A Troubled History
It’s hard to predict when exactly sexual abuse started within the Catholic Church. Official church documents from thousands of years ago state policies in dealing with sexual abuse by members of the clergy. These documents and pieces of literature throughout the ages discussing sexual misconduct in the church lead to the belief that these offenses have occurred since the very beginning. In a study by Thomas Doyle on the Church's handling of the issue, he writes that "rape and sodomy of children is woven into the tradition of clerical history" (Doyle 1).
Even though this may be true, the first abuse ever reported was not until 1985. This first offense was committed by Rev. Gilbert Gauthe in Louisiana. Gauthe was found guilty of molesting over 35 children and was sent to prison for 20 years. Ever since Gauthe’s case, thousands and thousands of victims have stepped forward and admitted cases of molestation, rape, and sexual abuse by men who served on multiple levels of the clergy hierarchy.
The handling of the case between Father Flynn and Donald Muller in the story of Doubt reflects the reality of sexual abuse cases in the church. Father Flynn is reassigned at the end of the play, regardless of whether he is actually guilty or not. Over the past 25 years, countless accusations have arisen where the end result is simply relocating a priest to a different church. Through this practice the church has been able to hide the situations from the public eye and instead take care of problems by making settlements with victims’ families. During the past two decades, the Catholic Church has spent over $2 billion in victim settlements. Only recently in the past five years has the church more strictly handled the accusations with the change in ruling of the papacy from Pope John Paul II to Pope Benedict XVI.
Even though this may be true, the first abuse ever reported was not until 1985. This first offense was committed by Rev. Gilbert Gauthe in Louisiana. Gauthe was found guilty of molesting over 35 children and was sent to prison for 20 years. Ever since Gauthe’s case, thousands and thousands of victims have stepped forward and admitted cases of molestation, rape, and sexual abuse by men who served on multiple levels of the clergy hierarchy.
The handling of the case between Father Flynn and Donald Muller in the story of Doubt reflects the reality of sexual abuse cases in the church. Father Flynn is reassigned at the end of the play, regardless of whether he is actually guilty or not. Over the past 25 years, countless accusations have arisen where the end result is simply relocating a priest to a different church. Through this practice the church has been able to hide the situations from the public eye and instead take care of problems by making settlements with victims’ families. During the past two decades, the Catholic Church has spent over $2 billion in victim settlements. Only recently in the past five years has the church more strictly handled the accusations with the change in ruling of the papacy from Pope John Paul II to Pope Benedict XVI.
Further Reading
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church_sex_abuse_cases/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/us/sex-abuse-statutes-of-limitation-stir-battle.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/us/sex-abuse-statutes-of-limitation-stir-battle.html?pagewanted=all
History of Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church | |
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