March 3

Events

• Current events

• 2002 - A less hysterical view of the "pedo priests" - Philip Jenkins, a Penn State University professor, wrote an article for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, which was entitled "The Myth of the Pedophile Priest" and published on this date. Jenkins reported that his research over 20 years indicates no evidence whatever that Catholic or other celibate clergy are any more likely to be involved in misconduct or abuse than clergy of any other denomination. He also cited an extensive self-study done by the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago where they examined every priest who had served in the archdiocese over the previous 40 years, some 2,200 individuals, and reopened every internal complaint ever made against these men. The standard of evidence applied was not legal proof that would stand up in a court of law, but just the consensus that a particular charge was probably justified. By this low standard, the survey found that about 40 priests, about 1.8 percent of the whole, were probably guilty of misconduct with minors at some point in their careers. He wrote that the Chicago study also found that of the 2,200 priests, just one was a pedo. Cases of priests in sexual activities with older teens where there was consent were distinguished from other cases. Ultimately, Jenkins argued for a more open-minded assessment of just what is and is not an "abusive" relationship. Even in the cases of priests.