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Paper Abstract: Sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests. Issues and impact of the scandal. Prosecutors pursuing cases of alleged sexual abuse, most involving male victims. The far-reaching, disastrous implications for the contemporary American Catholic Church. Responses of the American Church, the bishops and the Vatican. Paper Introduction: Pedophilia and the Catholic Church In May 2002, the Catholic magazine America (177 priests resigned…, 2002) reported that a total of 177 Roman Catholic priests had either resigned or been removed from their posts across the country since the scandals over sexual abuse of minors by priests erupted in Boston in January of this year. Many prosecutors in different states are taking an aggressive approach to pursuing cases of alleged sexual abuse believed to have been committed (or already known to have occurred) by priests. Many males and their families who had previously been silent on this issue are coming forward, publicly reporting on instances of abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic priests that are in some cases decades old. For the American Church, this scandal has far-reaching and potentially disastrous implications. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. (2 2). Many abusive priestshave an adult heterosexual orientation and may, in fact, target youngermales as victims because such victims are less likely to report abuse thanothers. Fox (2 2) reported that the bishops have been aware of theproblem of pedophilia in the Church at least since 1985, when a 92-pagereport on clergy sex abuse was distributed to all the U.S. Fox (2 2) suggested that the inaction of the bishops can be tracedto a long-standing insistence in the Church that it - and not civilauthorities - should be solely responsible for disciplinary and othermatters involving its clergy. Victims of priestly sexual abuseand pedophilia and advocacy groups - as well as many members of theCatholic laity and priesthood - saw this move as a retreat from a principleof zero tolerance. Adequate psychological and background screening must now beimplemented for all candidates for ordination to the priesthood (McKenna,2 2). Pedophilia and the Catholic Church In May 2 2, the Catholic magazine America (177 priests resigned...,2 2) reported that a total of 177 Roman Catholic priests had eitherresigned or been removed from their posts across the country since thescandals over sexual abuse of minors by priests erupted in Boston inJanuary of this year. In November 2 2, Allen (2 2) reported that more than 3 Americanpriests had been removed from ministry and that revisions to the DallasCharter had been created. In the wake of the American scandals, however, and in the face ofthe bishops' determination to create a zero tolerance policy, the Vaticanappears willing to accept a compromise that would create a special processallowing bishops to act quickly to remove priests from their positionswhile offering priests a chance to defend themselves and appeal anysanctions (Vatican shift..., 2 2). (2 2). (2 2). National Catholic Reporter, 39(4), 6-7.Bryant, C. Some 66 percent of those surveyed stated that the Church andthe bishops have not handled the problem well, with 7 percent reportingextreme dissatisfaction with the official response of the bishops(Catholics see abuse..., 2 2). Peterson, aDominican Order priest named Father Thomas Doyle, and an attorney named RayMouton researched and prepared this report, which warned the bishops thatthe problem was large and growing. Joseph J. Psychological treatment of priest sex offenders. Pedophilia is naturally regarded as one of the more heinous types ofsexual assault, involving as it does a normally non-consenting minor or avictim for whom "informed consent" is not possible due to age, lack ofknowledge, or the nature of a relationship with an authority figure(Bryant, 2 2). Manymales and their families who had previously been silent on this issue arecoming forward, publicly reporting on instances of abuse at the hands ofRoman Catholic priests that are in some cases decades old. Mechanisms are to be put into placethat provide for an immediate response to allegations - rather than thecover-ups and transfers or re-assignments that were standard policy in thepast - and review boards composed primarily of lay people are to be set upto assess allegations. The diocese will cooperate in accordance withthe laws of the local jurisdiction; an ecclesiastical procedure is thenmade available for removing or otherwise dealing with the priests anddeacons, who can be permanently removed from the ministry for any singlepast, present or future act of abuse of a minor. Thomas C. At the same time, there is little doubt that a substantial numberof admittedly homosexual males have joined the priesthood in the yearssince Vatican II, a period in which many priests have left the Church andin which enrollment at seminaries has declined dramatically. The notion that all priests who sexually abuse young males arehomosexuals is seen by Bryant (2 2) as incorrect. Newsweek, June 24, 8 .Guido, J.J. Insettling just seven confirmed cases of pedophilia, the Church paid out morethan $5 million, with the average settlement per case set at about$5 , . There is no simple or easy way to root out all potential or actualpedophiles from the ranks of the clergy. bishops met, prayed, argued - and, finally, voted. Perhaps not surprisingly, the bishops in 1985 did little or nothingwith the information they received (Fox, 2 2). Remedies for the accused or convicted priest are also contained inthis document. Bryant (2 2) saysthere is no easy or single answer to this all-important question.Psychodynamic psychologists suggest that sexual abuse is a manifestation ofarrested development or mastery of trauma through repetition oridentification with the aggressor when one has been abused. Guido (2 2) conducted a survey himself, and found that 83 percent ofNorth American superiors (bishops and other administrators) were aware ofsexual abuse charges against one or more of their priests, but so were 43percent of the superiors in Central American and the Caribbean, and morethan 3 percent of superiors in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe and SouthAmerica. (2 2). Little knowledge of what predisposes a priest to become apedophile or a sex offender has thus far been generated. Father Michael F. The importance of perspective: Understanding the sexual abuse of children by priests. Further, the realextent of the problem in the American Church is unknown; many victims ofsuch abuse have not stepped forward and are unlikely to do so. At the present time, the bishops and the Vatican are still negotiatinga final decision as to how the Church will deal with this problem. (2 2). America, 186(13), 5.Fox, T.C. Guido (2 2) considered the problem and commented that thepublicity surrounding the sexual abuse of children by priests in the UnitedStates (and, to a lesser degree, in Ireland, Australia and Great Britain)might lead one to suspect that if it is not an American problem per se, itis a problem with great relevance for the English-speaking world. Researchsuggests, however, that sexual abuse of children is a universal problem forthe Church. (2 2). Evidently, the contemporary Roman Catholic Churchand its bishops had until very recently largely continued to maintain thisposture. Law respondedaffirmatively to prosecutorial pressure to turn over Church records listingthe names of all priests charged with child abuse to law enforcementofficers, the American Church has literally been rocked with internaldissent and vulnerable to external criticism. America, 187(7), 7-8.Vatican shift on expulsion of sex abusers. As the scandals broke in January and the spring of 2 2, the Americanbishops realized that some action was needed.Meeting in Dallas, Texas, in formal convocation, the National Conference ofCatholic Bishops approved a Charter for the Protection of Children andYoung People (McKenna, 2 2). In this essay, the issues that have arisen and the responsesof the American Church and of the Vatican will be analyzed. Behavioralpsychologists see sexual abuse as the result of maladaptive learning,modeling or conditioning from early childhood experience. The Dallas Charter and due process. What may differentiate the problem is the response of thelocal bishops. Cardinal Law was then head of theNational Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Research and pastoralPractices; the priests and attorney who prepared the report anticipatedthat Cardinal Law would be the ideal man to convince his fellow bishopsthat action was needed. McKenna (2 2) stated that implicit in this set of remediesis reporting of the allegations of abuse to the public authorities andcooperation with those authorities about reporting in cases where theperson is no longer a minor. It is even possible that the Vatican may order some ofthe 3 priests who have been defrocked reinstated - a possibility thatangers many in the American Church. bishops was announced, with expectations that this new group wouldrevisit the Dallas Charter and amend it. As a student of history may recall,England's King Henry II indirectly caused the murder of Archbishop ThomasBecket because of Becket's refusal to submit priests who had committedcrimes to civil courts. The critical questions thathave emerged are: What did the bishop(s) know, and when did he/they knowit?" (Fox, 2 2). References177 priests resign or removed from ministry since January. Bryant (2 2)divides the abusers into two classes: the sex-force offender, who usescoercion or physical force; and the "groomer" who uses enticement,persuasion and entrapment. The vast majority of priests ex offenders are"groomers." Why do priests become pedophiles and sex offenders? The formation of a mixed commission of Vaticanand U.S. Others blamesocialization through pornography or advertising, sexual conditioning, malesocialization to dominance, patriarch norms and other repressive attitudestoward sexual behavior. The document provides for a number ofstrategies to deal with what the bishops called a "crisis without precedentin our times" (McKenna, 2 2, p. Priest abusers tend to prey onvulnerable or naïve individuals, many of whom come into contact with theirabuser as altar servers or as parochial school students. This in turn may illustrate the failure of Church superiors tocreate and follow through with a mechanism to identify the veracity of suchallegations and so ensure that victims, the accused and the Church itselfwill be cared for in the best way possible. America, 186(11), 14-15+.Catholics abuse as major problem for church. bishops, warningthem that there was a massive problem in this regard and that if it was notchecked, scandal and worse would erupt. National Catholic Reporter, 38(28), 3-6.France, D. Day of atonement: The U.S. As of 1985, the Church hadreceived more than $1 million in claims in just one diocese as a resultof sexual contact between a priest and a number of minor children. (2 2). Itis to be hoped that in the coming months, the Church will take morepositive action, not only on providing support to the victims of abuse andremoving abusive priests from their ministries, and also on moreeffectively screening candidates for ordination. Revisions leave unanswered questions: Critics call changes to bishops' sex abuse norms a retreat from Dallas. Others havesuggested that the problem is linked to the large number of homosexualmales who have begun to enter into the priesthood; however, Guido (2 2)argued that pedophiles are not exclusively homosexuals, and that pedophilesattracted to boys have more in common psychologically with pedophilesattracted to little girls than they do with homosexuals. The statistically unusual groupof priest sex offenders is that of ephebophiles - people attracted to post-pubertal minors - whose target population consists of males between theages of 15 and 17 (Bryant, 2 2). Allegations of sexual abuse of minors, generally young males, byRoman priests are not new (177 priests resigned..., 2 2). Bryant(2 2) suggested that pedophiles make up some 3 percent of the generalpopulation, while the Archdiocese of Philadelphia places the percentage ofpriest pedophiles at about 1.8 percent. However,beginning in January of 2 2, when Cardinal Bernard F. Programs requiring a safe environment for childrenare mandated, as are background checks for church personnel working withchildren. Instead, Cardinal Law and his committee did notfollow through on a promise that he would create an ad hoc committee tostudy the problem. A recent survey found that some 71 percent of AmericanCatholics believe sex abuse is a major problem that demands immediateattention. America 186(16), 5. 7). Most of the sexual abuse charges in theUnited States have alleged that the abusive priestly male has sexuallyabused male victims, linking the question of pedophilia to the issue ofhomosexuality among the ranks of the American (perhaps Western) clergy.Some critics of the Church have suggested, in fact, that mandatoryabstention from sexual contact may be partially at fault and that theChurch should reconsider the ban on priestly marriage - with some of theEastern Rite Catholic and Orthodox Churches do not require. (2 2). When confronted with this report, the bishops declined to act - muchless to act decisively (Fox, 2 2). In the report, co-prepared by Mouton(who was acting as counsel for an accused priest, Father Gilbert Gauthe),the bishops were informed of the civil canonical and psychological aspectsof priest sexual involvement with children. As France (2 2) noted, the result of the Dallas meeting was a policyof zero tolerance - a response that the Vatican first rejected and thenlater appeared to reconsider. (2 2). Many prosecutors in different states are taking anaggressive approach to pursuing cases of alleged sexual abuse believed tohave been committed (or already known to have occurred) by priests. America, 186(11), 21-22.McKenna, K.E. America, 186(16), 4-5.Allen, J.L. Roman Catholics in the United States see this problem as one ofenormous concern. Guido (2 2) also argues that one must separate sexual abuse ofchildren from pedophilia per se. Atthe same time, the scandals have not apparently led Catholics to re-examinetheir faith; some 95 percent of those responding to this survey (conductedby several major news and polling organizations) stated that the crisis didnot diminish their personal faith (Catholics see abuse..., 2 2). It isclear that an enormous economic strain has been placed on the AmericanCatholic Church and that for many American Catholics, a profound sense ofbetrayal by the bishops and the priests has occurred (France, 2 2).Pedophilia represents both a heinous crime and, in this situation, a veryreal violation of the tenets of the priesthood and the nature of therelationship that should exist between a priest and his congregation. Many Catholics believe that changing some of the rules that impactupon the priesthood may be necessary - not only to inhibit abuse, but alsoto increase the number of priests available for parish work in thiscountry. What they knew in 1985. For theAmerican Church, this scandal has far-reaching and potentially disastrousimplications. Dioceses are being required to reachout to victims and their families with a sincere commitment to theirspiritual and emotional well-being. About 6 percent of American Catholics appear to oppose thediscipline of priestly celibacy, though only 38 percent believe that notallowing priests to marry was a cause of pedophilia and sexual abuse. Total projected financial losses were projected to be about $1billion for the 198 s (Fox, 2 2). The North American case may differ more in terms of degree thandirection. In the mid-199 s, the American bishops hadpetitioned the Vatican for an administrative shortcut for defrocking sexualabusers and pedophiles, but they were turned down because the Vaticanclaimed that such a procedure would infringe on a priest's right to dueprocess. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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