[h=1]Catholic Church sexual abuse cases[/h] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Catholic sex abuse cases)
Graffiti on a
Lisbon wall depicting a
priest chasing two children
The
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases are a series of 20th-21st century cases of
child sexual abuse crimes (and subsequent cover-ups) committed by
Catholic priests,
nuns, and members of the
Roman Catholic orders. The numerous allegations, investigations, trials and convictions include crimes against boys and girls, some as young as 3 years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14.[SUP]
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[4][/SUP] The accusations began to receive wide publicity in the late 1980s. Many relate to cases in which a figure was accused of abuse for decades; such allegations were frequently made by adults or older youths years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the
Catholic hierarchy who covered up sex abuse allegations, moving allegedly abusive priests to other
parishes, where abuse sometimes continued.[SUP]
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The cases received significant media and public attention
throughout the world, especially in
Ireland,
Canada, and the
United States. Members of the Church's hierarchy have argued that media coverage was excessive and disproportionate, and that such abuse takes place in other religions and institutions.[SUP]
[7][/SUP] A series of television documentaries in the 1990s, such as "Suffer the children" (
UTV, 1994), brought the issue to national attention in Ireland.[SUP]
[8][/SUP] A critical investigation by
The Boston Globe in 2002 led to widespread media coverage of the issue in the United States. By 2010, much of the reporting focused on abuse in Europe.[SUP]
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From 2001 to 2010 the
Holy See, the central governing body of the Catholic Church, considered sex abuse allegations concerning about 3,000 priests dating back up to fifty years.[SUP]
[11][/SUP] Cases worldwide reflect patterns of long-term abuse, and the church hierarchy regularly covering up reports of alleged abuse.[SUP]
[note 1][/SUP] Diocesan officials and academics knowledgeable about the
Roman Catholic Church say that sexual abuse by clergy is generally not discussed, and thus is difficult to measure.[SUP]
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[13][/SUP] In the
Philippines, where as of 2002 at least 85% of the population is Catholic, revelations of child sexual abuse by priests followed the United States' reporting in 2002.[SUP]
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Some studies claim that priests in the Catholic Church may not be any more likely than other men to commit abuse.[SUP]
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[17][/SUP] In addition, the rate of abuse by priests had fallen sharply in the last twenty to thirty years. Some 75% of the cases in the United States occurred between 1960 and 1985.[SUP]
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Pope Benedict XVI adopted transparency for the church in abuse matters. In 2010, allegations of a sexual nature against Roman Catholic priests in the US numbered eight.[SUP]
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