The Times and Sexual Abuse by Priests.

CHILD sexual abuse by clergy; SEXUAL misconduct by clergy; NEWSPAPERS; GOODSTEIN, Laurie; BENEDICT XVI, Pope, 1927-2022; SEX crimes; PRIESTHOOD; PRIESTS; CATHOLIC Church; CHRISTIAN leadership

NEW York (N.Y.); NEW York (State); UNITED States

"The New York Times" labored mightily to bring forth a mountain of priest abusers in its recent census and produced only a mouse, as it admitted in the 12th paragraph of its sensationalist prose in "Decades of Damage." The "Times" reported a percent of American priests not greatly different from that of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger: 1 percent for the cardinal and 1.8 percent for the "Times." Yet the "Times" used this very low proportion to launch still another attack on the Catholic Church and the celibate priesthood. The "Times" writer, Laurie Goodstein, proved remarkably ingenious in keeping the feeding frenzy alive. There is evidence in the data, she suggests, to support both those who blame the abuse problem on celibacy and those who blame it on the breakdown of sexual morality during the 1960's. This is simply not so. Most experts in sexual abuse of minors and children attribute it to a deep and incurable syndrome acquired early in life. The "Times" writer ignores the clinical evidence about the personalities of abusers and uses the debate between the two sides to cry havoc and again let loose the furies of the talking heads who have pontificated about priests for the last 12 months.