Leon J. Podles :: DIALOGUE

A factoid has taken root in the minds of the Vatican: that less than one percent of Catholic priests have been accused of pedophilia. According to CNA, 

The prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, said pedophilia is one of the gravest problems of sexual misconduct, but he asserted that the media exaggerated the number of priests involved in such cases, which in reality involved less than 1% of the clergy.

This is true but irrelevant. The John Jay study established that in the United States at 4.27 % of Catholic diocesan priests and 2.7 % of religious priests have been accused of the abuse of minors. Most of the victims were not indeed pre-pubertal but rather at or over the age of puberty and technically therefore what Hummes says is correct, but the abuse of a 12, 13, or 14 year old is criminal and does enormous harm to the victim.

Hummes is sheltering himself from reality by spreading, not exactly lies, but seriously distorted information.