Priest Sex Scandal

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March 30, 2009
The Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald, the founder of a religious order that treats Roman Catholic priests who molest children, concluded in the 1950s that offenders were unlikely to change and should not be returned to ministry. He was so sure of the priests' inability to control themselves that he tried to buy an island to isolate them.

Fitzgerald discussed the issue with Pope Paul VI and in correspondence with several bishops. This contradicts statements by U.S. bishops who claim before the clergy sex abuse scandal erupted in the 1980s and again in 2002, they were unaware of the risks of moving predators among parishes.


March 21, 2009
U.S. Catholic leaders processed more than 800 allegations of clergy sexual abuse last year, a 16 percent increase from 2007. The majority of the allegations involved abuse that occurred decades ago.

The relative lack of recent cases shows that the American church has "turned a corner" in the abuse scandal that erupted seven years ago, said Teresa M. Kettlekamp, director of the bishops' abuse-prevention office.

Victims' advocates raised questions about a section in the report that said "many dioceses are conducting . . . investigations themselves without also making a report to civil authorities," which would be a direct violation of the bishops' 2002 reforms.


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