{"id":4262,"date":"2011-05-19T08:59:34","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T12:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=4262"},"modified":"2011-06-01T08:57:32","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T12:57:32","slug":"morning-read-is-the-priest-scandal-a-product-of-the-sixties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2011\/05\/19\/morning-read-is-the-priest-scandal-a-product-of-the-sixties\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Read: Is the priest scandal a product of the Sixties?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Roman Catholic church is still reeling from the “pedophile priest” scandal, which damaged the institution’s credibility badly, while also culling a lot of desperately needed (but dangerous) clergy.<\/p>\n

The Diocese of Ogdensburg is reconfiguring its entire mission in the North Country to account for a growing priest shortage.<\/p>\n

Now a new study by researchers at the widely respected John Jay College of Criminal Justice has reached a startling conclusion:<\/p>\n

The sex-abuse crisis wasn’t a side-effect of the Church’s culture, or of the chastity vow, but a product of the 1960s.<\/p>\n

[M]ost of the priest-offenders came from seminary classes of the 1940s and 1950s who were not properly trained to confront the upheavals of the 1960s, when behavioral norms were upended and crime overall in the United States spiked, the researchers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no indication in our data that priests are any more likely to abuse children than anyone else in society,\u201d said Karen Terry, principal investigator for the report, at a news conference where the report was released Wednesday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The study is the subject of an Associated Press article that appeared today in the Glens Falls Post Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Terry argues that their research was conducted independently, without input of meddling by bishops.\u00a0 But critics of the church quickly blasted the report.<\/p>\n

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests dismissed the report as \u201cgarbage in, garbage out\u201d because the bishops paid for much of the $1.8 million study, along with Catholic foundations, individual donors and a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some additional questions are likely in order here.\u00a0 If the sex-abuse crisis was a product of the 60s, why did it also erupt in parts of the world — Ireland, Mexico, Spain — that remained socially conservative?<\/p>\n

But at the very least, this study will add to a meaningful discussion of the crisis that has wounded a cherished North Country institution.<\/p>\n

It also suggests another important question:\u00a0 If priests weren’t being adequately prepared for the modern world, has that training improved?<\/p>\n

Will the next generation of priests be better equipped to deal with the complexities and ambiguities of American life?<\/p>\n

As always, your comments welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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