A Concord Pastor Comments: John Jay study on sexual abuse by Catholic priests

The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic priests in the United States 1950-2010

Catholic News Service reports on the John Jay College of Criminal Justice study of the "causes and context" of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. The study was commissioned by the National Review Board established by the Dallas Charter of the USCCB. (The first part of the John Jay study on the "nature and scope" of the problem of abuse can be found here.)

The study addressed several misperceptions about the sexual abuse of minors by priests. It said:

-- Priestly celibacy does not explain this problem. "Constant in the Catholic Church since the 11th century," celibacy cannot "account for the rise and subsequent decline in abuse cases from the 1960s through the 1980s."

-- Despite "widespread speculation," priests with a homosexual identity "were not significantly more likely to abuse minors" than heterosexual priests. Sexual "identity" should be differentiated from "behavior." A possible reason so many male minors were abused is that priests had greater access to them.

-- Less than 5 percent of priests with abuse allegations exhibited behavior consistent with pedophilia. Few victims were prepubescent children.

Seventy percent of priests referred for abusing a minor "had also had sexual behavior with adults," the study found. The majority of priest-abusers did not "specialize" in abusing "particular types of victims."

The new study's goal was to understand what factors "led to a sexual abuse 'crisis' in the Catholic Church" and "make recommendations to Catholic leadership" for reducing abuse, the John Jay College researchers explained.

They said their report also "provides a framework" for understanding "sexual victimization of children in any institution" and how organizations respond.

No other institution has undertaken a public study of sexual abuse like this one, they said.

Read the full CNS report here.

Read the full text of the John Jay study on the causes and context of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests here.