How many Catholic Priests have been Falsely Charged for Sexual Abuse?

This could occur for any of a number of reasons, with three being: 1) people greedy for money, 2) given the power of the Protestant Church in the USA, jealousy over the relative world power of the Roman Catholic Church, and 3) "victims" suffering from delusions, or even schizophrenia.

"Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:11-12

Each person, no matter job title or rank, should be equally treated by the law!!!

Can you show links to these priests being falsely charged for sexual abuse?

Has it ever occured to you maybe some of those accusations are true?

Using the prodestant religion as a defence or a reason for these Priests being accused in the first place is ridiculous.

In every religion some one is accused of it. What make yours any different?

Most of the time those who are accused of it are either protected or it is covered up.

Agrees every person accused of anything should be treated equally. That means both sides, not just the one being accussed.

I want to see some links first of all before, im going to comment further.

[edit on 15-9-2006 by spencerjohnstone]

spencerjohnstone, a couple of links:

www.forensic-psych.com/articles/artNYTAllegedPriestAbuse8.22.02.html

www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_20_54/ai_92712402

Some accusers, but not all, might be involved in social hysteria, or even suffer from severe or moderate mental illness.

May justice be for all.

Not nearly as many as were falsely accused and murdered by the RCC and its minions
of witchcraft. Or were murdered by the same institution for the crime of believing
different than the "revieled truths" of said institution.

The only problem I have with you opening Post.

Is you making assumptions that it was the Prodestant Religion, to blame for these priests being accused of Sexual abuse.

The Links you have provided, Do not in no way point the finger at the Prodestant Religion.

So next time please show facts that some members of the Prodestant religion are behind the accusations before you post them thank you.

As for the rest. As I have previously posted. They should have the same equal right as anyone. i.e. be allowed to have access to a lawyer.

[edit on 15-9-2006 by spencerjohnstone]

Protestant ministers commit more minor sex abuse than Catholic priests do. Public school teachers commit more minor sex abuse than both Protestant ministers and Catholic priests. Check out:

www.catholicleague.org/research/abuse_in_social_context.htm

how many have gotten away with it totally scott free?

Lysergic, thank you for asking the question that must be asked. I do not imagine a large number but I never believe that there should be false accusers. Remember that God is Infinite Justice: He or Satan will get those who escaped human justice; you can be assured of that!!!

Im with Lysergic on this one: Never mind the ones that are falsely accused what about the ones (catholic, protestant or otherwise) that get away with it??
What about the catholic church's reluctance to give up priests to the authorities or moving priests to other area's so that they will avoid prosecution. Thats aiding and abetting a criminal.
And people think this is a good religion when even the top people are corrupt criminals???.



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How many Catholic Priests have been Falsely Charged for Sexual Abuse?

I think that the greater question is how many never get accused and continue to abuse.

Exactly or are protected by the Catholic church. In some cases who try ad sweep it under the carpet.

If someone in the Clergy doesntmatter what religion it is they have rights just the same as anyone else.

But when they are being protected by the Church then their rights should be taken away.

Tthey should not have any special treatment what so ever it is wrong.

Galatians 6:[7] Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
[8] For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;...........

Even though it looks like people are getting away with something they are not. This isn't a religion problem, it's a sin problem, People from all walks of life and all over the world are guilty of this sin.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

God Bless the prosecuting attorneys of the guilty and the defense attorneys of the innocent!!!

Justice is a cardinal virtue and we honor God when we try to bring justice to the world.

The legal system in many countries of the world is strong, but like any earthly system can improve. Some countries need vast improvement of their legal systems.

People a lot of smarter me in the USA have developed systems on how to handle sex abuse cases. May they continue to make strides on improving systems to handle the horrible crime of sex abuse.

May justice be brought to all!!!

How many Catholic Priests have been Falsely Charged for Sexual Abuse?

How many people have falsely been accused of murder?

I guarantee this....the number of children that truly HAVE been abused by Catholic priests is somewhere in the thousands! You want to compare that number to the few that may have been falsely accused? Are you one who is for sweeping this stuff under the rug? Are you a friend of the Pope or maybe a priest yourself?

Of the priests that HAVE actually abused children how many of them have been charged with Sexual Abuse? NOT ENOUGH! Less than 5%.....easy....

So what is your point of this thread? To somehow make the abused seem like less of a victim? Are you trying to score some points for the Catholic Church??

Personally, I don't feel bad for the priests that may be falsely accused.....I feel bad for the children that HAVE actually been abused.

[edit on 19-9-2006 by Excitable_Boy]

Some information to chew on: Myths and Facts!

Myth: Less than 1 percent of the clergy are involved in sexual abuse. Fact: 4,392 priests, or 4 percent of the total number of members of the Catholic clergy between 1950 and 2002, have had allegations made against them. [Editor's note: As of the end of 2005, over 5,000 priests have been accused of abusing almost 13,000 minors.]

source: www.americamagazine.org...

Since 1950...4% of the Catholic Clergy have had allegations made against them....this does not include the ones that no one knows about yet. There are more that we don't know about than ones we do know about!

At the end of 2005...over 5,000 priests have been accused of abusing 13,000 minors. 13,000 minors. Now...a small percentage may be lying....but you all know that most and I'm talking about 98% or more of these accusations are true.

Myth: Much of the abuse was not really serious. Fact: All incidents reported to John Jay involved more than verbal abuse or pornography. Only 3 percent of the acts involved only touching over the victim’s clothes. On the other hand, 57 percent of the acts involved touching under the victim’s clothes, 27 percent involved the cleric performing oral sex, and 25 percent involved penile penetration or attempted penetration.

That excerpt speaks for itself.

Myth: There were 60,000 to 100,000 victims of sexual abuse. Fact: While we know only the number of victims who reported their abuse to bishops, it is difficult to see how there could be 6 to 10 times as many victims as the number (10,667) who came forward.

Myth: The victims did not approach the church but sent their lawyers. Fact: Only 20 percent of the allegations were reported to the church by lawyers representing victims. Almost 50 percent of the allegations were reported by victims, plus another 14 percent by parents or guardians.

Myth: Most of the abuse occurred with older teenagers. Fact: Only 15 percent of the victims were 16 to 17 years of age; 51 percent were between the ages of 11 and 14.

In this group of myths and facts...I must admit I disagree with the first point about finding it hard to believe that 6 to 10 times as many abused actually exist than what we know (the ones that have come forward). I think it is quite logical to believe that a number much larger than those that have come forward exists. It is saying that only 1 in 6 or 1 in 10 actually come forward.....that sounds about right and logical to me!

So remind me again now...this thread is about priests being falsely accused? Why not focus on the real problem here.

So far, only 3% of priests accused of abuse have ever done any prison time....