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I think it's an expectation thing. Priests should be held to a higher standard than the rest of the population. There are Biblical references to this and when the statistics don't show an appreciable difference in the statistics, one has to wonder why that is.
That said, it's a complex subject and I think it's more of a human nature thing than anything else. It's incredibly damaging to the victims and their families as well as the church. I think the church has to do more, but changing the culture of such a large and global institution is like trying to steer the USS Roosevelt with a paddle. I do think the Pope is trying to lead on this in good faith, but easier said than done.
You and I have higher expectations, but that's not the popular complaint. The popular notion is that a life choice of chastity and celibacy necessarily leads to taking out sexual frustration on children.
I wish I could agree with you about the pope, but I do not.
Yeah, Pedophiles are hard to spot before they act and get caught. It happens in all organizations where adult men are around children. For example schools, Boy Scouts, playground sports, etc. And, certainly, the Catholic Church would seem like a good place to be for pedophiles. So, I don't really blame the Church for having pedophiles in their ranks.
What I do blame them for is covering it up and moving pedophiles around to avoid bad press and lawsuits. Just no excuse for betraying the children and parents of the Church like that.
Edit: But I would be interested in knowing if the Catholic Priesthood has a higher percentage of pedophiles per capita that the general population or other organizations. I don't know the answer and I'm not sure how you could do a valid and accurate study but anecdotally, it seems to me that pdeophiles would have seen the Church as a safe haven since for years there were no reports of abuses because of cover ups.
The studies and data we have suggest the percentage is equal to that of other populations. I do think you get pockets of density, however, that are born of specific cultures surrounding particular local bishops and poor priestly formation. So some seminaries, for example, may foster the ordination of more men who are capable of such crimes versus others who are much better at weeding them out or not attracting them in the first place. But spread across the spectrum, the percentages look to even out to the average if I recall correctly.
Also, I completely agree with you regarding the cover ups. It's a complicated thing to work through with all sorts of historic gray areas, but there's certainly a theme of financial, sexual, and psychological abuse on an institutional level that is unforgivable.