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Comment by Eisenstein | Hacker News Reader

Sorry but what does this have to do with pedophiles? These are grown men meeting other men.

Correct; the sexual abuse scandal chiefly involves pederasty, not pedophilia, which is super-rare and occurs with the same rarity among clergy as it does in the general population.

Sure .. if by "super-rare" you actually mean common-place and the norm at Christian Brother Institutions for orphaned boys.

https://kelsolawyers.com/au/paedophile_offenders/brother-kea...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39078652

NB: These are just the orphanages in a single Australian State - if you'd care to read the various lengthy Royal Commission reports you can find such abuse by Catholic Priests was widespread across the country.

Yes, it's tragic, and unfortunately, there are homosexual men who seek access to young boys via a "vocation", same as any who would seek access through the foster care system, pediatric medicine, teaching, coaching youth, Boy Scouts. The list is endless. The thing that can be done is organizational vigilance, by making all aware of the signs and methods of reporting, and removing barriers such as shame or retaliation.

> The thing that can be done is organizational vigilance, by making all aware of the signs and methods of reporting, and removing barriers such as shame or retaliation.

Zero chance of that happening when you have second tier (just below Pope) Council of Cardinal Advisers actively covering up pedophile priests and moving them about to fresh stalking grounds with no advice or warning given to the communities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pell

Again, for details see the various Royal Commission reports.

Please do not minimise this stuff by making false claims about it being "super rare" .. a good 80% of tens of thousands of post war orphans have rapey priest stories.

Perhaps you're confused (like many attorneys and reporters) about the distinction between "coverups" and carefully maintaining utter confidentiality among victims, families, and those who are sometimes wrongly accused.

Numerous studies have proven the low, low incidence of true pedophilia. I'm not saying sexual abuse was rare.

I'm not confused, why are you suggesting this?

I understand the difference between prepubescent and postpubescent and I can read (and have read) both national and state investigations into the Catholic Brothers Institutions here in Australia that took in tens of thousands of post WWII children and sexually, physically and emotionally abused a considerable percentage of those children both pre and post pubescent.

Perhaps you might read these specific reports rather than some airy compilation of "numerous reports".

Here are just two of many

https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/f...

    Dr Coldrey stated that the sexual abuse of boys was on a large scale with the existence of paedophile Brother 'sex rings' at Bindoon and Castledare.

http://www.tjhcouncil.org.au/media/140118/Report-of-Case-Stu...

    The trust fund operated for three years. It made lump-sum payments to 127 men for child sexual abuse.

Perhaps you're confused about the documented extent of the actual decades of industrial scale child abuse perpetrated by Catholics at post war orphanages globally? (Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc).

Perhaps you're confused because you've never looked into the details?

Well you know how it goes, mate -

  Customs officer: G'day, passport please.
  Man, immigrating to Australia: Cheers.
  Customs officer: Anything to declare?
  Man: no, sir.
  Customs: Do you have a criminal record we should know about?
  Man: BUGGER! I didn't realise that one is still required here!

What does their being homosexual have to do with their being paedophiles? Homosexuals aren't by default attracted to boys. I am straight and I am attracted to women, not girls.

> I am straight and I am attracted to women, not girls.

People mature at different rates. At some point someone is going to be attracted to a 17 year old while thinking that they are an 18 year old.

The old "She can't be 17 - I'm only attracted to 18+ females" isn't an argument that works.

> occurs with the same rarity among clergy as it does in the general population.

While this is true, the issue surrounding the Catholic Church is how the have historically handled it. Often it was covered up, the priest moved to a different parish, and it would just happen again and again with the same offenders. So yes the number offending clergy is roughly the same as the general population but failing to prevent known offenders from inflicting life long damage on innocent children is despicable.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sex_abuse_ca...

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