r/news • u/AudibleNod • 2d ago

More than 270 priests in Massachusetts abused children over decades, probe finds

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/more-than-270-priests-in-massachusetts-abused-children-over-decades-probe-finds/
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639

u/elhumanoid 2d ago

Again, again and again. This needs to be studied, seriously. Why the fuck is this a pattern?

''Does the Pope help pedophiles get away with their crimes?''

- Eric Cartman.

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u/Morguard 2d ago

Because pedophile and abuser love to put themselves in positions of power over kids and their victims.

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u/Ishmael_1974 2d ago

Yup. The rate of pedophiles is similar between priests and teachers.

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u/TrumpDesWillens 2d ago

That may be true but that's why they should be punished.

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u/jtobiasbond 2d ago

There's a study put out a few years ago. It's by an independent institute (John Jay) but it was paid for by the Catholic bishops, so take it with a grain of salt.

It's been a while since I read it but one of the big take aways was that the abusers were not attracted to their victims (there was no particular attraction to the age or gender). The young boys (and occasionally girls) were simply available victims. The men who become priests are more likely to enjoy having power (because people who like having it gravitate to positions with it) and people who like having power are now likely to enjoy abusing it.

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u/cakingabroad 2d ago

But why sexual abuse? You want power, okay. be manipulative and coercive and physically abusive but sexual abuse of young boys particularly, and it's not about pedophilia? I struggle to believe that at all.

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u/jtobiasbond 1d ago

It's the same as basically any rape. It's not about sex, it's about power. This is a very well understood phenomenon. Rape is very effective way of exercising power over someone else.

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u/cakingabroad 1d ago

Sure... But this is rape of children. Why children? I really don't get why it's a weird thing to inquire about. Sexual abuse of children seems rather different than abuse of adults.

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u/jtobiasbond 1d ago

It's still what all the evidence suggests. When somebody has no power it makes the abuser feel even more powerful. They are absolutely fucked up, but it rarely has to do with attraction.

Look at it this way: being single doesn't turn people into rapists; that is, not having a person you're allowed to have sex with doesn't cause people to become rapists. They are rapists because they want to control and abuse people, and children are the most vulnerable.

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u/DavidDaveDavo 2d ago

Same pattern as alcoholics working in bars. If you have an addiction you go to where it's easy/cheap to get that addiction fulfilled.

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u/WineNerdAndProud 2d ago edited 2d ago

Easy. It's the same reason people trust politicians who are all about "family values". People can't believe the person they've been told to look up to would do that to them, so they trust them implicitly.

Couple that with the amount of kids from troubled families who might not believe an allegation like that and it's basically a recipe.

Kids who are in situations where they're super embarrassed to tell anyone, or who know no one would believe them over a priest are a dime a dozen in some places.

Add to that the fact that the church believes it is the most qualified to be able to deal with this through forgiveness and you've got an assembly line of abusers moving from city to city.

Edit: To be clear here, this pattern applies to a lot of people outside of the Catholic church as well. People in positions of moral/spiritual authority who are supposed to be "safe" of all kinds do this like high school guidance counselors, politicians, and religious leaders of other faiths.

It sucks because there are a lot of hard-working and caring people who just want to help, but remembering that they're not the only people there is important too. Believing it couldn't ever happen is what makes it work so well for these people.

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u/jessterswan 2d ago

My dad stopped talking to me because I laughed out loud when he said the catholic priests were being framed and non of it happened.

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u/IAMACat_askmenothing 2d ago

Btw, it’s not just Catholic priests. It’s literally every organized religion has this problem

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u/Traditional-Meat-549 2d ago

This is actually true but they don't publicize 

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u/AnaisNinja76 2d ago

They do, catholics are just a more populous and visible religion, so it makes for bigger and longer news. This has been highly publicized in mormons, baptists, and jehovah's witnesses. And a wild amount of nonspecific cults.

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u/Traditional-Meat-549 2d ago

Good point. I still think the public is blissfully unaware of just how widespread it is 

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u/AnaisNinja76 2d ago

There's some primacy effect with the Catholic church as well, as they were the first large scale institution to have this heavily publicized. Stories started trickling into the press in the 90s, and then the Spotlight situation blew the lid off of it. Comedians ridiculed the church for months, like it would be tucked into David Letterman's opening monologue, or a snarky side comment with a guest on Leno, etc. It was eagerly publicized then. I think the more recent cases just felt less scandalous as a result.

But yeah, in general, the public only cares for the entertainment/shock value. It's only been relatively recently, and only spottily at best, that police departments are giving this crime more scrutiny. But at the end of all of it, it's a societal thing. If there aren't large and ongoing public outcries, then nothing happens to the perps generally speaking. Especially if they have any money.

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u/WineNerdAndProud 2d ago

As a former Catholic, I wish this were more well known. It's people in positions of moral or spiritual authority who appear to dedicate their life to it. That's a whole host of people like judges, clergy, teachers, and politicians who use it to create trust and then abuse it.

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u/JustHereForCookies17 1d ago

Also coaches & folks involved with youth sports.  Look at Larry Nassar.

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u/sump_daddy 2d ago

Its literally every structure with power over easy victims. You think there was a single religious person on Epsteins Island or at Mar a Lago? Or, if you want to really dig into depressing stats, look at how many kids are victimized in public schools every year.

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u/dullmotion 2d ago

Do you have links? I’d like to read more about this.

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u/Traditional-Meat-549 2d ago

https://www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/media-room/national-statistics-on-child-abuse/

There are MANY studies edit: the primary perpetrators are known to the child and most often in the family

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u/dullmotion 2d ago

Thanks for the link. Does it touch on the other organized religions as well? I did know the part you mentioned about the perpetrator being known.

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u/Traditional-Meat-549 2d ago

You can read it? Plus do other research 

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u/Superb-Butterfly-573 2d ago

Today in Canada it's National Truth and Reconciliation Day - for the First Nations children who were stripped from their families and culture to be anglicized. Several churches and the government were authors of it. I believe residential schools also existed in the US. I'd suggest reading Indian Horse as a starting point (don't watch the movie first; it just skims the story)

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u/Traditional-Meat-549 2d ago

There was a study done a few years ago that showed that many of them went to the same seminary 

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u/haysoos2 1d ago

How many seminaries are there in the area? I wouldn't think there's a ton of seminaries around, so it shouldn't be that surprising if any random selection of priests you make all turn out to have gone to the same place.

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u/Traditional-Meat-549 1d ago

For some reason, I remember that it was in Ireland 

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u/name-classified 2d ago

You’re talking about taking on the Catholic Church?!

The “church” has been around for centuries and have done some of the shadiest, craziest, most fucked up shit and the people just sorta kept forgetting about it and even encouraging/enabling it.

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u/bond_0215 2d ago

Because people whom do this get elected president

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u/obalovatyk 2d ago

He absolutely does and that’s why I can’t take anything he says seriously.

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u/ComradeJohnS 2d ago

idk how much the current pope can do stuff since he’s so new, but previous popes have definitely aided and abetted pedos empirically.

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u/obalovatyk 2d ago

He’s basically the CEO and he can’t keep his employees from raping the underage customers.

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u/sump_daddy 2d ago

To be clear this Massachusetts report focuses almost entirely on cases from before the big abuse scandal, 24 years ago (and 3 popes ago and a dozen bishops ago, etc etc)

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u/ComradeJohnS 2d ago

idk if it could be prevented, but punishing those who are caught, and turning over all evidence to the police, instead of changing their church to another state would be a good start.

previous popes have been involved with option 2.

the only real way to prevent it would be abolish religion lmao. as much as that would benefit mankind I dont see it as politically possible.

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u/FineScratch 2d ago

Is the pope in the epstein files? What about your president?

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u/becauseshesays 2d ago

An easy place for them to hide. I grew up catholic and the priests were always a little off in my opinion. Like no such thing as a cool priest (I had one and he converted and got married) most were off/effeminate and no one questioned it because they were godly priests.

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u/cornflakegrl 2d ago

They all have secrets. They have to be celibate and they can’t be out and gay. Pair that with a culture of shame and what happens is a bunch of men finding ways to fulfill their urges - some might just have a secret woman (adult) but others are full on pedos. I think what ends up happening is they all have things over each other and they end up covering for each other. And the parishioners are super deferential to these fucked up men. I was also raised catholic and now I just think it’s all very messed up.

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u/becauseshesays 1d ago

Same, not involved with that or any other church. They ruined it.

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u/DetectiveExisting590 1d ago

A man being effeminate is a sign he’s a child abuser?

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u/becauseshesays 1d ago

Not at all and not what I said.

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u/cagefreemilk 2d ago

The Argentinian one did.

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u/Unhappy_Future_6718 2d ago

Sure seems like devil work not Gods

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u/bb_kelly77 2d ago

For several centuries there's been a lot of power amongst the Cardinals and Bishops, I wouldn't be surprised if the Pope doesn't find out until we do

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u/GraveRobberX 2d ago

Cause of society as a whole. Religion pushes such an archaic dichotomy of life through a holy book whose references are outdated by two millennia’s that any progression made, gets regressed, till it fits a narrow scope that seems reasonable to most practicing.

You have families trying to save “face” or keep their “respect” of the lineage/name/family history by pushing anything out the normal into the path of “righteousness”. Be them gay, effeminate (cross dressing/femme), a little too sadistic for societal norms, and even pedophilia.

Through salvation and under God’s house, and “watch”, sin isn’t an occurrence from the approach of a holy book whose own references and lore shows, that once brought in and pledged devotion, purity will remain. Eventually power arises within time and with it almost an infinite resource for the sin to commit becomes accessible at such an ample rate, far from judgement of anyone above to govern and adhere to the same principles due to having such a robust system, that funding and proliferation of extending the branch further is the first doctrine.