Nov. 18, 2009--During their annual meeting this week in Baltimore, the US Catholic Bishops reviewed a preliminary version of a study they commissioned on the reasons for clergy sexual abuse. The study by John Jay College of Criminal Justice researchers found that being gay had no correlation to the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the U.S. Catholic Church for decades. “This report confirms many other studies that demonstrate that sexual orientation has nothing to do with the pattern of child abuse by Catholic priests,” said Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA. “We hope that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church will finally accept this finding, since it has been borne out through their own study.
“We urge the bishops to provide support and compensation to the victims/survivors of sexual abuse by clergy, identify perpetrators, press charges, and permanently remove them from contact with children. It is vital that the hierarchy atone for their own role in multiplying the abuse by moving known abusers from place to place. We urge the entire Church to renew its commitment to preventing further abuse of children, and to obtaining justice for those who were abused. Finally, sexual orientation must no longer be used as a barrier to ordination for people called to official ministry.”
DignityUSA is the nation’s oldest and foremost organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics, our families, friends, and allies. Founded in 1969, the organization has members and chapters throughout the United States.
