The Catholic Church study said celibacy and the all-male priesthood were not to blame for sexual abuse cases.
A sweeping study of sex abuse in the Catholic Church found that the turmoil of the free-love 1960s – rather than celibacy or an all-male priesthood – was to blame.
Researchers determined that the social upheaval proved too much for under-trained priests ordained in the 1940s and 1950s to cope with, leading to widespread sexual abuse.
The study – conducted by New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – noted that criminal behavior spiked throughout the U.S. during the same period.
“The rise of abuse cases in the 1960s and 1970s was influenced by social factors in society generally,” the report said.
“Factors that were invariant during the time period addressed, such as celibacy, were not responsible for the increase or decline in abuse cases over time.”
Victims’ groups immediately dismissed the findings as attempting to shift blame away from the church hierarchy, which quietly allowed abusers to remain in the priesthood and failed to alert police.
“They want us to fixate on abusive priests, not callous bishops,” the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement.
The 1960s and Woodstock were symbolic of the decade’s free love spirit. (Elliott Landy/Getty)
The $1.8 million study relied heavily on data provided by the church.
The debate over what drove the abuse scandal has largely fallen along ideological lines. Liberals blame celibacy and the exclusion of women from the priesthood, while conservatives point fingers at gay priests.
But the John Jay study concluded that the majority of the victims were boys because priests had greater access to them.
It also noted that as more and more gay men joined seminaries in the late 1970s and 1980s, the number of known sex abuse cases actually declined.
The study’s authors said they could not find a “single cause” for abusive priests and that no particular “psychological characteristics” or “developmental histories” stood out among those charged with abuse.
The researchers also argued that only a tiny percentage of accused priests – less than 5% – could be defined as pedophiles.
Victims groups, however, argued that the study chose to only count assaults on children younger than 10, whereas most researchers mark 13 as the age defining pedophilia.
With News Wire Services
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9:15 AM
May 18, 2011
It’s rare that the media highlights the priest abuse is almost always from gay priests against boys. I guess it is not politically correct to highlight a gay problem but easier to blame the church.
9:16 AM
May 18, 2011
TAX. THE. CHURCH. the only thing more illegal than our govt protecting these rape factories is that they stole over $3 trillion of OUR taxmoney to SUBSIDIZE them in violation of the Bill of Rights!
9:21 AM
May 18, 2011
USE RICO STATUTES AND SEIZE ALL CHURCH PROPERTIES AND ASSETS. They’ve admitted to being a giant rape syndicate and COVERING IT UP OFFICIALLY, thousands of times! The Gottis got nothing on the Church!
9:25 AM
May 18, 2011
Could be the dumbest report ever. Free love in the sixties caused priests to play with young boys.
John from Sayvi…
9:50 AM
May 18, 2011
What? It wasn’t the devil that made them do it? Okay – thanks for printing this – this makes it all better. Of course it was free love! Okay, now all you abused suicidal former altar boys can rest easy and all the law suit claims can be reversed. Thank-you Daily News!
kevin1
9:56 AM
May 18, 2011
This is ridiculous, These are suppose to be Men of God and yet they don’t want to take the blame for their action, so they hired a PR firm to put forth the idea that the 1960′s was the cause. Well, you Devil Priest, tell me what made you molest and rape before the 1960′s. This is what is wrong with church. I am not saying people shouldn’t believe in GOD, because I believe in The Father, The Son(Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. I also believe that even though these lying Devil Priest who fail to take the blame for their action, won’t be able to push off the blame when Judgement day comes, but for now put the Lying Molesters, Rapist Priest in jail and let the inmates have at them.
9:57 AM
May 18, 2011
Oh, BOOL-SHEET! These people need to face reality, and clean up their own house. Now! TY is so right!
sylvesterowens
10:03 AM
May 18, 2011
most priest are gay and they are attracted to males, which includes young boys, and that exists today.
jesuswalks
10:05 AM
May 18, 2011
Just like Ty said, this place is one big Child Porn Ring. If any other group in America had such a high number of pedophiles as a member, it would have been shut down. It’s ok though, they love Jesus.
10:07 AM
May 18, 2011
I grew up in the ’60s, and I remember the “summer of love” and “flower power” and “make love not war”, but “let’s rape young boys”? Not so much. Try again, you old Nazi.
nelinel526
10:14 AM
May 18, 2011
Who funded this study, the Roman Catholic Church?
Toy
10:14 AM
May 18, 2011
Sure.. It’s EVERYBODY’S fault BUT the church… Now, it’s the fault f the free love generation.. But… How to explain the CENTURIES of abuse prior to that?… Wasn’t the POOP shielding predator priests PRIOR to the 60′s?
kitty62862
10:17 AM
May 18, 2011
I’m not trying to be hateful here, but, to me it seems that with all of the statistics and publicity, worldwide, I should think that leaving a child with a catholic organization would constitute child endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, and if anything happens, neglect! I have a cousin who has 2 kids 7 and 9, and just hands them over to them, and leaves! How could anyone do that??? if it was a little league team, parents would pull their kids out, in short order. Folks, obediently handing over your children to people known for sexually abusing children is not faith in God. Wake up!
JohnE
10:20 AM
May 18, 2011
The hippies did it? Do we look that dumb?
10:20 AM
May 18, 2011
I wonder what Rodrigo Borgia would think about these findings?
10:24 AM
May 18, 2011
@kitty62862-… It’s called BLIND faith… The entire con is based on it….Knowledge is what the church fears most (think Adam and Eve.. The original SIN was eating an apple and gaining knowledge.. hence, the sin IS knowledge, and the basis of the belief system is to NEVER have any), After all, they put this report out there blaming the 60′s (which was an American experience, but the abuse scandal is worldwide…. but “the faithful” are not suppose to THINK about it that deeply…(which shows what they think of THEIR intelligence)
10:28 AM
May 18, 2011
LOL – ok, now I’ve heard everything – yep, blame them damn hippies. are they kidding with this? what FOOLS. so how do they account for the sexual abuse in the 70′s and 80′s – leftovers?? the Catholic Church is a pox on humanity and this “study” could have been conducted by horny chimps and gotten a more truthful result. idiots…
10:31 AM
May 18, 2011
Nonsense, there have been stories of abuse and misconduct between priests and their parishoners since Day 1, medieval texts are full of stories about priests abusing boys, girls anything they can get their hands on.
10:31 AM
May 18, 2011
Funded by the Bishop’s Conference; there’s a shocker. If the ’60′s are to blame, why didn’t all the pervs start smoking dope & eating chocolate instead of raping children? What about the horrific abuse in orphanages dating from 30 years early & probably ongoing? How did the ’60′s prevent the Church from reporting the criminals they DID know about instead of hiding them elsewhere? This is the stuff that makes me want to vomit; to this day they’ll spend a fortune whining rather than cleaning up. Absolutely disgusting.
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10:35 AM
May 18, 2011
The homosexualization of the seminaries is the problem. How many girls have come forward claiming to have been abused? And it’s not even little boys, it’s young prepubescent men (ages 10-14). Think about it. I’m a traditionalist but I do think one reform the Church should adopt is to allow Priests to marry. Allow this and you start to weed out the homosexual predators in the seminaries. For the record, I know that all homosexuals are not predators but I do know all the abusive Priests have been homosexual.
10:40 AM
May 18, 2011
How corrupt and dishonest.
10:43 AM
May 18, 2011
Of Course Satan and his Legions attack the Catholic Church and they always will. While Jesus promised the gates of hell would not prevail, He never promised that the attacks would not occur and cause damage. This is the true cause of such vileness in the priests that perpetrated these horrible crimes against children. The vileness of the world undoubtedly helped, but in the end the forces of evil have to be at the root of the problem. The Holy Spirit is rooting them out, and that is what we are experiencing in this. The study is but one tool helpful in determining the best preventatives in the future to rely upon.
10:43 AM
May 18, 2011
While there have been a few girls that have come forth – the vast majority of abuse occurred against young boys. The whole celibacy thing made the catholic organization a haven for homosexuals. I’m still wondering about the pope with his fancy red Prada shoes and handsome “secretary” who he spends a lot of time with.
10:50 AM
May 18, 2011
@WKane-… If you weeded out the gay predators in the church clergy, all you would be left with is tumble weeds and crickets..
10:51 AM
May 18, 2011
It’s got nothing to do with celibacy, or homosexualization of the seminaries, or the “free love” of the 60s. The Catholic Church has always been a place where priests have used their status to sexually abuse young children. It was happening and has been written about since before the 7th century. And the Vatican continues to try to claim it does not exist or is only a few bad individuals and does not reflect the rest of the priesthood. However, the Church has routinely covered up and protected those priests for centuries. In the early 1900s there was a Bishop who’s name escapes me, who made a huge stink about the sex abusing priests in his See. He wanted them removed from the priesthood and jailed. He was over-ruled and when he went public, he was removed from the priesthood and excommunicated.
10:52 AM
May 18, 2011
New_Yorker-.. So now it’s all SATAN’S fault?….DUDE, you are SOOOO duped.
10:56 AM
May 18, 2011
@martinjsxx being a homosexual doesnt make you a pedophile its not about “poilitical correctioness” its about using the right word to define a person, priests that like little boys arent gay theyre PEDOPHILES, the Church will never accept any responsibility for the disgrace it has become.
10:57 AM
May 18, 2011
It’s all in the recruitment pool, plain and simple. When 100% of your recruits (seminarians) come from a segment that is less than 1% of society, you’re going to get societal misfits. They take in marginal performers/achievers, give them a uniform and a large segment of society holds them in awe, i.e., “good morning Father”, “yes Father, no Father”. Give me a break. They are lazy, misdirected parasites who don’t know what an electric bill or rent payment is!
11:01 AM
May 18, 2011
The fun NEVER stops for these folks.. They are worshiping a carpenter nailed to a couple of two-by-fours, represented by an org. that is absolutely AFRAID to exist in the home of their religion’s origins, and using their brainwashing techniques to convince people that they should hand over their kids for MORE brainwashing, while also insisting you confess all your secrets….And all this for a GOD who will love you forever (if you tow the party line, but toss you into the flames if you don’t… And people live in FEAR of this middle eastern con job…. AMAZING.
11:04 AM
May 18, 2011
There is a YouTube clip in good picture quality of a group of Italian gymnasts performing in the Vatican for the ‘old Nazi’ and his entourage of out-of-shape leering ghouls. When the gymnasts remove their shirts and begin their routines, saliva fairly drools from their lips; the old Nazi himself moves to the edge of his seat so he can get a closer look. And yet and still they deny gay men and women the right to couple and love one another. Their hearts are ossified, and in the name of what, I ask ?
11:04 AM
May 18, 2011
it wasn’t our fault
11:08 AM
May 18, 2011
dme324, I agree with you that “being a homosexual doesn’t make you a pedophile” but the Priests that have molested these young men have been homosexual. That’s undeniable. You speak of “little boys,” but these are prepubsecent young men between the ages of 10-14 and homosexual deviants who hide behind a collar have preyed on them. And TOY, if you allowed Priests to marry you would have many more men joining the Priesthood and the seminaries would self-weed out the homosexual predators that rule today.
11:16 AM
May 18, 2011
Yeah it must be the hippies. Everything that is wrong with society is the hippies fault. Where did they get all that peace and love stuff anyway, probably from some illegal alien named Jesus
11:23 AM
May 18, 2011
Jeepers, I survived the ’60s as a teenager/young adult in college without succumbing to drug use, promiscuity & aberrant behaviors. What also occurred during the ’60s? aHA! Vatican 2…when hordes of Religious priests & nuns left their Orders & renounced their vows. In trying to “modernize” the Church, centuries of tradition were tossed out-we had “Hootenanny” Masses, changes in Religious habits, English Masses,Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, etc. That stuff was never the problem…it was the Hierarchy of the Church who wielded absolute power &, in true RICO style, suppressed the truth re: pedophile priests by transferring them to unsuspecting parishes to victimize again. I’m over 60-I have never had an incident with a priest, Brother, nun or churchman. But I DO believe the victims who have come forth…and it breaks my heart.There are SO MANY good, faithful Religious who try everyday to walk in Christ’s footsteps. They keep their vows.
11:23 AM
May 18, 2011
The major problem for the church was not the abuse by some priests, but the cover-up by moving known offenders from parish to parish.
11:25 AM
May 18, 2011
Sexually assaulting children is not free love! The Catholic Church is disgusting! How dare they say this!
11:28 AM
May 18, 2011
What a crock of holy….water. These allegations date far beyond the 1960s. Some of the claims go back to the 1940s and their is historical record of such abuse throughout the centuries. There are two problems here: Catholicism is strict and hierarchical -priests are/were consider beyond reproach. They abused that power they same as any unchecked ‘authority” (police-politicians etc). The second problem has already been mentioned here: When you restrict basic human sexual conduct, and place young men in situations of close contact with children…you are asking for trouble…..The biggest scandal of all is the decades of threats and when that could no longer be used, bribery the religion used to hush over their dirty business.
11:33 AM
May 18, 2011
The cause is because these people do not truely give 100% of themselves to god. They are not TRUE believers. That and the whole celibacy this is just stupid. God doesn’t care if you have sex, not unless it’s with the same sex. And even then it’s just a sin, and all sins are forgivable. So it’s stupid to put yourself through that. Cathlics are the one denomination that is BS. You don’t pray Mary, you pray to GOD. You don’t ask a priest for forgiveness, you ask GOD. God is the only person that can forgive you.
11:35 AM
May 18, 2011
The study was conducted by the church,what BS.The church should man up and get these pedophiles out of their international criminal organization or they will fall off the map.
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11:43 AM
May 18, 2011
Yes I was raped by a priest but not any hippies.
11:54 AM
May 18, 2011
this is disgusting. the pope and the catholic church should be prosecuted under the rico act. their cover-up and ‘tolerance’ of criminal behaviour is the very definition of an ongoing criminal organization. and they wonder why so many us have left their church. they are corrupt from their very soul.
11:57 AM
May 18, 2011
A pedo priest who messes with young boys isn’t gay. That would mean the boys wanted to have sex with them. Gay men however have ‘consensual’ sex with another man. Big difference.
11:59 AM
May 18, 2011
I’m surprised they didn’t find a way to blame feminists!
12:04 PM
May 18, 2011
Incredible. Only the Catholic church could place the blame squarely on someone else so consistently. This is why there are so many Protestants. And I think I can finally identify myself as one, as well as a former Catholic. Simply disgraceful.
12:09 PM
May 18, 2011
Silly me, but regardless of either’s age, any male who molests another male, is a homosexual. Zip that “rape is about power” bullchit, if that were true, all rapist would be using OBJECTS instead of their sexualorgans. Rape is a bout quick sexual gratification from someone who either turned you down, is incapable of resistance/escape, or upon a weaker person. Castration for unwanted touching/non-penetration abuse, and death for all rapists, are the only penalties that make sense.
12:19 PM
May 18, 2011
This is the biggest load of **** I have ever heard…free love does not include assaulting children. My grandma told me back in the day families had 14+ kids, God’s way, they where guaranteed to have at least two who where “different”..they where sent off to the church to keep the family in good graces with God. Could be nonsense but Grammy was pretty smart about such matters.
12:27 PM
May 18, 2011
dadf4..from my heart,I’m so very sorry that betrayal, that wrong and evil happened to you.
12:31 PM
May 18, 2011
I work with mentally ill people. I’ve noticed not matter how mentally ill the clients are the one thing that seems to be consistant with the male population is their primal instinct to reproduce. They will masturbate while you are in the room and they don’t know any better. My point is that these people of god are mentally ill…. Unlike the people I work with these dirty minded men of god are calculating preditiors that rob children of their innocence. To me no matter the excuse it is unforgivable and their ability to destroy a childs life should be taken away. Religion is a way that lazy people steal money so they don’t haveto work. A way to push their own political agenda.. A way to keep people scared. And most of all a way to betray weak minded into thinking they are the only way to salvation. Just being a good human being is all you need to do.
12:36 PM
May 18, 2011
I don’t agree with this study at all. It’s too biased for me. John Jay should have used data not provided by the church to make this a truly impartial study. Blaming this on homosexuality is weak to begin with. A pedophile is a pedophile regardless of sexual orientation. When Christ walked the earth he was inclusive. He preached for everyone, not just the righteous. All the church had to do with the pedophiles was to immediately defrock them and hand them over to the authorities. They chose not to do that. I feel really bad for every single kid that got abused by these criminals. These poor kids completely trusted these priests and to have that trust and their innocence completely ripped from them is worst than criminal.
12:43 PM
May 18, 2011
this is the biggest bull**** I’ve heard yet. Blame everyone and everything else except the person doing it. Give me a break…..That’s the reason why I want nothing to do with the Catholic church and their hipocracy….especially the idea that the “pope” is one step below God and all this worshipping of him as a Holy One. The laws of the land don’t even apply to the Vatican.
12:48 PM
May 18, 2011
As I am reading this article if my eyes popped out any more they would leave my head altogether!! Unbelievable.
12:53 PM
May 18, 2011
No shirt, No shoes, No heaven.
12:55 PM
May 18, 2011
Wait! Hold everything! I have the answer. Become an Anglican Bishop. Then get married. Then convert to Catholicism. Nice normal, healthy approach to family there, right? Hey, look – they bought that one. Let’s see if they buy this. And, c’mon. You know anything’s better than finally allowing priests to marry. Then we’d have to be around – and listen to – URK! – WOMEN! Okay, okay. If they don’t buy this one, we’ll have to further demonstrate our iron grip on current events. Hm. Let’s see. The Beatles and Free Love statements may not have garnered the PR leverage that we’d anticipated. I guess we could always say something even MORE officious and delusional. Kind of like a double-dog-dare to the flock, you know? We could go with: “It’s all been downhill since that hippie Martin Luther.” Or: “Since His Church was built on a Rock, we were just getting our rocks off.” Or: “How could we be gay? We don’t have a sense of humor, irony, or any taste
1:08 PM
May 18, 2011
What total BS! They (the conference of catholic dickheads) obviously think we are all as stupid as they are perverted!
1:54 PM
May 18, 2011
It’s amazing how some on this blog are trying to say that the Priests who preyed on young men are not homosexual. Yes, they are predators and pedophiles but they are homosexual as well. Let’s not be naive. Just as if a man preys on a young woman, he is a predator and a pedophile too but he’s also a heterosexual. It’s either naivety not to recognize this or it’s a calculated choice not to recognize the fact as to further along a narrative that puts all the blame on the Church and on pedophiles but none on homosexual behavior ever-more prevalent in the seminary.