You could do a little Google research yourself on the subject if you really were interested in the truth. Try starting with the Book of Gomorrah, written by St. Peter Damian in 1051, which amply documents rampant sexual abuse of all types (including pedophilia) among the clergy and was attested to by the reigning pope Leo IX. Then you could look at the ample documentation provided by the many canonical collections of the medieval period, especially the Decree of Gratian. Next you could consider that a major motivating factor of the Protestant Reformation was also the widespread sexual abuse of the clergy at that time, which is also well documented. The truth of the matter is, widespread clerical sexual abuse over the centuries is so well documented as to be an indisputable fact.
Why don't you Google the subject for yourself? You could Google the "Book of Gomorrah", written by St. Peter Damian in 1051, which documents widespread sexual abuse of the clergy of all types, including pedophilia. It was submitted to the reigning pope (Leo IX) who acknowledged the truth of the widespread abuse and then proceeded to do not much of anything to protect children. Sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy was also amply documented in the canonical collections of the medieval period, the most authoritative of which is the Decree of Gratian. Then you could also consider that one of the motivating factors behind the Protestant Reformation was also widespred sexual abuse by priests and monks. All of this is so well documented as to be beyond dispute -- as even a cursory Google search will tell you.
That's right -- put on a show for all to see, Rick. The fact is your crack-pot theory about a connection between liberalism and pedophilia in the church is easily disproved. Why the hero of conservative Catholics, Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionnaires of Christ cult, was a licentious pedophile who even abused two of his own sons he fathered by a girlfriend in Mexico.
Pointing out his idiotic theory of Vatican II and liberalism causing pedophilia in the church isn't fair game? He proposed a crack-pot theory that is easily disproved and defies common sense. In fact, sexual abuse has been even more rampant in conservative Catholic countries where it is still hushed up because the church has greater power than in the U.S.
That's why pedophilia by priests has been found to be rampant in Alaska -- especially when the priests worked in native American villages.
And of course the New York Times is authoritative in such matters -- not! Your numbers and statistics bear no resemblance to reality.
Santorum is full of baloney. His crack-pot theory about pedophilia being linked with liberalism is just plain wrong. The fact is that pedophile priests and sex abuse has been widespread in the Catholic church for many centuries – in conservative Catholic countries as well as in bastions of liberalism. Historical records tell us that the problem of sex abuse among priests predates Vatican II by at least seven hundreds of years. This is documented—for anyone who is willing to look beyond the nose on their face. Also, sex abuse in the Catholic Church tends to proliferate all the more when there is the cover-up mentality of a conservative hierarchy.
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