Catholic Church sexual abuse cases

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There have been several cases of sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the cases have involved several allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgement and apologies by Church authorities, and revelations about decades of instances of abuse and attempts by Church officials to cover them up.^[3] The abused include mostly boys but also girls, some as young as three years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14.^[4][5][6][7] Criminal cases for the most part do not cover sexual harassment of adults. The accusations of abuse and cover-ups began to receive public attention during the late 1980s.^[8] Many of these cases allege decades of abuse, frequently made by adults or older youths years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the Catholic hierarchy who covered up sex abuse allegations and moved abusive priests to other parishes, where abuse continued.^[9][10]

By the 1990s, the cases began to receive significant media and public attention in several countries, including in Canada, United States, Chile, Australia, Ireland, and much of Europe and South America.^[11][12][13] Pope John Paul II was criticized by representatives of the victims of clergy sexual abuse for failing to respond quickly enough to the Catholic sex abuse crisis.^[14] After decades of inaction, Sinéad O'Connor brought the scandal to a head when she tore up a photo of John Paul II on a 1992 episode of Saturday Night Live. The protest drew praise from critics of the church but also the ire of many Catholics, which greatly damaged her career. Her protest would see increased positive reappraisal as corruption and suppression efforts by the church related to abuse became more popularly known.

In 2002, an investigation by The Boston Globe, which later inspired the film Spotlight, led to widespread media coverage of the issue in the United States. Widespread abuse has also been exposed in Europe, Australia, and Chile, reflecting worldwide patterns of long-term abuse as well as the Church hierarchy's pattern of regularly covering up reports of abuse.^{[note 1]}

From 2001 to 2010, the Holy See examined sex abuse cases involving about 3,000 priests, some of which dated back fifty years.^[15] Diocesan officials and academics knowledgeable about the Catholic Church say that sexual abuse by clergy is generally not discussed, and thus is difficult to measure.^[16] Members of the Church's hierarchy have argued that media coverage was excessive and disproportionate, and that such abuse also takes place in other religions and institutions, a stance that dismayed representatives from other religions who saw it as a device to distance the Church from controversy.^[17]

In a 2001 apology, John Paul II called sexual abuse within the Church "a profound contradiction of the teaching and witness of Jesus Christ".^[18] Benedict XVI apologized, met with victims, and spoke of his "shame" at the evil of abuse, calling for perpetrators to be brought to justice, and denouncing mishandling by church authorities.^[19][20] In January 2018, referring to a particular case in Chile, Pope Francis accused victims of fabricating allegations;^[21] by April, he was apologizing for his "tragic error",^[22] and by August was expressing "shame and sorrow" for the tragic history.^[23] He convened a four-day summit meeting with the participation of the presidents of all the episcopal conferences of the world, which was held in Vatican City from 21 to 24 February 2019, to discuss preventing sexual abuse by Catholic Church clergy.^[24] In December 2019, Pope Francis made sweeping changes that allow for greater transparency.^[25][26] In June 2021, a team of U.N. special rapporteurs for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) criticized the Vatican, pointing to persistent allegations that the Catholic Church had obstructed and failed to cooperate with domestic judicial proceedings to prevent accountability for abusers and compensation for victims.^[27]

Some Christian media and institutions have alleged an anti-Catholic bias by the reporting media. A report issued by Christian Ministry Resources (CMR) in 2002 stated that contrary to popular opinion, most American churches being accused of child sexual abuse are Protestant, and that sexual violence is most often committed by volunteers rather than by priests themselves.^[28][29] The report also criticized the way the media reported sexual crimes, stating that the Australian media reported on sexual abuse allegations against Catholic clergy but ignored such allegations against Protestant churches.^[30] According to Thomas G. Plante, "no evidence exists to suggest that Catholic priests sexually abuse children or minors in general in greater proportion to the general population of adult males or even male clergy from other religious traditions."^[31]

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