As many as 1000 child victims in the Pennsylvania RCC Scandal.
Could be more. Could be less. The elementary school I attended in grades 1-6 had about that many total students. That gives me a concept of what that number means. I can remember seeing all those kids during recesses and lunch breaks. It seemed like a lot at the time. When I imagine that number of children being sexually abused by religious leaders they trusted and who were trusted by their parents, it gives me pause.
And that was just in one one archdiocese. In many ways, it's mind-boggling that such a thing could occur, virtually unnoticed, for so long. All those children. One story said there might have been as many as 300 priests involved in that abuse over time. 300! That seems shockingly high, and frighteningly ominous, really.
All of it covered up by the church hierarchy. Priests moved from one place to another with no warning to the new parishes. How could such a thing occur? Are similar numbers involved in other archdioceses around the country? Who knows? Only a few have been thoroughly investigated. So, we have no idea, really. Was Pennsylvania different from other areas? That seems doubtful.
Some will say, yes, but what about abuse by other groups? My answer would be, yes, what about that? Right now, though, we have this. We have the results of a long investigation. So, that's what we have. That's what we're discussing here in the Religion Group, because it has to do with the largest religious denomination in this country. So, what about the rest? Well, we need to investigate that too, but right now, we have the results of a completed investigation, and the results are shockingly horrible.
What will happen next? Well, the Pope says, "It's awful, and I'm very sorry about it. We're going to look into it, you see, and do something about it." I'll be happy to offer Il Papa some suggestions about what to do, if he's interested. I doubt he'll ask, though.
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