During 2021 a not so shocking report from The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE) was released to the public. This report revealed that 330,000+ children and vulnerable people were sexually abused at Roman Catholic Churches since 1950. The victims include Boy Scouts, Church Staff, Organizers and Catholic School Staff. The reason why this report isn’t shocking is because for almost 100 years claims of abuse have been reported in many ways but they were always shut down. There’s A long history of charges being dropped, priests and victims disappearing + more. This would all be apart of the coverup and downplaying abuse within the Catholic Church. With my own research I found a large amount of abuse still going on today. This research revealed even more cases around the world in countries like Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Poland, United States + more. In 2020 a French Priest was sentenced to only 5 years in jail for sexually abusing 80 young boys between 1971-1991. This sentence isn’t considered justice and is a slap in the face to the victims. Sadly there’s plenty of cases like this.
You can discover cases on your own using the Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Trackers provided below.
You can also read the summary of the final report from the CIASE (abuse from 1950-2020) here.
After the report was released Pope Francis acknowledged the abuse and said he “felt pain” after hearing about it. He made promises to hold special meetings, change the punishment laws for abusers and implement training on paedophilia for priests. But this wouldn’t stop the cover-up allegations from brewing. Many believe the church isn’t doing enough to right their wrongs and shouldn’t be in charge of fixing the sexual abuse within the church. Their poor history of handling claims and protecting children should be enough for the request to be fulfilled. In the past when priests were accused of sexual abuse they would be placed on sick leave or simply transferred to another church. Some would return to the same church where abuse took place months after claims like nothing happened. Priests also left the church and obtained professional licenses to work in education, medicine, social work, and counseling. In 2019 Pope Francis mandated reporting sexual abuse to the church but not police. I’m sorry but I have throw this in here. Please note on January 10th, 2022 Pope Francis said getting the covid vaccine is a moral obligation. I would like to know if how they covered up abuse for almost 100 years is a “moral obligation”. Some victims would receive payments for therapy, emotional damage and other life struggles due to abuse but not all. In 2021 The French Catholic Church sold assets to pay abuse victims and said they have no problem taking out loans to pay victims if they have to. They were able to raise $22 Million.
Reports of abuse received mainstream media attention in the 1980s but not much happened afterwards. More reports would emerge in the early 2000s and would then become a global issue. A Boston newspaper released a report in 2012 revealing that the Archdiocese of Boston quietly settled child molestation claims against at least 70 priests in just 10yrs. In 2020 a report was released by the US Roman Catholic bishops showing 4,434 sexual abuse allegations against clergy during the 2018-2019 audit year. During that same audit year the Catholic Church (US) paid $281.6 Million in settelements. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles currently hold the record for the largest payout ever ($600 Million in 2007). This $600 Million is included in the $4 Billion paid to sexual abuse victims since 1950 and these payouts are just the public record payouts. In 2021 a few weeks after the 330,000 victim report was released A Nebraska attorney general revealed the results of their own investigation. This report identified 258 victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. They also proved that the church knew about the abuse but did nothing about it. For some reason no matter how many reports are released and how much proof authorities may have the church is still able to maintain their trust with Catholics.
Fact Check:
- (Boston newspaper abuse report)
- (AP abuse report: 1,700 priests)
- (NPR abuse report: 330,000 victims)
- (Nebraska AG report: 258 victims)
- (CNN abuse report: 1,000 victims + 300 priests)
- (PA court documents: 1,000 victims + 300 priests)
- (The Guardian report: 3,000 victims + 900 priests)
- (Pope Francis mandate)
- (Pope Francis change sexual abuse punishment)
- (Catholic Church $4 Billion to victims)
- (Catholic Church agreed to pay 330,000 victims)
- (Catholic Church in France raise $22M)
- (Largest payout to victims)
- (Priest sentenced)
The 41st Amendment 