I understood that it was younger sons who went into the church because they had no inheritance coming their way and needed the security, although it must have helped if you were gay.

Are there any?

Hi Best, Ha-ha, that's not exactly true. Pedophiles tend to go into profession's that have a number of young people.

@ThinkingFree I think we are both right. In some cases, people who are already pedophiles join the clergy in order to get easy access to children. In other cases, though, I think people join the clergy with all the best intentions, but are so sexually frustrated that they take advantage of the most vulnerable and defensless victims. Psychologically, suppression plays a big role here.

@BestWithoutGods Thanks for my first laugh of the day! That was hilarious!

@BestWithoutGods But, Best, people don't become pedophiles due to sexual frustration . . .they either take care of themselves, or have affairs. What do you think?

@ThinkingFree Again, we're both right. Some people find their release through legitimate acts ("taking care of themselves" ), and others turn to criminal acts.

In the FFRF black collar crime report [ffrf.org] other denominations and religions are also shown. It is not just a Catholic issue (but most are priests).

I don't think the article said the abuse occurred in the past year... it said they were named in the past year. Could have occurred long ago and was just made known due to the "Me Too" movement.

I feel that is only partially true [ffrf.org] Other clergy are also guilty and many are married.

@JackPedigo

Yes. But, other clergy can get married. Catholic clergy can't. Both are sexually repressed, but not equally.
This creates a variable between two subject audiences. That is important in social science research.

Your denial is charming. Hold that thought. I prefer to listen to the facts. Many people are only coming forward now because they will be finally be able to admit what happened to them as children. These [redators use their power over children to convince them that what they are doing is right, and these children carry that stigma with them for a lifetime because they know in their hearts it was wrong. It must feel cathartic to finally unburden oneself by telling what happened after carrying the shame and fear for decades..

@TheoryNumber3 I am referring to the horse shit the church is foisting off on the public with their fake breast beating "mea culpa" publishing of a patently false list of only dead priests (and one that has been all over the front page of the newspaper this summer).

Read my response again, this time with an effort on comprehension.

I tend to think that Churches on a whole ARE the 'ideal' hiding places for such scum as these priests since, especially in Catholicism, there exists, most regrettably and ridiculously, etc, the seal of the Confessional, aka a "Get out of Legal Trouble Free" card.
Over the last few years, in my honest opinion, Religions have been proven to be breeding grounds for almost every kind of corruptions imaginable for centuries, Catholicism being the PRIME example here.
To remove the weed (source) of the corruption one must first cut it off at its roots exactly as one does with unwanted plants in the garden.
WE MUST begin to PROTECT future generations of Children ,etc, from the corruptions of the Churches and those scum who hide within them and think/know full well that these institutions will hide and protect them.

@Triphid when a man begins his study for the priesthood, why is sexuality not made a point of study and counseling. Just taking a vow of celibacy, means little...if a person does not understand how brain, emotions and sexuality works! You can’t just take a ‘pill,’ for this problem! Then on the other hand maybe being allowed to have a partner would solve a lot of the sexual issues. Human nature being what it is, will never be perfect, but I think that it could be a lot better!

@Freedompath As I was taught by my father, when one makes a Promise/Vow/Oath such a thing MUST be kept because it reflects upon the Honourability of the person making the promise, etc, and, I for one, firmly adhere to that.
When I was almost 10 years old, I was brutally, anally RAPED by 3 very DEVOUT Catholic men who worked in the same mine as my father, a Art Ferguson, Charles Paine and Raymond Emmanuel, while Dad and I were on a fishing trip about 70+ miles away from home.
Dad, being the ONLY sober male there, was asked to drive back to the nearest town, about an hours round trip, to get more ice for the ice boxes and after he had left they attacked me then threatened to kill my Dad and my younger sisters ( who were still at home at the time) should I tell anyone.
After they had ' finished' with me, they then returned to their camp some 1/4 of a mile away, I went into the nearby river and, whilst crying , etc, washed myself as clean as I could and there swore, in my own blood, an OATH that I would " Do whatever was in my ability to either prevent or help any other child possible from either being a victim or to recover from being a victim and NEVER to be like those who abused me in my life EVER."
I have kept that Oath, given much of my time towards helping other victims, not only abuse victims but all kinds of victims such as homeless teens, etc, and WILL continue to do so until my last breath.
Ergo, IF these ' so-called' Men of God TRULY are what they claim then, in my opinion, THEY SHOULD have had the Decency, Integrity and Honour enough to stick to the vow they made at becoming a Priest, all it really takes, imho, is having the Decency, Integrity and Honour to do so.
Btw, my 3 Abusers died not by my hand in any way, shape nor form, the first died when he rolled his car on an open road, was crushed inside the cabin and the car caught fire, the second was killed in a mining accident when timbers collapsed and rock crushed, the third died from Testicular Cancer in hospital, a very slow and painful death.

@Triphid that breaks my heart...I am so proud to hear of your bravery from something so horrible...I am so sorry that happened to you. No one should ever be treated this abominable...I have trouble just wrapping my mind around, who would do such a cruel and inhuman attack on anyone!? You have my admiration on taking what happened to you and putting it to good use. I can only hope that you too, have gotten support when you have needed it! thank you for sharing your story with me. It surely needed to be told!

@Freedompath Thank you for your kind comments, they are appreciated.

@Triphid Thank you for the good work you're doing. You turned a negative into a positive. As for myself, being on the receiving end of unwanted sexual abuse as a child, I fully understand the confusion, shame and fear that you lock within you. I never told anyone what happened to me. I just couldn't process it. So I get it.

Thank goodness for Karma. Those guys who abused you got exactly what they deserved. Makes me wonder if there might really be a god.

@TheoryNumber3 you described what happens when a child’s innocence is robbed! We are driven from inside by ‘unknown’ forces...until we can put feelings and names on what happened to us. I hope that you have given your experience the attention it deserved and freed yourself from carrying a hurtful secret far too long. We are not our history...and freedom to be, is what you/me and everyone deserves! I am so sorry that your innocence was violated...before you had learned to defend your self. Take heart, healing is good anytime it can happen. My best to you.

@TheoryNumber3 I'm pretty certain there is/ never was anything even closely resembling a God.
I tend to think and trust that Natural Justice was served upon them as it SHOULD be for ALL Abusers of Children, Youths and Adults as well.
Consider this, IF there was a Supreme Omnipotent, Omnibenevolent Being watching over everyone, as the Faithfools would have us believe, then WHY would such a Supreme Being allow such horrific things to happen in the first place?

@Triphid my thoughts exactly! But, there is a very good possibility that out of our own consciousness will come our punishments! We do not know, what is not within us already! So when we think about payment for our sins...we also need to think...is the price I pay for something worth it? I always see punishments...not mitered out in same...but can come from another unforeseen direction, but still from our own consciousness! A clear and life supporting conscious, may be the greatest gift we give ourselves?

@Triphid My comment was tongue in cheek. There is no god. That was just karma giving them what they had coming. If there was a god, he would have struck them down BEFORE they ruined all those children's lives.

@TheoryNumber3 I guessed that you were using a kind of sarcasm, for want of a more appropriate word, towards the 'god' ideology that wants to rule over everyone it can. I will ,however, openly admit to two things, and they being the ONLY two things relating the demise of two of my abusers.
On the evening when the first of my abusers died in the car roll-over and fire I was riding my motorcycle home along the same outback road after visiting a friend and his family who lived 15 miles from town.
I was about 1-11/2 miles away from the accident site when I saw the car roll over and start to burn, being already in my career as a nurse, I stopped quickly and tried to wrest open the car door but the heat and flames were beginning to singe my hands, then I saw who it was inside the car just as the Fire Brigade and Police arrived and was dragged away from the car.
My natural impulse to save a life seemed to quickly disappear and I felt absolutely nothing for the person dying in the flames.
I was actually rostered on the ward where the third abuser was a patient in the last stages of dying from Testicular Cancer, I was requested to relieve the Nurse assigned to Special Care for him for a few minutes while she went to answer a call of nature.
Seconds after she had left the room, he woke up, looked at me and said, " I know you from somewhere, don't I ?"
All I did was reply with " You should remember me from almost 10 years ago, I was the 10 year old boy you and 2 other held down and Anally raped you bastard, I'm going to live and you are going to die slowly and painfully BUT not by my hand, the cancer that is chewing away at your body will finish you off, so die slowly."
3 weeks later, while working on another Ward of the Hospital, I heard that he had died after begging for someone to give him something to end his torment, I felt no sympathy, etc, for him but I did feel sympathy for his wife and children though.

@Triphid I hope you were able to get some closure through those experiences. I doubt these monsters have any idea how much emotional damage they inflict... or perhaps they just don't GAF!

@TheoryNumber3 Well not really any closure at the times BUT I got a sort of closure to begin with, unfortunately, when my 12 year old daughter came home from an Access Visit to her 'mother's home' and after days of having to stand guard outside the bathroom door when she showered, etc, she told me that her 'mother's' boyfriend " tried to grab her between her legs."
Yes, I saw red, Yes, I was ready to go and avenge my daughter, but sense made me call a good friend and serving police officer and the police took it from there. Later I told Lorrae that I had suffered something similar to what she had experienced and after I had finished we both sat together and cried for quite some length of time.

@Triphid It's a sad testimony on the human race that children have to endure such depravity at the hands of adults. I don't know a single woman who hasn't had an incident of someone making unwanted sexual advances toward them as children or young adults. I hope your daughter's abuser got what he deserves.

@TheoryNumber3 I know of very few myself...my abuse was minor compared to my sister (I learned as an adult).. Many women (and men) have revealed to me abuses and rapes that they were telling for the first tine in old age! It was kept hidden in the past, and we were all ashamed to say anything, because it seemed we somehow deserved it. And, in my case, I thought it was just the way life worked. It was the price we paid to be with other people. When I grew up, we lived out in the country and most of the people were poor and even uneducated. I cannot recall the better educated people associating with us. Just like country neighborhoods today, people mostly kept to themselves! Children were easy prey, for old men and older boys. And a girl knew that she would not be believed. Even in my mother’s youth, the child was not believed and even punished for suggesting sexual abuse! Isolation is not a deterrent against sexual abuse, on The contrary.

@Freedompath Yes, I agree with everything you said. My first incident occurred when I was maybe 10 years old. I was at the movies with my grandmother. A man sitting on my right pretending to lean over and pick something up from the floor and fondled my leg in the process. I didn't dare say a word to my grandmother. She would have started WW3 in the middle of the movie, and I was already embarrassed enough, so I just kept it to myself. I asked my grandmother for a nickel and went to the concession stand and when I left my seat, although I was only a few seats from the aisle, I went the long way so I didn't have to squeeze past him and risk further groping. When I returned, he was gone. To this day, I cannot sit in the middle of a row at the theater. I have to be on the end

@TheoryNumber3 these incidents are long lasting, in our life! I wish more was done to prevent the misdirection with sexual matters! I do not recall a single word of instruction on sex in my childhood. It seemed taboo, except at Church you heard how sinful ‘fornication’ and ‘adultery’ was. So we knew ‘it’ was bad, but at the same time, kind of helpless on what it all meant! ‘Flying blind ‘ I would say!

@Freedompath Well put. Goes along with babies coming from cabbage patches.