Nothing to be Proud Of

The stereotype of the Catholic church as haven for perverts has no basis in fact:

Since the mid-1980s, insurance companies have offered sexual misconduct coverage as a rider on liability insurance, and their own studies indicate that Catholic churches are not higher risk than other congregations. Insurance companies that cover all denominations, such as Guide One Center for Risk Management, which has more than 40,000 church clients, does not charge Catholic churches higher premiums. "We don't see vast difference in the incidence rate between one denomination and another," says Sarah Buckley, assistant vice president of corporate communications. "It's pretty even across the denominations." It's been that way for decades.

Every group has a share of abusers. Catholics are not an exception, neither worse nor better than anyone else. They are a big group, so the raw numbers may lead to more frequent headlines. The Church of the SubGenius for example, with maybe 10,000 members, just will not include that many pederasts or yield many headlines about abuse.

The Catholics also get more ink pixels becuase they have acknowledged the problem. Despite previous denials, delays or cover-ups, the Catholics are the only ones who are openly dealing with an issue afflicting every faith:

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children [said,] "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."

Big Media has a narrative. They tell the story they want you to hear, which puts their perceived enemies in bad light. It’s not all that is actually happening, and perhaps not even the most important element of the truth:

Most child abusers have one thing in common, and it's not piety—it's preexisting relationships with their victims. That includes priests and ministers and rabbis, of course, but also family members, friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, scout leaders, youth-group volunteers, and doctors. According to federal studies, three quarters of abuse occurs at the hands of family members or others in the victim's "circle of trust."

I offer another common factor, which may be difficult to hear. And contrary to the Big Media story line. All the Catholic pederasts, and from what I recall, the vast majority of all abusers are homosexual males.

Will we see an investigative report of that potential link published around Pride Week-end?