# Yet more Catholic priests are rapists? Oh. Say it ain't so. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 15, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624 "2018-08-15T01:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/81 "2018-08-16T23:54:31Z")
> [@Sloe\_Moe](#): > > I was wrong. 27.3 cases in 2010 for every 100,000 PEOPLE. So 0.03% chance for any living person, 0.06% chance for all females, maybe 0.48% chance for women aged 16-26? Could you provide a link to the source you used for those numbers? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/82 "2018-08-17T00:17:08Z")
These stories come up with devastating frequency and I can only imagine the pain and heartbreak they cause people who have been victims of such abuse. I’m so sorry about the horrific toll, even for those who consider it something they have dealt with, to a greater or lesser degree. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/83 "2018-08-17T00:48:20Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Could you provide a link to the source you used for those numbers? [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_by_gender#Rape_of_females)supports mine, for what it’s worth. Nearly 20% of women raped or attempted rape, with 1/3 of them raped before the age of 18. I’ve also looked into the stats before, and it seems like Catholic priests are no more likely to be abusers than anyone else, but those that are have more victims, due to greater access. I’ll not be looking this up again, mainly because it’s sickening to think about. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/84 "2018-08-17T01:51:22Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > I’ve also looked into the stats before, and it seems like Catholic priests are no more likely to be abusers than anyone else, but those that are have more victims, due to greater access. I’ll not be looking this up again, mainly because it’s sickening to think about. Surprisingly, that seems to be what I’m finding out too, but doing this on the fly. Many cite the John Jay College study of Catholic priests looking for the hard data. They use the figure of 4% of 110,000 priests active have been accused of sexual misconduct. It should be noted that that particular study was funded by the US Conference of Catholic priests. In the article from [Newsweek,](https://www.newsweek.com/priests-commit-no-more-abuse-other-males-70625) it also says probably only one-third of sex abuse gets reported. But setting aside comparing the Catholic Church with the general population for just a sec, the CC seems to have a systematic way of quite a few higher ups going above and beyond and out of their way to protect the pedophiles and not giving a Hail Mary damn about the victims time and time and time again. This is well documented. Instead of having them arrested and put in a penitentiary so that other families will not have their children exposed to such offenders, they have the best of lawyers to protect the clergy, getting their victims to sign confidentiality papers if they expect any monetary compensation at all. Meanwhile the pedo’s go on tour all over the US and around the world to their vast network of churches, where they can repeat the process time and time again too. It’s a pedophiles wildest of wet dreams come true. Outside the CC, most repeat offenders of pedophiles get locked up, and serve some serious penitentiary time, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/85 "2018-08-17T02:15:33Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > I said that people know that what’s happening to them is wrong while it’s happening. That’s my opinion. Yours may differ. SOOOOOME people may know. While SOOOOOME others do not realize that what is happening to them is wrong. SOOOOOME people, especially young children who are being sexually abused by a relative, often do not know that’s it’s wrong. SOOOME children are so young that they don’t even know the difference between right and wrong. Again, for clarification: The FACT (not opinion - FACT) that some child victims of sexual abuse do not realize that what is happening to them is wrong is not being a “Priest Rapist Apologist”. Dude - get some help, seriously, you’re not thinking properly. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/86 "2018-08-17T03:07:20Z")
If you were abused as a child, and you knew it was wrong, but you weren’t listened to or believed, then the statement that ‘children don’t understand these things’ is dismissive and minimising I can’t really find the right words for why it’s bad, but something like that). If you were abused as a child and didn’t realise it was wrong, then the statement that ‘children know what’s happening to them is wrong’ is equally dismissive and minimising. Seems like people are hurt and angry about things that have happened/are happening. I know it’s the Pit and all, but lashing out at each other just makes for more hurt (as does arguing whether ‘some’ or ‘all’ is implied in the above statements). ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/87 "2018-08-17T12:26:37Z")
> [@razncain](#): > > But setting aside comparing the Catholic Church with the general population for just a sec, the CC seems to have a systematic way of quite a few higher ups going above and beyond and out of their way to protect the pedophiles and not giving a Hail Mary damn about the victims time and time and time again. Absoulutely, and I’m not defending the church at all. If they, or their priests and so forth, remotely stood up to what they claimed to believe in the numbers would be far lower than the general population. That they are no better than anyone else would seem to be the ultimate criticism of their 2000 years of “serving god”. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/88 "2018-08-17T13:24:27Z")
> [@Sloe\_Moe](#): > > I was wrong. 27.3 cases in 2010 for every 100,000 PEOPLE. So 0.03% chance for any living person, 0.06% chance for all females, maybe 0.48% chance for women aged 16-26? This is like Holocaust denial, only for rape. Why is this fuck not banned yet? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/89 "2018-08-17T13:35:43Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > These stories come up with devastating frequency and I can only imagine the pain and heartbreak they cause people who have been victims of such abuse. I’m so sorry about the horrific toll, even for those who consider it something they have dealt with, to a greater or lesser degree. I wonder how anyone can believe in God when things like this happen. How many victims had their lives ruined? How many turned to drugs, suicide, and perpetrated abuse onward? How many families have been broken apart? The priests abused for decades and their “punishment” was to be moved to a new church filled with fresh, new victims. Why didn’t God step in and do something? I’m sure the victims were praying regularly for the abuse to stop. The only conclusions are that either God doesn’t exist, or if he does exist, he has absolutely no concern for humans. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/90 "2018-08-17T13:56:11Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There’s something I haven’t said on this board in almost ten years, and I think this is the best possible time to bring back an old habit. > > Fuck you, **Cartooniverse**. Fuck your disingenuous outrage. Fuck your deliberate distortions of people who disagree with you. Fuck your cowardly, “Oh, I daren’t disagree with a mod!” bullshit. And above all, fuck you for minimizing and dismissing the actual pain of people who have been victimized by pedophile predators with your, “Trust me, they know.” No, you unbearably stupid motherfucker, **we** don’t always know. Fuck you. Fuck you and fuck off. Fuck off and go burn in hell, you fucking cholera-infected shitstain. You fucking failure. You human waste. You vapid cockwart. Fuck you, you fucking sheen of scum from the top of a cesspit. You puss-streaked vaginal discharge. You vomitous reject. You miserable shitfuck. You anal canker sore. Fuck you. Fuck every single dumbfuck thing about you, you moldy cumstain. Fuck you, fuck the pathetic excuse for a mother that spawned you, fuck the diseased testicle that was your father, and if you’ve got any siblings, fuck each and every one of them right in the fucking eye socket. > > You fuck. If I may, I think what **Miller** is _trying_ to say… ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/91 "2018-08-17T14:08:56Z")
With the recent talk of “what happens if the SDMB goes away”, I’ll say this. (I hope it doesn’t come to it, but…) If that happens I hope Miller starts his own board called The Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/92 "2018-08-17T15:57:15Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I wonder how anyone can believe in God when things like this happen. How many victims had their lives ruined? How many turned to drugs, suicide, and perpetrated abuse onward? How many families have been broken apart? The priests abused for decades and their “punishment” was to be moved to a new church filled with fresh, new victims. Why didn’t God step in and do something? I’m sure the victims were praying regularly for the abuse to stop. The only conclusions are that either God doesn’t exist, or if he does exist, he has absolutely no concern for humans. All it means for sure is that you can’t believe in a God who will always “step in and do something” before anything too bad happens to anybody. But I think we already knew that. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/93 "2018-08-17T16:31:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > All it means for sure is that you can’t believe in a God who will always “step in and do something” before anything too bad happens to anybody. But I think we already knew that. It certainly shows the bar is extremely high for heavenly intervention. Forget about praying for a football game or a 3-year-old’s cancer. If He doesn’t step in after the massive amount of human tragedy created by priests–priests that are supposedly working as His agents–it’s not likely He’s going to help out with much of anything. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/94 "2018-08-17T18:06:47Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Absoulutely, and I’m not defending the church at all. If they, or their priests and so forth, remotely stood up to what they claimed to believe in the numbers would be far lower than the general population. That they are no better than anyone else would seem to be the ultimate criticism of their 2000 years of “serving god”. Yeah, I didn’t think you were. And that’s a good point, you would think their numbers would be better than for the general public. For an institution that stands up for the fetus, shouldn’t be asking too much if they could extend it once they get out of the womb. After I seen Spotlight for the second time, I took notes. Statute of limitations was 3 years to report such abuses. Also, I learned that the charitable Immunity is a legal doctrine that caps damages of $20,000 for each victim. And their lawyer would typically get one-third of that. No wonder many never came forward. They need to raise both the number of years to report such abuses, and seriously raise the cap limit by a very large margin. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/95 "2018-08-17T18:19:42Z")
> [@razncain](#): > > Yeah, I didn’t think you were. And that’s a good point, you would think their numbers would be better than for the general public. For an institution that stands up for the fetus, shouldn’t be asking too much if they could extend it once they get out of the womb. > > After I seen Spotlight for the second time, I took notes. Statute of limitations was 3 years to report such abuses. Also, I learned that the charitable Immunity is a legal doctrine that caps damages of $20,000 for each victim. And their lawyer would typically get one-third of that. No wonder many never came forward. They need to raise both the number of years to report such abuses, and seriously raise the cap limit by a very large margin. Spotlight was based on events that happened 15+ years ago. Many or most states have revised their Statute of Limitations for sexual abuse of a child since then. The current SOL in Massachusetts is 27 years from the initial report, or the victim turning 16. And it’s essentially unlimited if there’s independent corroborating evidence. And as of now, the charitable immunity law in MA only covers actions directly related to the charitable purposes of the charity: “provided, that if the tort was committed in the course of any activity carried on to accomplish directly the charitable purposes of such corporation, trust, or association, liability in any such cause of action shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars exclusive of interest and costs.” I don’t know if that was different in 2003, but I suspect it wasn’t, since the archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay out $85 million to victims, instead of hiding behind that limit. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/96 "2018-08-17T18:42:32Z")
**muldoonthief** , thanks for the update, great news indeed. Set up this way, an institution will have no choice but to get it together, and if they don’t, could risk losing everything financially. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/97 "2018-08-17T21:44:05Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Trust me. Any child who is sexually abused knows full well that they are being victimized. And I’ve read another victim report that said ~ I dropped my pants and he caned me. Then he stuck his penis in me. I just thought, this is what happens when you’re bad: you get beaten and he sticks his penis in you ~ Trust me, some children who are sexually abused don’t understand what is happening to them. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/98 "2018-08-17T22:26:24Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There’s something I haven’t said on this board in almost ten years, and I think this is the best possible time to bring back an old habit. > > Fuck you, **Cartooniverse**. Fuck your disingenuous outrage. Fuck your deliberate distortions of people who disagree with you. Fuck your cowardly, “Oh, I daren’t disagree with a mod!” bullshit. And above all, fuck you for minimizing and dismissing the actual pain of people who have been victimized by pedophile predators with your, “Trust me, they know.” No, you unbearably stupid motherfucker, **we** don’t always know. Fuck you. Fuck you and fuck off. Fuck off and go burn in hell, you fucking cholera-infected shitstain. You fucking failure. You human waste. You vapid cockwart. Fuck you, you fucking sheen of scum from the top of a cesspit. You puss-streaked vaginal discharge. You vomitous reject. You miserable shitfuck. You anal canker sore. Fuck you. Fuck every single dumbfuck thing about you, you moldy cumstain. Fuck you, fuck the pathetic excuse for a mother that spawned you, fuck the diseased testicle that was your father, and if you’ve got any siblings, fuck each and every one of them right in the fucking eye socket. > > You fuck. I certainly hope **octopus** doesn’t read this. I’m not sure his fainting couch could handle it. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/99 "2018-08-17T22:52:44Z")
I’m starting to doubt the the 4% figure even more of the Catholic financed John Jay College study showing that that is the number of priests that were abusing kids. I’ll give their studies as much credence as the tobacco companies financing their own studies showing cigarette smoking doesn’t cause cancer. This [piece](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/06/4444-victims-extent-of-abuse-in-catholic-church-in-australia-revealed) from the Guardian dated last year, shows in Australia 7% of their priest were accused of abusing children in the six decades dating back since 1950 accoring to the royal commission. In some dioceses "alleged perpetrators were up to 15% going back to 1950. In some national Catholic orders it was 40% of religious brothers that were believed to have abused children. 22% of the Christian Brothers and 20% of the Marist Brothers were alleged perpetrators. It gives other percentages that don’t look any better. Just a few months ago the [Guardian reported that:](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/15/south-australia-catholic-church-to-ignore-law-on-reporting-confessions-of-abuse) > [@](#): > > The South Australian Catholic church will not adhere to a change in law requiring priests to report confessions of child sex abuse, the acting Archbishop of Adelaide has said. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/100 "2018-08-17T23:21:22Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > I certainly hope **octopus** doesn’t read this. I’m not sure his fainting couch could handle it. Potty mouth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624.md?page=6)