I didn’t write enough about how much the Catholic church has done to evade authorities, hush up victims, fail to remove priests from office, and generally turn a blind eye to the countless abuse cases that we even know about. The NPR program I listened to and the documentary Deliver Us from Evil each focused on a single priest… and each priest was responsible for roughly a dozen or so victims. In a report commissioned by the church itself 4,392 priests were found to have been accused of sexual abuse (John Jay Report). Consider with that number the number of victims to afraid to speak out, and then consider that the recidivism rate for sexual offenders of boys is 56%.

That number makes me sick to my stomach.

I know this is terribly depressing and that most people don’t want to think about these things, but… this may sound harsh… burying our heads in the sand and saying we don’t want to think about these things only helps to perpetuate the problem. Ignoring crimes and victims benefits no one. I know so many women who were abused by male relatives, and I think our culture as a whole has done a better (not great) job of addressing this type of abuse. Abuse by a religious authority is a violation on so many more levels. These victims need even more help and support and counseling. I think part of the squeamishness we feel is partly our own sense of helplessness. I know that just writing this makes me feel… cheap… on some level. What good is this really doing anyone? Perhaps it isn’t doing any good, but if we can at all raise the collective awareness of these crimes… maybe it’ll do something.