The Catholic Church Did Know About Sexual Abuse in the '40's and '50's
Documents unearthed by Tom Doyle, O.P. a Dominican priest and hero to the surivors of priest sex abuse, have revealed the bishops of the Catholic Church DID know the dangers and recidivistic nature of priests who prey sexually on minors. In excerpts of letter from the head of the Servants of the Paraclete in Jimez Springs (a treatment center for wayward priests), warned bishops that such priests should be laicized rather than return to ministry.
Hence, leaving them on duty or wandering from diocese to diocese is contributing to scandal or at least to the approximate danger of scandal....We find it quite common, almost universal with the handful of men we have seen in the past five years who have been under similar charges - we find it quite universal that they seem to be lacking in appreciation of the serious situation. As a class they expect to bound back like tennis balls on the court of priestly activity. I myself would be inclined to favor laicization for any priest, upon objective evidence, for tampering with the virtue of the young, my argument being, from this point onward the charity to the Mystical Body should take precedence over charity to the individual and when a man has so far fallen away from the purpose of the priesthood the very best that should be offered him is his Mass in the seclusion of a monastery. Moreover, in practice, real conversions will be found to be extremely rare. Many bishops believe men are never free from the approximate danger once they have begun. Hence, leaving them on duty or wandering from diocese to diocese is contributing to scandal or at least to the approximate danger of scandal." (Sept. 12, 1952, ).
1957:
Fr. Fitzgerald wrote to Bishop Matthew Brady of Manchester NH on September 26, 1957:
'From our long experience with characters of this type, and without passing judgment on the individual, most of these men would be clinically classified as schizophrenic. Their repentance and amendment is superficial and, if not formally at least sub-consciously, is motivated by desire to be again in a position where they can continue their wonted activity. A new diocese means only green pastures."