation, and that such individuals may be harder to detect. It has also been suggested that some individuals may join the priesthood to gain access to children.

In response, it has been said that there is no indication of a higher level of child-oriented sexual activity among the unmarried Catholic clergy than that of the married clergy of other denominations and of schoolteachers. If this is the case, (i) those with a predisposition to molest children are no more likely to end up among the Catholic clergy, and (ii) already active child molesters as a group have not specially targeted the Catholic clergy for entry, though it seems likely that some child molesters have entered its ordained ministry as they have other ministries elsewhere. It has also been noted that the easiest way to access children is to have a family and child sexual abuse is statistically most commonly associated with families. Thus deliberately choosing a celibate profession can also be considered to make things harder for a prospective child molester.

Molestation of pre-pubescent children was rare in the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases and opinion is very divided on whether there is any connection between the Catholic institution of celibacy and the incidence of child abuse. Factual analysis is difficult for a number of reasons, including that there are relatively few statistical studies on the issue of sexual abuse among the clergy and that sexual abuse rates among the general population are almost impossible to determine, since not all of the instances are reported. Therefore, no consensus can be reported here. Examples from each side of the debate are shown below.

Advocacy against mandatory celibacy

The Center for the Study of Religious Issues (CSRI), the research division of CITI Ministries (an anti-celibacy advocacy organization), published a book about quantitative studies 1999-2004, which argues that a connection exists between mandatory celibacy and sexual abuse. Based on her research, the author states that the evidence strongly ties mandatory celibacy to the child abuse cases. The book concludes:

"A demonstrable link exists between mandatory celibacy and clergy sexual abuse. Sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy is different from sexual abuse by other populations in almost every aspect of the victim/perpetrator profiles and characteristics, differences that can only be seen by segregating respective demographics and other specifics from general population abuse."

The author of The Bingo Report, Louise Haggett, has been a leading activist in the push for married priests for over a decade. In 1992, she founded Celibacy is the Issue (CITI) Ministries, whose "Rent-a-Priest" program promotes the activities of priests or laicized priests who have married without authorization.

Advocacy for mandatory celibacy

Philip Jenkins, an Episcopalian and Professor of History and Religious Studies at Penn State University, published the book Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis in 1996. In it, he calculated that approximately 0.2 percent of Catholic priests are child molesters. His 2002 article "The myth of the 'pedophile priest'" expresses his views. In contrast to Louise Haggett's statement, Professor Jenkins states:

"My research of cases over the past 20 years indicates no evidence whatever that Catholic or other celibate clergy are any more likely to be involved in misconduct or abuse than clergy of any other denomination -- or indeed, than nonclergy. However determined news media may be to see this affair as a crisis of celibacy, the charge is just unsupported."

Supporters of celibacy claim that Catholic priests suffering sexual temptations are not likely to turn immediately to a teenage boy simply because Church discipline does not permit clergy to marry. Supporters of clerical celibacy suggest, then, that there is some other factor at work.

Crimen sollicitationis

Main article: Crimen sollicitationis

Crimen sollicitationis (translated from Latin as The crime of solicitation or The crime of harassment) is a secret document issued by the Holy Office of the Vatican (now named the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) in 1962, instructing bishops about how to deal with cases in which priests were accused of abusing the sacrament of penance to sexually proposition penitents, thus its title. The same legal procedure, but with some adjustment, is also extended to clerics accused of homosexuality, pedophilia and zoophilia. The document calls for all cases to be handled in secret and extends that secrecy to the document itself. Perhaps as a result, some bishops claim not to have known of its existence. In 2006 the Panorama documentary television series did an episode on Crimen sollicitationis named Sex Crimes and the Vatican which investigated how the document was used to cover up sexual abuse by priests. Crimen Solicitationis was preceded by the apostolic constitution Sacramentum Poenitentiae which established general notice of the problem of sexual abuse amongst the clergy was published by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741.

Media hype explanation

Philip Jenkins claims that the Catholic Church is being unfairly singled out by a secular media which he claims fails to highlight similar sexual scandals in other religious groups, such as the Anglican Communion, various Protestant churches, and the Jewish and Islamic communities. He also claims that the Catholic Church may have a lower incidence of molesting priests than Churches that allow married clergy because statistically child molestation generally occurs within families but Catholic priests do not have families. He also claims that the term "pedophile priests" widely used in the media, implies a distinctly higher rate of child molesters within the Roman Catholic priesthood when in reality the incidence is lower than most other segments of society". Jenkins later authored the book The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice in 2003, touching on some of the same issues.

Other Catholic teachings, practices

The Catholic Church clearly teaches the sexual abuse of children to be gravely sinful. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church's list of moral offences, one finds:

"...any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it, all their lives; and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing." (CCC 2389).

In the Bible's New Testament, Jesus tells his disciples, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." (see Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; and Luke 17:2)

The Apostle Paul in his 1st and 2nd letter towards Timothy notes that, if they are to marry at all, "Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, should be the husband of one wife...". This tradition can be seen practiced in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, although no bishop of any church may be married, and bishops are therefore either widowers or lifelong monastics.

Despite these teachings, some critics have charged that specific doctrines or traditional practices in Catholicism contributed to the problem. Catholic teaching affirms that so long as the officiant has been validly ordained, his personal sins have no effect on the validity of the Masses, absolutions, baptisms, and other sacraments he has administered. The doctrine of apostolic succession makes valid ordinations and institutional affiliation the chief consideration in clerical status.

Diocesan priests versus those from orders

• While most claims have been against diocesan priests, there have been sexual abuse cases concerning those in orders. In the United States, Salesian High in Richmond, California lost a sexual abuse case, whilst in Australia there are allegations that the Salesians moved a priest convicted of abuse in Melbourne to Samoa in order to avoid further police investigation and charges.

• The Christian Brothers in Canada more than 300 former pupils were physically and sexually abused at the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland. When allegations of physical and sexual abuse started to surface in the late 1980s, the government, police and church conspired in an unsuccessful cover-up. In Ontario in January of 1993 the Christian Brothers reached a financial settlement totaling $23 million with 700 former students who alleged abuse. In Ireland in March of 1998, the Congregation of the Christian Brothers published full-page advertisements in newspapers apologizing to former pupils who had been ill-treated whilst in their care. The unprecedented advertising campaign expressed "deep regret" on behalf of the Christian Brothers and listed telephone lines which former pupils could ring if they needed help. In Australia the Christian Brothers protected Brothers accused of sex offenses.

• In July of 2007 in the United States a lawsuit was filed against the Brothers of the Sacred Heart which alleged that they moved around a Brother who was accused of sexual misconduct with an adolescent.

Episcopal resignations

• Bernard Francis Law, Cardinal and Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts, United States resigned after Church documents were revealed which suggested he had covered up sexual abuse committed by priests in his archdiocese. For example, Father John Geoghan was shifted from one parish to another although Cardinal Law had often been informed of his abuse. In December 1984 auxiliary Bishop John M. D’Arcy wrote to Cardinal Law complaining about the reassignment of Geoghan to another Boston-area parish because of his “history of homosexual involvement with young boys." The Vatican announced on December 13, 2002 that Pope John Paul II had accepted Law's resignation as Archbishop and reassigned him to an administrative position in the Roman Curia and named him archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Cardinal Law later presided at one of the Pope's funeral masses. Bishop Séan P. O'Malley, the Capuchin friar who replaced Law as archbishop, was forced to sell a good deal of valuable real estate and to close a number of churches in order to pay $120,000,000 in claims against the archdiocese.

• Bishop Brendan Comiskey, Bishop of Ferns, resigned when similiar facts were revealed.
• Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër resigned from his post as Archbishop of Vienna over allegations of sexual abuse in 1995.

• Two Bishops of Palm Beach, Florida resigned due to child abuse allegations. The first was Joseph Keith Symons, who was replaced by Anthony O'Connell, who later also resigned.

Compensation payouts

• In December 2006 the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (Roger Cardinal Mahony) agreed to a payout of $60 million to settle 45 of the over 500 pending cases concerning abuse by priests. In July 2007 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay a $660 million settlement to hundreds of people who claimed to have been abused by clergy.

• In September of 2003 the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay out $85 million to 552 victims.

• In 1997 the Diocese of Dallas negotiated a $31 million settlement with victims.

• In June of 2003 the Archdiocese of Louisville made a $25.7 million settlement involving 240 victims of sexual abuse.

• On January 3, 2005 Bishop Tod Brown of the Diocese of Orange apologized to 87 alleged victims of sexual abuse and announced a settlement of $100 million following two years of mediation.

• In December of 2006 the Diocese of Phoenix agreed to pay $100,000 to William Cesolini who claimed he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by a priest.

• In Canada the Christian Brothers have paid out approximately $35 million (Canadian) in compensation.

Bankruptcy

• Citing monetary concerns arising from impending trials on sex abuse claims, the Archdiocese of Portland (Oregon) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 6, 2004, hours before two abuse trials were set to begin, becoming the first Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy. If granted, bankruptcy would mean pending and future lawsuits would be settled in federal bankruptcy court. The archdiocese had settled more than one hundred previous claims for a sum of over $53 million. The filing seeks to protect parish assets, school money and trust funds from abuse victims: the archdiocese's contention is that parish assets are not the archdiocese's assets. Plaintiffs in the cases against the archdiocese have argued that the Catholic church is a single entity, and that the Vatican should be liable for any damages awarded in judgment of pending sexual abuse cases.

• The Diocese of Spokane in December of 2004. The diocese of Spokane in Washington as part of its bankruptcy has agreed to pay at least 48 million dollars as compensation to people abused by priests. This payout has to be agreed with by the victims and another Judge before it will be made.

• The Diocese of Tucson filed for bankruptcy in September, 2004. The Diocese of Tucson reached an agreement with its victims, which the bankruptcy judge approved June 11, 2005, specifying terms that included allowing the diocese reorganization to continue in return for a $22.2 million settlement.

• On October 10 2006, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport also filed for Chapter 11 protection. The decision to file for bankruptcy was being driven by many claims which focus on Bishop Lawrence Soens, who has been accused of fondling as many as 15 students during his tenure as priest and principal at Regina Catholic High School in Iowa City during the 1960s. Soens denies the allegations. A judge discharged one suit in October 2006.

• On February 27 2007, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego also filed for Chapter 11 protection, hours before the first of about 150 lawsuits was due to be heard. San Diego became the largest diocese to postpone its legal problems in this way.

Specific countries

Australia

• In 1992, the nonprofit organization Broken Rites was formed to help the victims of church-related sexual abuse in Australia. Though Broken Rights is non-denominational, approximately 90% of the victims that have contacted the organization have been from a Catholic Background.

• In June 2002, The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Sydney Archbishop George Pell temporarily "stood" aside from his post during an investigation into 40 year old allegations of child sexual abuse. The allegations against Pell could not be proven or disproven due to the amount of time that had passed since the incident. Pell accompanied Father Gerald Ridsdale to his 1993 trial and has been accused of covering the tracks of pedophiles in the Australian Priesthood. Pell has publicly stated that he believes, "Abortion is a worse moral scandal than priests sexually abusing young people."

• In May of 2006 Federal Court judge Justice Rodney Madgwick ruled against extraditing Father Raymond John Garchow and Brother Roger Moloney of the St John of God order to New Zealand to face charges of sexually abusing boys at the Marylands Special School, a boarding school for disabled and disadvantaged children, between 1971 and 1980.

Austria

File:Krenn.jpg

Kurt Krenn, Bishop Emeritus of Sankt Pölten in Austria

• In 1995 Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër was forced into stepping down from being the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria due to accusations of sexual misconduct. In 1998 he went into exile. Though, disgraced, Groër remained a Cardinal in the Catholic Church.

• The St. Pölten pornography scandal occurred in 2004 within the seminary in St. Pölten. In late 2003, the body of a seminarian was found drifting in the Danube. In early 2004, police seized a computer in the seminary containing, according to police reports released on July 13, 2004, more than 40,000 pornographic pictures downloaded from the internet, many of them were classified as child pornography. A number of photographs have emerged in the Austrian media showing alleged sexual acts among seminarians and sometimes including the regens of the seminary, Ulrich Küchl, which were allegedly performed at a Christmas party. This led to the resignation of Bishop Emeritus Kurt Krenn whose policies regarding the administration of the seminary have been criticized as having been conducive to the scandal.

Brazil

• Brazil is the world's largest Roman Catholic Country. A papal commission found 10 percent of Brazil's 18,685 priests to have been involved in sexual misconduct and 200 priests had been committed to psychological institutions for pedophilia between 2002 and 2005.

• In 2005 Priests Tarcísio Tadeu Spricigo and Geraldo da Consolação Machado were convicted of child molestation while Fr. Felix Barbosa Carreiro was arrested and charged with pedophilia in the northeastern state of Maranhão after police seized him in a hotel room with four teenage boys.

Britain

• In July 2000 The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, acknowledged he had made a mistake while in a previous post in the 1980s by allowing a pedophile to carry on working as a priest. The priest at the center of the controversy, Father Michael Hill, was jailed in 1997 for abusing nine boys over a 20-year period.

Canada

• In the 1990s, criminal proceedings began against members of the Christian Brothers in Newfoundland. The proceedings were based on allegations of sexual and physical abuse against boys at the Mount Cashel Orphanage. It was alleged that the Brothers were allowed to escape prosecution at the time (1980s) if they left Newfoundland. Several Brothers left Newfoundland and went to teach at St. Thomas More Collegiate in British Columbia. These included Joseph Burke, Edward English, Edward French, and Kevin Short. The subsequent lawsuits by the Mount Cashel victims against the Christian Brothers organization threatened to close STMC in 2004.

• The Duplessis Orphans (French: les Orphelins de Duplessis) are the victims of a scheme in which several thousand orphaned children were falsely certified as mentally ill by the government of the province of Quebec and placed in orphanages run by the Roman Catholic Church. Years later, long after these institutions were closed, the adult children who had survived them began to speak out about the harsh treatment and sexual abuse they were forced to endure at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church priests, nuns, and administrators.

Czech Republic

• In 2000 Fr. Frantisek Merta and Olomouc Bishop Jan Graubner were charged after allegations were made by a theology student, Vaclav Novak, that Merta had sexually abused altar boys since 1995. Novak persuaded a group of victims to come forward with their allegations against Merta. In 2001, Merta was found guilty of sexually abusing more than 20 boys and given a suspended sentence of two years. When he was a priest in Moravia, Archbishop Jan Graubner failed to report him. Instead, Graubner moved him from location to location whenever problems appeared. A book about Merta's child sexual abuse cases, Krici Hlasem Zrady (They Are Shouting the Voice of Betrayal), was published in March 2001 by Vaclav Novak.

France

• In March of 2000 a court sentenced Abbot Jean-Lucien Maurel to 10 years in prison for raping and sexually abusing three boys. The assaults dated back to 1994-96, when Maurel was head of a school in the southern French department of Aveyron.

• In 2001 a court sentenced Bishop Pierre Pican of Bayeux-Lisieux in Normandy to a three-month suspended sentence for failing to report the pedophilia of Fr. Rene Bissey. In 2000 Bissey was sentenced to 18 years in prison for sexually abusing 11 minors from 1986 to 1998.

Ireland

• Fr. Paul McGennis, Dublin, Ireland. He abused Marie Collins when as a 13-year-old she was in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in 1961. Collins was later told that McGennis had admitted abusing children. However the Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, Desmond Connell, refused "on legal advice" to supply his file on McGennis to the Irish police. McGennis was nevertheless convicted and gaoled. Marie Collins subsequently received an apology from Cardinal Connell.

• Several priests who abused children in the United States were Irish Nationals, notably Patrick Colleary, Anthony O'Connell and Oliver O'Grady.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns

Main article: Ferns Report

The Ferns Inquiry 2005 - On 22 October 2005 a government-commissioned report compiled by a former Irish Supreme Court judge delivered an indictment of the handling of clerical sex abuse in the Irish diocese of Ferns. The report revealed over 100 cases of child sex abuse in the diocese, involving a number of clergymen, including Monsignor Micheál Ledwidth, the former head of the National Catholic seminary, Maynooth College.

Among the facts revealed were

• The failure of Bishop Donal Herlihy to exclude clearly unsuitable candidates from the priesthood;
• His failure to report incidents of proven sexual abuse to the legal authorities and his failure to acknowledge that abusers needed to be kept from children;
• The failure of his successor, Brendan Comiskey, to report incidents of abuse and remove abusers from positions where they worked with children.

Among the cases revealed were

• The rape of teenage girls² on the altar of a church by one priest;
• The use of blackmail by another priest to force children to perform sex acts on him;

The report was also highly critical of the failure of the Garda Siochána (police) to properly investigate reported incidents. It noted with concern the disappearance of one police file detailing serious incidents of clerical sex abuse. It stated that the local health authorities failed to protect children even when aware of allegations.

Some survivors of abuse praised the actions of the new Apostolic Administrator (acting bishop) for instituting wholesale reforms, including the toughest anti-abuse rules in any diocese in the Catholic Church, and also his willingness to hand over all files and all information to the inquiry. Victims' spokesman and himself one of the victims of one of the abusers, Colm O'Gorman praised the administrator and compared his actions with the inaction and incompetence of his predecessors.

Between 1960 and 1980 the Diocese of Ferns treated child sexual abuse by priests exclusively as a moral problem. Priests against whom allegations had been made were transferred to a different post or a different diocese for a period of time but then returned them to their former position. The Irish government held an official inquiry into the allegations of clerical sexual abuse in the Irish Catholic Diocese ehich led to the Ferns Report. It identified more than 100 allegations of child sexual abuse made between 1962 and 2002 against twenty-one priests operating under the aegis of the Diocese of Ferns.

Multiple allegations of abuse were made against the following priests (those still alive have not been identified in the The Ferns Report):

• Fr Donal Collins, transferred from St Peter's College in Wexford to London in 1966 but returned to the College in 1968
• Fr James Doyle, ordination postponed in 1973 but Doyle was ordained one year later.

These three are deceased:

• Fr James Grennan, sexually molested girls in Monageer church, County Wexford while he heard their confessions
• Canon Martin Clancy, molested his female victim in her own home
• Fr Seán Fortune, ministered in the village of Poulfour in Co. Wexford, in Belfast and in Dundalk. Allegations of abuse were made against him in all three places.

Italy

• It is difficult to ascertain the correct statistics for clerical sexual abuse in Italy because the Italian Government has a treaty with the Vatican that guarantees areas of immunity to Vatican officials, including bishops and priests.

• Before 2001, all cases were handled privately within Dioceses. In 2001 then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent a letter to all bishops ordering all sex-abuse cases be transferred to the Vatican. He imposed total secrecy on the proceedings, with the threat of excommunication for any violations.

• In May of 2007 the Panorama Documentary Episode Sex Crimes and the Vatican was only allowed to run on the state run television station with equal time for church officials.

Mexico

File:Image- Marcial Maciel.jpeg

Marcial Maciel Degollado

• Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ, a Catholic order of priests originating in Mexico. Nine former seminarians of his order accused Maciel of molestation. One retracted his accusation, saying that it was a plot intended to discredit the Legion. Maciel has maintained his innocence of the accusations. In early December 2004, a few months before Pope John Paul II's death, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who would replace him as Pope, becoming Benedict XVI) reopened a Vatican investigation into longstanding allegations against Maciel. Father Maciel then declined to be elected again as general director of the Legion on 20 January 2005 at the order's annual meeting; a spokesman denied that this decision was related to the investigation. On 19 May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI ordered 86-year-old Father Marcial Maciel to give up his ministry and retire to a life of "prayer and repentance." A Vatican statement said that he had only escaped a full trial in an ecclesiastical court because of his "advanced age [and] frail health." The statement noted that the sanctions had been personally endorsed by the Pope. Commentators said that this was a clear departure from the timorous policy of Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, and appeared to be a first step toward fulfilling the new pontiff's vow to sweep "filth" from the church.

• On September 11, 2007, Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), per released documents, accused Mexico's cardinal of knowledge of a Mexican priest's sexual offenses upon children and in bad faith, transferred him to the United States for cover-up. Aguilar Mendez stated that he was raped by priest Nicolas Aguilar in Mexico City in 1994 (at age 12). SNAP wrote Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony. A damage suit accused Rivera and Mahony with negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and sexual battery.

Philippines

• In 2002 the Catholic Church apologized for sexual abuse by hundreds of priests over the previous 20 years.

• In 2003 at least 34 priests were suspended in a sex abuse scandal. 20 were from a single diocese.

Poland

• In March of 2002 Archbishop Juliusz Paetz quit following accusations, which he denied, of sexually molesting young priests.

• In early 2007 allegations surfaced that former Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus was aware that several priests in his diocese were sexually abusing minors.

United States

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

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On Thursday, April 7, 2005, Bernard Francis Cardinal Law leads Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, president of the Philippines, into the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome to attend a Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of the late Pope John Paul II. The Philippines has the largest Roman Catholic population in Asia. (Photo by Luca Bruno.)

• Allegations of sexual misconduct by priests of the Archdiocese of Boston, and following revelations of a cover-up engineered in large part by the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, became widespread in 2004 causing Roman Catholics in other dioceses of the United States to investigate similar situations. Cardinal Law's actions prompted public scrutiny of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the steps taken in response to past and current allegations of sexual misconduct by priests. The events in the Archdiocese of Boston exploded into a national scandal.

• Grassroots public advocacy groups like Voice of the Faithful hounded Cardinal Law after documents revealed his alleged role in covering up incidents of sexual misconduct of priests. For example, during Cardinal Law's tenure Fathers Paul Shanley and John Geoghan were moved from parish to parish within the diocese despite repeated allegations of molestation of children under the priests' care. Later, it was discovered that Shanley advocated the North American Man-Boy Love Association. The defense he provided was "failure to keep proper records." The cardinal said his practice was to seek the analysis of psychiatrists, clinicians, and therapists in residential treatment centers before deciding whether a priest accused of sexually abusing a child should be returned to the pulpit.

• In response to the scandal, over fifty priests signed a letter declaring no confidence in Cardinal Law and asking him to resign, something that had never before happened in the history of the Church in America. Law submitted his resignation to the Vatican and Pope John Paul II accepted it on December 13 2002. In a statement Cardinal Law said, "To all those who have suffered from my shortcomings and mistakes I both apologize and from them beg forgiveness." He remained cardinal, which is a separate appointment, and participated in the 2005 papal conclave. After his resignation, John Paul appointed Law to several authoritative positions in Rome and the Vatican. He is currently the archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. He is also a member of the Congregations of Oriental Churches, Clergy, Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Evangelisation of Peoples, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Catholic Education, Bishops as well as the Pontifical Council for the Family.

• Settlements in the Boston, Massachusetts suits could reach up to $100 million. In some cases insurance companies have balked at meeting the cost of large settlements, claiming the actions were deliberate and not covered by insurance. This was additional financial damage to the Archdiocese already faced with the need to consolidate and close parishes due to changing attendance and giving patterns. In June of 2004, much of the land around the archdiocese of Boston headquarters was sold to Boston College, in part to raise money for legal costs accociated with scandal in Boston.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas

• In 1997 a jury awarded $120 million to victims in a sex abuse case against the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Texas. The trial, leaving a transcripted of 9,000 pages, featured the testimony under oath of Bishop Charles Grahmann where he admitted to never having taken the time to read the personnel file on Fr. Kos. This included the four-year history of allegations before he came to Dallas and the allegations that continued after he was bishop. Around April 1992, a child abuse expert who only knew a small part of this documented history declared Rev. Kos to be a "textbook pedophile." Bishop Grahmann still did not read the record and allowed Rev. Kos to have access to children for almost one full year more. The last documented incident of abuse was 11 months later.

• Reverend Rudolph Kos. On July 10, 1998 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas agreed to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Kos.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport

• On October 10 2006, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport filed for Chapter 11 protection . The decision to file for bankruptcy was being driven by many claims which focus on Bishop Lawrence Soens, who has been accused of fondling as many as 15 students during his tenure as priest and principal at Regina Catholic High School in Iowa City during the 1960s. Soens denies the allegations. A judge discharged one suit in October 2006.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu

• Reverend Arthur O’Brien, formerly of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC, was convicted in 1992 of one count of sexual assault on a 10-year-old boy. Father O’Brien entered into a plea bargain with the prosecutor. The subsequent suggestion of the prosecutor that Father O’Brien's conviction be erased--which was a condition of the plea bargain--was rejected by the judge. He was permanently retired from clerical ministry by Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo in 1994.

• Reverend Mark Matson (priest), C.R., former chaplain at Tripler Army Medical Center and a member of the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Divine Providence, was convicted in Honolulu on March 8, 2000, of molesting a 13-year-old boy at Maunalua Bay Beach Park on August 5, 1998. At the time of his arrest, Father Matson was not affiliated with the Diocese of Honolulu and was living in the Hawai‘i Kai neighborhood of Portlock. He is serving a 20-year prison term at the Halawa Correctional Facility on O‘ahu.

• Reverend Joseph Bukoski, III, SS.CC., Honolulu, Hawaii. Fr. Bukoski is a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In 2003, he was canonically removed as the pastor of Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina by Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo for allegations relating to sexual improprieties some 30 years earlier. Fr. Bukoski issued a written public apology to his victim on November 12, 2005.

• Reverend Mr. James "Ron" Gonsalves, Wailuku, Hawaii. Deacon Gonsalves was the administrator of Saint Ann Roman Catholic Church in Waihee, Maui. On May 17, 2006, he plead guilty to various counts of sexual assault on a 12-year-old male. Bishop Clarence Richard Silva has permanently withdrawn his faculties and has initiated laicization proceedings against Deacon Gonsalves with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles

• The archdiocese agreed to payout 60 million dollars to settle 45 lawsuits it still faces over 450 other pending cases. According to the Associated Press a total of 22 priests were involved in the settlement with cases going as far back as the 1930s. 20 million dollars of this was paid by the insurers of the archdiocese. The main administrative office of the archdiocese is due to be sold to cover the cost of these and future law suits. The archdiocese will settle about 500 cases for about $600 million.

• The 2006 documentary Deliver Us From Evil is based on accusations that the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, knew that Oliver O'Grady, a priest who sexually abused children, including a 9-month-old baby, in a string of Central California towns for 20 years, was a sexual abuser but failed to keep him away from children. In 1984, a Stockton police investigation into sexual abuse allegations against O'Grady was reportedly closed after diocesan officials promised to remove the priest from any contact with children. Instead, he was reassigned to a parish about 50 miles east, in San Andreas, where he continued to molest children. Not long after, Mahony was promoted to archbishop of Los Angeles, the largest Catholic diocese in the country. In Deliver Us From Evil, O'Grady says Mahony was "very supportive and very compassionate and that another situation had been smoothly handled". Mahony denies knowing that O’Grady was a child molester.

• Mahony appealed an attempt to gain access to church documents relating to sexual abuse all the way to the Supreme Court .

• In Encino the late Father Clinton Hagenbach, who established the first teen club at St. Cyril of Jerusalem Church's first teen club, has been accused of sexually abusing 18 boys. The archdiocese paid $1.5 million in 2002 to settle one of those claims.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville

• Fr. Louis Miller, Louisville, Kentucky, United States. On March 31, 2003, Rev. Miller pled guilty to 44 counts of "indecent or immoral acts" and six charges of first degree sexual abuse, relating to incidents involving at least 21 children between 1957 and 1982. Miller also pled guilty to 14 further charges in Oldham County, Kentucky. Miller was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on the Louisville convictions. The Archdiocese of Louisville made a $25.7 million settlement involving 243 victims of sexual abuse, which was approved by a Louisville court on August 1, 2003.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami

Since 1966, the Archdiocese of Miami Insurance Programs have paid $26.1 million in settlement, legal and counseling costs associated with sexual misconduct allegations made by minors involving priests, laity and religious brothers and sisters.

Archbishop Favalora has been deposed in a lawsuit filed against retired Broward priest Neil Doherty; at least four lawsuits alleged the Archdiocese knew Doherty was a pedophile and covered-up allegations, keeping Doherty in ministry until he was first publicly accused of sexual abuse in 2005, three years after he was removed from ministry by John Favalora. Favalora claims in his published deposition, that he removed Doherty after going through approximately 400 priest personal files and found old allegations of abuse against Doherty that took place under the administration of the previous and now deceased archbishop.

In July 2007, Miami lawyer Jeffrey Herman announced new lawsuits against the Archdiocese, alleging sexual abuse by six previously accused priests except one. "This whole scandal is far from over," Herman said. "We're still in the heart of people coming forward." One of the lawsuits is for an allegation that was previously investigated by the State Attorney's office and was deemed not credible. The investigation was dropped and the priest remains active in ministry. The Archdiocese has stated it will defend him vigorously.

Two of the Miami Archdiocese's parishes (Saints Anthony and Maurice, both in Fort Lauderdale) are publicly featured on the directory of the Conference for Catholic Lesbians as being "Gay-Friendly"; a complimentary directory lists both Archdicoesan universities, Barry and Saint Thomas, as "Gay-Friendly".

Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange

• On January 3, 2005 Bishop Tod Brown apologized to 87 alleged victims of sexual abuse and announced a settlement of $100 million following two years of mediation. The suits alleged sexual misconduct on the part of 30 priests, 2 nuns, 1 religious brother, and 10 lay personnel into the 1980s; 11 claims were against Eleuterio Ramos and 9 against Siegfried Widera, both deceased (Widera by suicide). About 25 cases involved abuse dating before the creation of the Diocese of Orange, one to 1936. It was the first settlement in California arising from the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and remained the largest settlement (though not the largest judgment) arising out of the scandal until the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced a $660 million settlement in July 15, 2007. About half of the sum was covered by liability insurance. The diocese had also sharply cut costs to prepare for the settlement in the preceding months. These steps enabled the Diocese of Orange agree to the settlement without closing schools or parishes, or more severe measures required of other U.S. dioceses caught up in the scandal.

• In 2003 Nine men sued the diocese alleging that Msgr. Michael A. Harris, their former principal, sexually assaulted them while they attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana or Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita. Harris quit the priesthood in 2001 after the Los Angeles and Orange dioceses paid $5.2 million to one of his alleged victims.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix

• On November 21, 2005, Monsignor Dale Fushek was arrested and charged with 10 criminal misdemeanor counts related to alleged inappropriate sexual contact with teens and young adults.

• Also in November of 2005 Fr. Paul LeBrun was found guilty of six counts in the sexual abuse of boys when he was stationed in the West Valley.

• Fr. Joseph Briceno fled to Mexico and was later captured and charged with one count of sexual abuse, six counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor.

• In December of 2006 the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix agreed to pay $100,000 to William Cesolini who claimed he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by a priest, Mark Lehman, and a former teen minister, Phil Baniewicz, at a Mesa church. Monsignor Dale Fushek, who was pastor of that parish and co-founded Life Teen, the nation's largest Catholic youth ministry with Baniewicz, was accused in the suit of giving alcohol to the teen and then watching Lehman sexually abuse Cesolini.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland

• The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on July 6, 2004, hours before two abuse trials were set to begin. Portland became the first Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy. An open letter to the archdiocese's parishioners explained the archbishop's motivation:

This is not an effort to avoid responsibility. It is, in fact, the only way I can assure that other claimants can be offered fair compensation. We have worked diligently to settle claims of clergy misconduct. In the last four years, we have settled more than 100 such claims. Last year alone the Archdiocese paid almost $21 million from its own funds. Major insurers have abandoned us and are not paying what they should on the claims.

Two cases are set for trials beginning today. One plaintiff seeks more than $130 million in compensatory and punitive damages, the other $25 million. We have made every effort to settle these claims fairly but the demand of each of these plaintiffs remains in the millions. I am committed to just compensation. These demands go beyond compensation. With 60 other claims pending, I cannot in justice and prudence pay the demands of these two plaintiffs.

• The archdiocese had settled more than one hundred previous claims for a sum of over $53 million. The filing seeks to protect parish assets, school money and trust funds from abuse victims: the archdiocese's contention is that parish assets are not the archdiocese's assets. Plaintiffs in the cases against the archdiocese have argued that the Catholic church is a single entity, and that the Vatican should be liable for any damages awarded in judgment of pending sexual abuse cases.

• After the filing, an April 29, 2005 deadline was set by the bankruptcy court to allow other people to file complaints. According to an October 2005 archbishop's column in the Catholic Sentinel, nearly 200 more claims of all kinds were filed as a result. That column also noted that the archdiocese has filed suit against insurance companies to compel them to contribute financially to the settlement expected to arise out of the reorganization.

• A press release issued by the Archdiocese of Portland on April 17, 2007 announced a settlement plan had been reached and a bankruptcy court had approved a financial plan of reorganization.

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego

• On February 27 2007, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego filed for Chapter 11 protection, hours before the first of about 150 lawsuits was due to be heard. San Diego became the largest diocese to postpone its legal problems in this way.

• On September 7, 2007, The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy, the 2nd-largest payment by a diocese, terminating 4 years of settlement talks in state and federal courts. In the largest sex scandal payment, the Los Angeles Archdiocese settled 508 cases for $660 million in July, for 172 abuse claimants, while the lowest is Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, 2005, with $22 million for 50 victims. Sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests did cost the U.S. church $2.3 billion since 1950.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane

• Under Bishop William S. Skylstad the diocese declared bankruptcy to protect it from claims of people abused by priests in December of 2004. The Diocese of Spokane as part of its bankruptcy has agreed to pay at least $48 million as compensation. This payout has to be agreed to by the victims and a Judge before it will be made. According to Federal Bankruptcy Judge Gregg W. Zive, money for the settlement would come from insurance companies, the sale of church property, contributions from Catholic groups and from the diocese's parishes.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson

• The Diocese of Tucson filed bankruptcy in September, 2004. The Diocese of Tucson reached an agreement with its victims, which the bankruptcy judge approved on June 11, 2005, specifying terms that included allowing the diocese reorganization to continue in return for a $22.2 million settlement.

Abuse in literature

The Magdalene laundries caught the public's attention in the late 1990s as revelations of widespread abuse from former inmates gathered momentum and were made the subject an award-winning film called The Magdalene Sisters (2002). In 2006, a documentary called Deliver Us From Evil was made about the sex abuse cases and one priest's confession of abuse. A number of books have been written, see Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in fiction, about the abuse suffered from priests and nuns including Andrew Madden in Altar Boy: A Story of Life After Abuse, Carolyn Lehman's Strong at the Heart: How it feels to heal from sexual abuse and the bestselling Kathy's Story by Kathy O'Beirne which details physical and sexual abuse suffered in a Magdalene laundry in Ireland. However grave doubts have been expressed about the authenticity of the latter book. A new book 'Kathy's Real Story' published by Prefect Press, Ireland in October 2007 (Title: Kathy’s Real Story by author Hermann Kelly ISBN ISBN 978-1-906351-00-7) In it 'Kathy O’Beirne’s family tell the story behind her bestselling book, casting light on a destructive culture of false allegations hurting innocent people in Ireland, all fueled by the government compensation scheme.' (cf. www.prefectpress.com)

See also

• List of Roman Catholic priests accused of sex offenses
• Crimen sollicitationis
• Homosexuality in the Roman Catholic priesthood
• Ferns Report, on sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns, Ireland
• Brendan Comiskey, the bishop who resigned from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns
• Pontifical Secret
• Virtus (program)
• Deliver Us from Evil (2006 film)
• Sex Crimes and the Vatican (Panorama Documentary Episode)
• Desmond Cardinal Connell
• Thomas Vose Daily
• Barbara Blaine founder of SNAP (Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests)
• Bad Education (Spanish: La mala educación) a 2004 film by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar that deals with Clerical Sex Abuse
• Jehovah's Witnesses and child sex abuse (for other religions with similar concerns)
• Scouting sex abuse cases
• Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
• Sexual harassment and abuse by teachers

External links

General

• Sexual Abuse in Social Context - a Catholic League report
• Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)
• Bishop Accountability
• CatholiCity - 10 Myths About Priestly Pedophilia
• International Traffic in Catholic Priests Who Abuse by Richard Sipe and K.K. Murray

Ireland

• Bishop Brendan Comiskey's resignation

United States

• BBC Timeline: US Church sex scandal
• 3000 pages from 9000 page transcript of the 1997 liability trial against the Dallas Diocese
• Cardinal Law's statement on child sex abuse in the Church
• Vatican-U.S. Mixed Commission on Charter and Norms for Protection of Children
• CNN - 22 March 2002 'Pope responds to sex abuse cases'
• National Review Board, John Jay, and Audit Reports
• Experts: Tucson diocese settlement a bankruptcy model
• Los Angeles Files Recount Decades of Priests' Abuse October 12, 2005 New York Times
• Philadelphia Grand Jury Report on Pedophile Priests archived at The Memory Hole
• Sexuality, the Modern World, and the Catholic Church
• A Chicago trial lawyer discusses Chicago priest sex abuse cases
• Change of law to make reporting sex abuse mandatory
• "The Experience of the Victim of Sexual Abuse:" A Reflection by Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea, Ph.D., U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops June 14, 2002
• "Priest wanted for attempted murder of showgirl arrested"
• Hand of God Frontline episode about one family's tale of clerical abuse

Additional reading

• Groeschel, F. Benedict, From Scandal to Hope (OSV, 2002)
• Jenkins, Philip, Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis (Oxford University Press, 2001). ISBN 0-19-514597-6.
• Lobdell, William, Missionary's Dark Legacy; Two remote Alaska villages are still reeling from a Catholic volunteer's sojourn three decades ago, when he allegedly molested nearly every Eskimo boy in the parishes. The accusers, now men, are scarred emotionally and struggle to cope. They are seeking justice., Los Angeles Times, Nov 19, 2005, p. A.1
• Ranan, David, Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church, Theo Press Ltd. 2007. ISBN 978-0-95541-330-8.
• Rose, Michael S., Goodbye, Good Men : How Liberals Brought Corruption Into the Catholic Church, Regnery Publishing, Inc. (June 25, 2002). ISBN 0-89526-144-8 Reviewed here