# Why has the Penn State Scandal exploded in comparison with the Pedo Priests?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-the-penn-state-scandal-exploded-in-comparison-with-the-pedo-priests/603122>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 16, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-the-penn-state-scandal-exploded-in-comparison-with-the-pedo-priests/603122 "2011-11-16T14:54:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-the-penn-state-scandal-exploded-in-comparison-with-the-pedo-priests/603122/21 "2011-11-16T22:33:39Z")

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> [@StusBlues](#):
>
> I’m sorry to say that it didn’t shock me, though the \*degree \*of the problem was probably greater than anyone had ever said out loud.

That’s pretty much all I was saying. It would be ridiculous to assert that no one ever had an inkling that priests had abused children - as I said, there were always jokes and even though I wasn’t Catholic I heard from people that there were some priests who were (at least) skeevy. What I’m saying is that if you think the furor over Penn State in the week and a half is less intense than the reaction of the major reveleations in the Catholic Church scandal, you’ve forgotten how people reacted to that. That’s all. Facebook and Twitter and other social network things probably make the reaction to everything look bigger now, but to say the PSU scandal exploded and the RCC scandal didn’t is incorrect. As I said, the scope of the abuse by the priests was enormous, the coverup was bigger, and criminal cases and settlements made the news for years.

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