The Times presents a statistical overview of the abuse scandal based on their survey of 4,268 cases.
- Half of the priests in the database were accused of molesting more than one minor, and 16 percent are suspected of having had five or more victims.
- Eighty percent of the priests were accused of molesting boys. The percentage is nearly the opposite for laypeople accused of abuse; their victims are mostly girls.
- While the majority of the priests were accused of molesting teenagers only, 43 percent were accused of molesting children 12 and younger. Experts in sexual disorders say the likeliest repeat offenders are those who abuse prepubescent children and boys.
- Those ordained in 1970 and 1975 included the highest percentage of priests accused of abuse: 3.3 percent. More known offenders were ordained in the 1970’s than in any other decade.
One detail in the article connects ‘Sixties dissent with a weakening of morals among the clergy:
Over all, 256 priests were reported to have abused minors in the 1960’s. There were 537 in the 1970’s and 510 in the 1980’s, before a drop to 211 in the 1990’s. The numbers do not prove that the upheaval in the church and society in the 1960’s and 70’s caused the abuse, but experts who reviewed The Times’s research said it was important to consider the historical context in which the scandal occurred.
The church was jolted by two earthquakes in the 1960’s. Vatican II was the first, and Humanae Vitae, the papal encyclical upholding the church’s condemnation of artificial birth control in 1968, was the second.
Amid surging use of the birth control pill, many priests say it fell on them to promulgate a teaching they could not agree with. And many said the controversy removed their inhibitions about criticizing or even disregarding church teachings on sexuality.
“People were beginning to decide that the church couldn’t make the rules anymore,” Mr. Dinter said.
Hey, I didn’t say it.