The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse


Book Description

This work unpacks the history and root causes of the clergy sex abuse scandals in the United States. Building on decades of data and research, author Bill Donohue, who holds a doctorate in sociology, tells the story from a fresh angle and calls us to rethink our assumptions about the Church''s handling of these horrific abuses. The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse challenges many myths about the scandals, demonstrating that the abuse of minors is a problem that haunts virtually every institution—religious and secular—where adults interact with young people. The work also provides compelling evidence of the great progress that the Church has made in preventing abuse, contrary to public perceptions. Indeed, the media, Hollywood, and activist lawyers have poisoned the public mind with tales of old cases, giving the impression that nothing has changed. Donohue investigates at length the central role that homosexuality played in the scandal. While homosexuality does not cause sexual abuse, the prevalence of emotional and sexual immaturity among homosexual clergy explains why they committed most of the molestation. Indeed, all of the educational institutions of the Catholic Church, including the seminaries, have been affected by the sexual revolution that began in the 1960s, and this book explores the pernicious effects of dissent from Catholic sexual morality.




The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis and the Legal Responses


Book Description

The sexual abuse of children and teens by rogue priests in the U.S. Catholic Church is a heinous crime, and those who pray for a religious community as its ministers, priests and rabbis should never tolerate those who prey on that community. The legal disputes of recent years have produced many scandalous headlines and fuelled public discussion about the sexual abuse crisis within the clergy, a crisis that has cost the U.S. Catholic Church over $3 billion. In The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis and the Legal Responses, two eminent experts, James O'Reilly and Margaret Chalmers, draw on the lessons of recent years to discern the interplay between civil damages law and global church-based canon law. In some countries civil and canon law, although autonomous systems of law, both form part of the church's legal duties. In the United States, freedom of religion issues have complicated how the state adjudicates both cases of abuse and who can be held responsible for clerical oversight. This book examines questions of civil and criminal liability, issues of respondeat superior and oversight, issues with statutes of limitations and dealing with allegations that occurred decades ago, and how the Church's internal judicial processes interact or clash with the civil pursuit of these cases.




Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes


Book Description

Sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by Catholic clergy is not a new phenomenon. Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes reveals in shocking detail a deep-seated problem that spans the Church's history.




Betrayal of Trust


Book Description

Sexual misconduct by clergy is a devastating issue that reaches across all denominations, damaging the credibility of the church in its wake. The media regularly reports on the moral failure of leaders and abuse at the hands of those who are supposed to be trustworthy. Betrayal of Trust focuses on a common scenario of abuse--sexual involvement between a male pastor and a female congregant--and offers practical solutions on how to respond to and prevent this betrayal of trust. This book presents methods that will help churches respond sensitively to victims and implement policies and procedures to prevent abuse from taking place. For clergy who may be at risk for this behavior, it offers help in establishing appropriate boundaries. This second edition includes a new chapter that offers help for the wandering pastor and a risk-determination questionnaire for pastors who may become abusers.




Understanding the Impact of Clergy Sexual Abuse


Book Description

The sexual exploitation of a child by one who has been recognized as a representative of God is a sinister assault on that person’s psychosocial and spiritual well-being. Many survivors of such abuse present with a range of symptoms consistent with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as well as common co-occurring problems, including substance abuse, affective lability, and relational conflicts. Yet there are additional themes, particularly the impact of the abuse and institutional betrayal on the family, profound alteration in individual spirituality, and changes in individual and family religious practices, which differentiate this abuse from other traumas. Understanding the profound and multidimensional effects of clergy perpetrated sexual abuse and the betrayal of trust by religious leaders on individuals, families and communities requires the collective wisdom of many voices. This book brings together the perspectives of survivors, practitioners and scholars to examine this unique form of interpersonal violence from theoretical, clinical and spiritual perspectives with consideration given to future research needs. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Child Sex Abuse.




Sins of the Press: The Untold Story of The Boston Globe's Reporting on Sex Abuse in the Catholic Church


Book Description

SINS OF THE PRESS blows the lid off the Boston Globe's 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting about sex abuse and the Catholic Church. While the Globe would want you believe that its paper's reporting was a carefully impartial chronicle of abuse and cover-ups by Church officials, this fast-paced, eye-opening, and meticulously researched book uncovers something entirely different. Using actual images of headlines, photos, and editorial cartoons from the Globe archives, Sins of the Press exposes: * How the Globe has routinely celebrated child molesters in its pages over the years; * How the Globe frequently promoted an author who supported incest between fathers and daughters; * Extensive and undeniable proof that the Globe's reporting was the culmination of a relentless, decades-long attack against the Catholic Church; * How the Globe has deliberately dismissed and mitigated vile abuse and cover-ups in other institutions; * How the Globe flagrantly misled its readers about the Church's response to abuse complaints; * How the Globe was flat-out erroneous in its reporting; * How the Globe facilitated the foundation of the notorious pedophile group NAMBLA; and much more. Sins of the Press will obliterate everything you thought about the Boston Globe and its reporting about Catholic sex abuse.




Double Standard


Book Description

Yes, Catholic priests terribly abused minors, and bishops failed to stop the unspeakable harm. That is an undeniable truth. Nothing justifies such an evil. However, major media outlets are unfairly attacking the Catholic Church, and this fast-paced, compelling book has the shocking evidence to prove it. This book addresses numerous topics, including: ... appalling cases of abuse and cover-ups happening today - but they're not happening in the Catholic Church ... proof that Catholic clergy do not offend more than teachers or those of other religious denominations ... data that shows that the Catholic clergy scandal is not about "pedophilia" ... affirmation that the Catholic Church may be the safest environment for children today ... research that uncovers the shady relationships between SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests), lawyers, and the media ... the alarming roots of SNAP's attacks on the Church ... the surprising truth about "repressed memories" ... unheard, agonized priests who deny the accusations against them ... evidence of how the "documentary" Deliver Us From Evil deceived moviegoers plus much more. Double Standard covers topics that the major media won't. There is no other book about the Catholic Church abuse narrative like this one.




Why I Am Catholic (and You Should Be Too)


Book Description

Winner of a 2018 Catholic Press Association Award: Popular Presentation of the Catholic Faith. (First Place). With atheism on the rise and millions tossing off religion, why would anyone consider the Catholic Church? Brandon Vogt, a bestselling author and the content director for Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, shares his passionate search for truth, a journey that culminated in the realization that Catholicism was right about a lot of things, maybe even everything. His persuasive case for the faith reveals a vision of Catholicism that has answers our world desperately needs and reminds those already in the Church what they love about it. A 2016 study by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 25 percent of adults (39 percent of young adults) describe themselves as unaffiliated with any religion. Millions of these so-called “nones” have fled organized religion and many more have rejected God altogether. Brandon Vogt was one of those nones. When he converted to Catholicism in college, he knew how confusing that decision was to many of his friends and family. But he also knew that the evidence he discovered pointed to one conclusion: Catholicism is true. To his delight, he discovered it was also exceedingly good and beautiful. Why I Am Catholic traces Vogt’s spiritual journey, making a refreshing, twenty-first century case for the faith and answering questions being asked by agnostics, nones, and atheists, the audience for his popular website, StrangeNotions.com, where Catholics and atheists dialogue. With references to Catholic thinkers such as G. K. Chesterton, Ven. Fulton Sheen, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and Bishop Robert Barron, Vogt draws together lines of evidence to help seekers discover why they should be Catholic as an alternative. Why I Am Catholic serves as a compelling reproposal of the Church for former Catholics, a persuasive argument for truth and beauty to those who have become jaded and disenchanted with religion, and at the same time offers practicing Catholics a much-needed dose of confidence and clarity to affirm their faith against an increasingly skeptical culture.




Predatory Priests, Silenced Victims


Book Description

The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church captured headlines and mobilized public outrage in January 2002. But much of the commentary that immediately followed was reductionistic, focusing on single "causes" of clerical abuse such as mandatory celibacy, homosexuality, sexual repressiveness or sexual permissiveness, anti-Catholicism, and a decadent secular culture. Predatory Priests, Silenced Victims: The Sexual Abuse Crisis and the Catholic Church, a collection of groundbreaking articles edited by Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea and Virginia Goldner, eschews such one-size-fits-all theorizing. In its place, the abuse situation is explored in all its troubling complexity, as contributors take into account the experiences, respectively, of the victim/survivor, the abuser/perpetrator, and the bystander (whether family member, professional/clergy, or the community at large). Setting polemics to the side, Predatory Priests, Silenced Victims provides a sober and sobering analysis of the interlacing historical, doctrinal, and psychological issues that came together in the sexual abuse scandal. It is mandatory reading for all who seek thoughtful, informed commentary on a crisis long in the making and yet to be resolved.