Defending the Church: Sexual Abuse Scandal

[ivory]

As someone who is wanting to someday become an apologist, I want to know how best to refute the claim that the Catholic Church actively shelters "pedophile" priests. I know that the whole story is (and never was) told in the media, but I'm not sure where to look for information defending the Church. With articles like this, it's not hard to see why anti-Catholic sentiment is so present. As a result, it seems that a majority of people I know are convinced that the Catholic Church is entirely consisted of old men who rape children. One, who is an atheist, will throw offhand comments about the scandal whenever my Catholic faith is brought up in conversation.

Anyone with half a brain and the ability to see slanted journalism when they see it knows that isn't true, but how do I go about explaining this to people who question my faith? I appreciate the advice.

[Bearontherun]

I found that Michael Coren in the book Why Catholics are Right (it was available at my local library) had some good arguments in defence of attacks on the Catholic Church regarding this topic. My memory is foggy as to the details right now but I highly recommend you take a look there.

[Rascalking]

Start off by dropping the "anybody with a brain" thing. Insulting people who disagree with you won't help.

Admit it's a serious problem in the church-heck, the pope did that, you can to. Yes, it's a minority of priests-but never, ever forget that abuse DID happen, and no, it can't be swept under the rug.

[conscience]

The best way to defend the Catholic Church is, not to say Catholics are always right, but to humbly admit it has made big mistakes.

[Dorothy]

And, although there are sinners in the Church, that does not eclipse the truth that the Church teaches.

Also, much is being done to correct what caused certain seminarians to be accepted in their seminaries.

The Church has been through a lot since her beginnings, and has survived. She will survive this as well.

[Viki63]

I have always heard that the rate of abuse by protestant ministers was higher than that of Catholic priests, and the rate among teachers was even higher. A quote:
"Finally, in the authoritative work by Penn State professor Philip Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests, it was determined that between .2 and 1.7 percent of priests are pedophiles. The figure among the Protestant clergy ranges between 2 and 3 percent."

The full article: Sexual Abuse in Social Context, can be found here.

[Rascalking]

Originally Posted by Viki63

I have always heard that the rate of abuse by protestant ministers was higher than that of Catholic priests, and the rate among teachers was even higher. A quote:
"Finally, in the authoritative work by Penn State professor Philip Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests, it was determined that between .2 and 1.7 percent of priests are pedophiles. The figure among the Protestant clergy ranges between 2 and 3 percent."

The full article: Sexual Abuse in Social Context, can be found here.

That might be true, but you don't justify a wrong by pointing to another wrong.

Too many Catholics aren't very good at self-criticism. They view anything negative said about the church as a reason to draw the sword.

[conscience]

"That might be true, but you don't justify a wrong by pointing to another wrong."

Quite.

People will think you are just trying to justify the wrong.

[Dorothy]

By pointing to those statistics, I believe one is saying that it is not just a Catholic problem, like the secular media would like all to believe it is.

[Trebor135]

Originally Posted by Rascalking

That might be true, but you don't justify a wrong by pointing to another wrong.

Such an article serves not to justify the sins and crimes that have been committed against children, but rather to demonstrate that priestly celibacy is not necessarily linked to them--a claim which is very often made when this topic comes up.

[Rascalking]

Originally Posted by Trebor135

Such an article serves not to justify the sins and crimes that have been committed against children, but rather to demonstrate that priestly celibacy is not necessarily linked to them--a claim which is very often made when this topic comes up.

Oh, of course priestly celibacy doesn't have anything to do with it. I totally agree with you on that point. 100 percent agree. Yup. It IS said too often by the media (that celibacy leads to this behavior) and it's totally wrong.

I don't think people quote those studies to show that though-they quote them to say "See? Other people are wrong too! Let's talk about them instead."

[Trebor135]

Originally Posted by ivory

As someone who is wanting to someday become an apologist, I want to know how best to refute the claim that the Catholic Church actively shelters "pedophile" priests. I know that the whole story is (and never was) told in the media, but I'm not sure where to look for information defending the Church. With articles like this, it's not hard to see why anti-Catholic sentiment is so present. As a result, it seems that a majority of people I know are convinced that the Catholic Church is entirely consisted of old men who rape children. One, who is an atheist, will throw offhand comments about the scandal whenever my Catholic faith is brought up in conversation.

Anyone with half a brain and the ability to see slanted journalism when they see it knows that isn't true, but how do I go about explaining this to people who question my faith? I appreciate the advice.

What really put things into perspective for me was reading "From ‘Sin’ and 'Compulsion' to 'Crime': Trying to understand the crisis of the past 25 years" by Father Rick Malloy, S.J. in the January 2, 2011 edition of The Priest.

If anyone is interested in reading the article, send me a private message--a subscription is required. Here's an excerpt:

No More than Other Institutions
Newsweek reported in April 2010 that Catholic priests’ rate of abusing children is no more than other institutions: “…experts who study child abuse say they see little reason to conclude that sexual abuse is mostly a Catholic issue. ‘We don’t see the Catholic Church as a hotbed of this or a place that has a bigger problem than anyone else,’ said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. ‘I can tell you without hesitation that we have seen cases in many religious settings, from traveling evangelists to mainstream ministers to rabbis and others.’ ”

The problem is massive and extends far beyond the Church’s walls — 25% of girls and 16% of boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday, and 20% of all children will suffer abuse before the age of eight. There are 39 million people in the United States today who have survived sexual abuse in their childhood; 30% to 40% suffer abuse at the hands of a family member, or an older child; only 10% are abused by strangers.

To understand what happened, one must realize this: what previously had been considered a sin came to be understood as a crime. What once was seen as a treatable, compulsive condition, understood as something to be handled quietly by an institution’s authorities, came to be seen as something best dealt with by the criminal justice system.

Cultural mores shifted, obviously for the better. Back when homosexual activity was a crime, pedophilia (Andrew Sullivan and others call it “child rape”) committed by a priest was a sin. In the 1960s and 1970s, police were routinely sent out to try and catch homosexuals in the act and arrest them. Today, homosexuality is accepted by large sectors of society. Priest pedophiles are those who can never be understood nor forgiven, and any bishop that didn’t defrock a priest after the first allegation is considered guilty of cover-up.

Priests who abuse children are today justly treated as criminals. Their pedophiliac condition, whether caused by their being molested as children themselves, or perversely freely chosen, results in arrest and jail time.

[conscience]

Trouble is, blaming the media, as well as other Churches, doesn't help your arguments either.

[Trebor135]

Originally Posted by Rascalking

Oh, of course priestly celibacy doesn't have anything to do with it. I totally agree with you on that point. 100 percent agree. Yup. It IS said too often by the media (that celibacy leads to this behavior) and it's totally wrong.

Magnificent.

I don't think people quote those studies to show that though-they quote them to say "See? Other people are wrong too! Let's talk about them instead."

I for one don't have that goal in mind. But I have found there to be a predisposition among the general population to view Catholics as particularly deserving of blame when they fail without extending the same favour to Protestants or adherents of other religions.

[Rascalking]

Originally Posted by conscience

rouble is, blaming the media, as well as other Churches, doesn't solve your problems either.

Agree with you my British brother! (My mom is from there-we're like countrymen! )