Skwim
Veteran Member
Well, since you brought up numbers let's talk numbers.
There were a total of 414,582 priests recorded in the Catholic Church as of 2017. I couldn't find a total number of "clergy", but let's stick with just priests for this argument.
That would mean: 1,700/414,582 = .41% of the clergy are suspected of being sexual predators.
Not statistically significant, in my opinion.
On the other hand, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as of 2016 there were 859,500 registered sex offenders in United States.
The most recent US census data claims that there were 151.8 million men in the US.
That would mean: 859,500/151,800,000 = .57% of men in the US have been convicted of sexual offenses.
Also not statistically significant, in my opinion.
So, according to numbers, Catholic priests worldwide are less likely to be sexual predators than any man in the U.S.
I don't see any evidence of causation.
Ya got your figures wrong.
The 1,700 figure was of Catholic priests and other clergy members credibly accused of child sexual abuse in the USA. (see HERE
So, with the number of Catholic priests and clergy in the USA being:
36,580 presbyters (priests)
18,291 ordinary (permanent) deacons
39,651 lay ecclesial ministers
_______
94,522
18,291 ordinary (permanent) deacons
39,651 lay ecclesial ministers
_______
94,522
the percentage of Catholic priests and other clergy members credibly accused of child sexual abuse is 1.8 %. which, using your figures, is over three times as many as the percentage of men in the US who have been convicted of sexual offenses, .57%
.
.
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