The author of the CTS report, The Catholic Church and the sex abuse crisis Dr Pravin Thevathasan, has been following the responses to the launch of his report on the blog, and wished to post the following on the subject of the cover-up of sex abuse, which – judging from your feedback – is one of the most upsetting aspects of this whole tragedy.

“Having read a number of comments on the abuse crisis, it is increasingly clear that those who have studied this matter seriously accept that only a small number of Catholic priests have been guilty of this crime. What concerns them most is the institutional cover-up.

The cover-up is indeed reprehensible and has been condemned as such by Pope Benedict.

However, is the Catholic Church alone guilty of this? According to an article in The Guardian (29 April 2010): ‘The Boy Scouts of America has been accused of covering up decades of child abuse in order to protect their reputation of what is now a billion dollar organization.’

Phil Lawler writes at www.catholicculture.org that ‘Schools, police departments, families, media outlets, non-profit associations not to mention other religious denominations (have been) all guilty of cover-up.’ Ought all these institutions ‘examine the past, apologize, and take steps to guarantee that similar offenses will bring prompt redress in the future?’

In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins writes: ‘All of the three boarding schools I attended employed teachers whose affection for small boys overstepped the bounds of propriety.’ Dawkins does not suggest that they were forced out and handed over to the police for any criminal behaviour.
Other vulnerable groups have been subjected to a variety of types of abuse. People with learning disabilities were abused in institutions for decades, leading to the Ely Hospital inquiry (1968-9), the Longcare inquiry (1998) and the recent Cornwall inquiry.

Cover-up scandals have taken place in a variety of different institutions and they all require to be condemned.”

Dr Pravin Thevathasan

The report is available from CTS priced £2.50

	Norms Concerning the Most Serious Crimes - The Norms of Canon Law dealing with crimes of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy have been published here in a comprehensive and updated form, in a document.
	Safeguarding with Confidence – The Cumberlege Commission believes that much progress has been made since Lord Nolan reported, and that the Church is now a safer place; however, it states that there remains room for improvement, and this report makes a number of recommendations
	Priesthood Today – Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue takes the opportunity of this ‘Year for Priests’ to re-examine the role of the priesthood today.

The scourge of sexual abuse has convulsed the Catholic Church over the last decade. Victims of abuse have come forward in Britain, Ireland, the United States, Germany, Holland and Belgium to describe their ordeals at the hands of priests and others in authority.

Their suffering is real and it has led to a lot of soul-searching in the Church and, thankfully, the arrival of a new approach to tackling the problem. Many Catholics, however, remain confused about the nature of the crisis and its extent.

The Catholic Church and the Sexual Abuse Crisis, a forthcoming publication by the Catholic Truth Society, a publisher to the Holy See, offers Catholics and others a reliable guide to help them make sense of what is really happening.

Written by Dr Pravin Thevathasan, a UK consultant psychiatrist with experience of working with sex offenders and their victims, it acknowledges the failures of the Church and the real suffering of victims before it locates the genesis of the crisis in the trendy but destructive and false theories of such practitioners as Alfred Kinsey. The author uses statistics to demonstrate how levels of abuse peaked during the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. He uses facts to illustrate the nature of the abuse and to draw profiles of the offenders. He also uses evidence to show that:

•    The crisis was not one of “paedophile priests” but largely of homosexual priests, with the vast majority of cases involving adolescent and pubescent boys rather than pre-pubescent children;
•    Celibacy is not to blame as abuse figures of Catholic clergy compare similarly with clergy in other religions and denominations in which clerics can marry;
•    There may be an anti-Catholic agenda, given the repeated and unjust attempts to implicate Pope Benedict XVI in the crisis, suggesting that the Church may be a target because of its moral teachings.

There are also sections on Church teaching on child sex abuse, what precisely is happening in some of the worst affected countries in the world and how the Church is responding to what has become one of its most severe problems of this age.

Fergal Martin, General Secretary of the Catholic Truth Society, said:

“This matter on so many levels can only be considered a tragedy. Pope Benedict has taken a lead on identifying underlying causes and insisting on full and complete repentance and prevention of these wrongs ever happening again. What this text achieves is to shed a penetrating light on a range of demanding and inter-linked questions concerning clerical abuse. The author, with all the skill of an experienced clinician, provides reasoned, tough and honest responses to each of them – which is of immense service to anyone who desires to understand what has happened, why, and what steps can and are being taken to resolve and heal, hopefully once and for all, this harrowing reality.”

Dr Thevathasan said:

“The sex abuse crisis has had terrible consequences. First and foremost we think of the innocent victims and their families. We also think of the very real damage this has done to the reputation of the Catholic Church.

“I show that the abuse crisis needs to be put in its context. The vast majority of priests are entirely innocent of this crime. The abuse of children is far from uncommon in society and, ultimately, abusive priests come from this society. That is why candidates for the priesthood must be selected with care. The fact that the crisis has occurred within the Church suggests that the Church has assimilated a certain spirit of worldliness.

“As a consultant psychiatrist of 15 years, I have looked after both sex offenders and victims. As a Catholic, I have seen the effects that the crisis has had on the Church. I have no doubt that the abuse of children leads to very significant psychological consequences. As part of my research, I examined Psychiatry books written in the 1970s and was surprised by some of the views then expressed. It would appear that many, but not all, clinicians then had opinions that have been discredited.

“I also show that it is unjust and wrong to claim that this crisis is largely a problem afflicting the Church. Indeed the research suggests that child abuse has a far higher incidence in other institutions.

“I discuss the safeguarding procedures now in place in the Church. It goes without saying that such instruments are only as good as the people who make use of them. The Catholic Church in the United Kingdom has been commended in implementing such procedures and is regarded as an example of good practice. However, there can be no grounds for complacency.

“When I asked a cardinal for his opinion of the crisis, he suggested that the problem is ultimately a spiritual one. We need to pray for good, solid, holy vocations to the priesthood.”

Commendations

“I feel that it is outstanding. It is a lucid and complete review of a difficult issue for the Church. He summarises the history and suggests that following Vatican II there was a breakdown in ascetical discipline. Finally the article ends with the optimism of Pope Benedict. The Catholic Truth Society and Dr. Thevathasan are to be commended.”

Dr Patrick Guinan, University of Illinois, who has written extensively on the psychology behind the sex abuse crisis.

“I think this is an absolutely brilliant piece of work and richly deserves publication. While … the criticism [made of the Church by certain people] is out of proportion and unreasonable in many aspects, the reality is that we must be terribly humble and penitent too. This is a very shameful thing that has happened in our Church and we cannot be proud.”

Dr Adrian Treloar, consultant psychiatrist and a Catholic.

The Catholic Church and the Sexual Abuse Crisis is available priced £2.50

	Norms Concerning the Most Serious Crimes - The Norms of Canon Law dealing with crimes of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy have been published here in a comprehensive and updated form, in a document.
	A Priest Forever – This meditation on the priesthood speaks of the being of the priest, what he becomes forever, through the indelible character of Holy Orders. It is a thoughtful reflection on the sanctity of the priest, what he is called to become by responding to the specific grace of this sacrament. The truth is faced head on: holy priesthood is given and priestly holiness is attainable, but it requires an heroic struggle.
	Priesthood Today – Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue takes the opportunity of this ‘Year for Priests’ to re-examine the role of the priesthood today.