Andrew Greeley and the Catholic Church Sex Abuse Crisis
Rev. Andrew Greeley, in his column in the Chicago Sun Times, has written an insightful article on the real nature and root causes of the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. As he himself points out, it's not really his theory and its not new but it's worth taking another look at it, especially now that the Catholic bishops have given us a glimpse of the final John Jay Report due out in a year or so from now. Unlike the John Jay Report, Greeley sides with a noted sociologist (Greeley himself is one) Professor Anton Shupe of Purdue University. According to Shupe, the root cause of the crisis is power. It's not, as the report wants us to think, changing societal and sexual mores or media hype that is at the base of the sex abuse crisis. Rather, it's an abuse of power where the weak are preyed upon by the strong.