Sex Abuse in the Catholic Church Reflects Society At Large

New research released last week shows that sexual abuse within the Catholic Church contradicts the accepted view that gay priests are responsible. Even though incidents of abuse occur at a ratio of 80-20, boys over girls, the abuse has more to do with behavior than sexual orientation. These findings seem to reflect the rest of society at large.

In an article on Politics Daily by David Gibson the results of a dacades long study was presented to U.S. Catholic Church Hierarchy during thier annual meeting in Baltimore:

"What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse," said Margaret Smith, a researcher from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, which is conducting an independent study of sexual abuse in the priesthood from 1950 up to 2002. "At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and an increased likelihood of sexual abuse."

A second researcher, Karen Terry, also cautioned the bishops against making a correlation between homosexuality in the priesthood and the high incidence of abuse by priests against boys rather than girls -- a ratio found to be about 80-20.

"It's important to separate the sexual identity and the behavior," Terry said. "Someone can commit sexual acts that might be of a homosexual nature but not have a homosexual identity." Terry said factors such as greater access to boys is one reason for the skewed ratio. Smith also raised the analogy of prison populations where homosexual behavior is common even though the prisoners are not necessarily homosexuals, or cultures where men are rigidly segregated from women until adulthood, and homosexual activity is accepted and then ceases after marriage.

The $1.8 million study is being underwritten largely by the bishops, who have committed $1 million, and by donations from foundations and other sources. The Department of Justice recently added $280,000 to the pot in an indication of how unique and important this research can be. There has been little solid research into the sexual abuse of children in part because there have been so few available groups to study. The church's extensive files on clergy personnel, revealed in lawsuits and news reports or provided by dioceses, offered the necessary documentation, and is likely to be of great interest to criminologists and to other institutions where children interact with adults, from schools to community groups.

According to Terry and Smith, the Catholic experience -- contrary to popular belief -- may be of wider relevance because it seems to fall in line with what is known about abuse in society over that period.

"We have not found that the problem [the sexual abuse of minors] is particular to the church," Smith told the bishops. "We have found it to be similar to the problem in society."