Child Sexual Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church

“In the 60s, the Catholic Church in Massachusetts began hearing complaints that Father James Porter was sexually molesting children. Rather than relieving him of his duties, the ecclesiastical authorities simply moved him from one parish to another between 1960 and 1967, actually providing him with a fresh supply of unsuspecting families and innocent children to abuse” (Ericsson 162).

In over a period of years, an increasing amount of attention has been shed to the problem of child sexual abuse in the church. While churches, and other facilities which care for children, have had their experience of this problem, most attention has been brought to the abuse in the Catholic Church. Around the world, case after case has been seen in the press of clergy and members of religious orders being charged with sex offenses against children. Some of these cases go back decades. The issue has certainly brought attention around the world. The reason why, is the question that ponders in everyone mind.

I have been in a country where this kind of sexual abuse, like sexually assaulting a child, is being kept away from media. Some authorities will not make any legal actions regarding this, instead, they will do their best to cover this up to protect the wrongdoers. In fact, there was a situation where “priests with pending court cases were acquitted and even quietly reinstated to pastoral duties.”

This research paper will discuss the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) Sexual Child Abuse Scandal, involving perpetrator Jerry Sandusky; and its cover up by university officials. This research is centered on Organizational Behavior (OB) and its’ function within a business including the capacity of understanding organizational culture and how it operates. In the concepts that govern OB and the Penn State scandal, the research

Surely humanity suffers when the function of sex corrupts by representing it as a service or commodity and religion corrupts when it is a matter of dry rituals or abstract doctrines; consequently, underscoring the situation with confusing sex scandals. As a result, sexual misconduct is a major issue in the churches today. Child molestation within the churches reeks of priests being caught-up in lust and unmistakably is a real sign that the brotherhood lacks guidance of the profound reality of the LORD’S sexual identity. Notably, in these past several decades, an enormous amount of priests, along with various other ‘proclaimed’ Christians, predominantly waver with uncertainty, puzzled why they have sexual desires and totally unaware of their Divine sexual heritage. Concurrently, just as the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church also suffers from sex scandals worldwide. Figures released to the Associated Press in 2007, reveals that the numbers of these sex abuse cases appear higher in the Protestant Church than in the Catholic Church. At any rate, the process in obtaining Protestant sex abuse statistics evolves as harder to come by and sketchier because the denominations happen to be less centralized than the Catholic Church. Various Protestant congregations occur independently, making reporting even more difficult.

The Boston Catholic Church’s dangerous employment of power prevented justice and instead allowed for the growth in number of churches and children that were exposed to the sexually abusive priests through the concealment of the abuse.

Michael Rezendes worked for the “Boston Globe” on the Spotlight team, which was small team of people who worked for months on a specific project to make a massive headline on the cover of the “Globe” about every other month. In 2001, Rezendes was working on a small story, one with some potential, alongside his team when they discovered a massive controversy hidden in the dusty files of law offices, parishes, and their own newspaper- the veiled crimes of the assaults on children by local Catholic priests, after which the priests were never convicted.

Their coverage revelaed that Chicago was not exempt from these allegations. One priest, the Rev. William J. Cloutier, who was accused of abusing and threatening a 13 year old boy in Cook county quickly resigned before he was put up on trial. The victim who reamined ananoymous throught the preceeding of the trial was eventually silenced by a private plea, and ex Rev. William J. Cloutier was never senteced to any jail time. However, in other similar cases victims were not willing to take a plea and revecied some form of justice, like in the case of Rev. Norbert J. who was incarcerated after it was found that he was abusing children in various parishes around Chicago’s Southwest Side and suburbs.Recently Thousands of documents from the personnel files of the Archdiocese of Chicago were released and exposed the history of abuse by priests and responses from bishops. In each case, the priests were deceased or were ousted from ministry, and in most cases, the allegations were never proved in a criminal court. but what I would like to research is how victims were able to come forth and take a stand from an organization that wanted them to keep quiet ? And how the church tried to cover up the allegations as well as how they tried to cut deals with accused priests and bishops? All of this research will help my overall goal of seeing how victims were able to take a stand and how the Church’s power in Chicago was effected by

In a similar way to Abigail, the Catholic Church has used methods of diversion by hushing victims or as The Age reported, “moved (paedophilic priests) from Parish to Parish”. Such as (more evidence?)

Originations about pedophiles have been evolving quickly, and pedophilia has as of late turned into a subject of expanded mindfulness and concern. Do TV programs uncover pedophiles, as well as there are new sexual guilty party exposure laws, sites that track sentenced sexual wrongdoers, and more examinations of pedophilia, particularly after the sex misuse outrage in the Catholic Church. However kids still stay helpless against sexual guilty parties paying little mind to their open façade.

Unspoken topics often hold the greatest weight and the biggest unsolved problems. In the United States, 100,000 to 500,000 innocent children are sexually abused each year (XXX) . This forbidden, not to mention illegal act, is known as child molestation. Child molestation is one of the most horrendous crimes one could commit, so much that when an offender is jailed, he/she is either gang-raped, beaten, or murdered. Sexual abuse of a child destroys their mind and innocence. This crime is so heinous that in many large cities special forces are created solely for these crimes and other sexual offenses.

It all started with a call from a mother concerned that her child was having nightmares and not being able to sit. She accused one of the teachers at McMartin Preschool of child molestation. It turned out that the mother was mentally unstable and the police did not find any evidence to support her claim. The teacher was released, however the police department did decide to send out a letter to all parents within the community. The letter provided instructions to question their children about ever experiencing any sexual acts. In response untrained parents were then questioning their children, and as a result the “children” of Manhattan Beach made nearly 1,211 accusations. These accusations consisted of children not only being molested but also witnesses to satanic worship. Once the press broke the news, seven of McMartin Preschool’s staff was arrested on over one hundred counts of child molestation. As fear spread though the media, more accusations appeared about other day cares being involved in satanic worship and the molestation of children. The news released how children were being molested as young as two years old, how they have been forced in child pornography and witnesses of animal sacrifice. The children were interviewed at the Children’s Institute International (CII) in California. They interviewed nearly 400 hundred children

John Jay College Research Team. (2004). The nature and scope of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons in the United States, 1950-2002. Washington, DC: United States Confer-ence of Catholic Bishops.

Sexual abuse to children happens across every socioeconomic status, ethnic, cultural, religion and education. Getting treatment for a victim of child sexual abuse is a difficult process because of the lack of trust by the child. When child sexual abuse occurs the victim’s family has a difficult time talking about the abuse, which leads to the family pretending the abuse never happened. Once the family

An organization guided by Christian principles will build a structural solid foundation. As a follower of Christ, “communication” is [essentially] required to fulfill the responsibility of advocating Christianity. In a business setting the benefit of applying Christian values to provide guidance that will affirm the foundations of an organization. The philosophy of promoting growth and sustainability with any establishment is to follow the organization's vision and mission. Smith (2011) expresses the importance of fulfilling one’s purpose with God by building interpersonal relationships, “Indeed we can only hope to fulfill our vocations if we learn the grace and strength of working with others in