In the aftermath of the clergy sex abuse crisis, the U.S. bishops are working to rebuild relations with some unanticipated victims: their priests. Bishop Gregory M. Aymond of Austin, Texas, and other members of the bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, met June 12 in Orlando with representatives of half of the nation's priests to begin a dialogue on issues that arose during and after the sex abuse scandal.
"Some felt guilty by association," while others felt their fellow priests who were accused of wrongdoing were not treated fairly or with pastoral concern, Bishop Aymond told Catholic News Service after the closed-door listening session at the spring general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The priests at the meeting represented half of the regions into which the USCCB is divided. Representatives of the rest of the regions were to meet with the committee in November.
"The priests were very open and candid," Bishop Aymond said. "There was a genuine appreciation that we want to hear from them."
Although "a gulf between priests and their bishop" was reported in some places, "that was not the dominant reality," he said. "Many said they felt sadness for their brother priests" who were accused of sexual misconduct, he added.
"It was not about finances or rights under church law, but how to reach out to them," while still also protecting children from harm, he said.
At a press conference before the listening session, Bishop Aymond said the committee wanted the priests to help answer a number of questions: "What are you hearing? How can we reach out to you? Help us understand where you're coming from."
At the Orlando meeting the bishops also heard an interim report on the second phase of research on the clergy sex abuse crisis conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York.
In the first phase the John Jay researchers looked at the nature and scope of the scandal; the second phase, set to be completed by December 2010, focuses on the causes and context in which the abuse crisis took place.
Researcher Karen Terry said she and her colleagues have found some correlations between the frequency of child sex abuse by priests and the increase or decline in societal patterns of divorce, premarital sex and illegal drug use.
In the 1960s, for example, studies show there was a 200 percent increase in incidents of abuse by priests, as well as a 200 percent increase in the number of divorces and the number of new adult users of marijuana and a 70 percent increase in premarital sexual activity among 20-year-old women.
In the 1980s, when incidents of abuse by priests declined by 72 percent, the divorce rate was down 40 percent and there was a 60 percent decrease in premarital sexual activity and new marijuana users, Terry said.
A similar pattern also is seen in the number of resignations from the priesthood during each decade and the number of incidents of sex abuse by priests in each of those decades, she said.
It remains to be seen, however, whether the various phenomena are "shaped by the same social factors," Terry said.
Important differences also have been found based on the decade of ordination of priests who later became abusers, she said.
Among those ordained before the 1960s there was an average of 13 years after ordination before any abuse occurred. For those ordained in the 1960s the average was eight years, while in the 1970s the average time between ordination and first incident of abuse dropped to four years.
As they continue their work, the researchers will be looking into seminary formation programs for possible reasons behind that shift, Terry said.
Among those to be interviewed will be those in leadership roles in seminaries after 1960; a sample group of graduates from diocesan seminaries; and some priests removed from ministry because of sex abuse, whose responses will be compared to priests never accused of abuse.
Another study will look at case files from three treatment centers, comparing four groups of priests: those accused of child sexual abuse, those who were guilty of other sexual misconduct, those who had diagnosed mental health problems but no history of abuse, and those who were being evaluated for missionary work and were accused of no wrongdoing.
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