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'We do not find a connection between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse', it says
The Pope
Report to RC bishops finds homosexuality not a factor in abuse
A preliminary report from a study commissioned by Roman Catholic bishops in the US to investigate the clergy sex abuse scandal there has found no connection between sexual orientation and the abuse of children by clergy.
The $2m study conducted by researchers at John Jay College of Criminal Justice won't be completed until the end of 2010, but the authors said their evidence to date found no data indicating that homosexuality was a predictor of abuse.
The Associated Press reports that in a speech to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, researcher Margaret Smith said: "What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse. At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse from the data that we have right now."
During Tuesday's meeting to hear the report, Bishop Edward Braxton asked the researchers whether their study indicated that homosexuality should be a factor when considering a candidate for the priesthood. Smith said: "If that exclusion were based on the fact that that person would be more probable than any other candidate to abuse, we do not find that at this time."
The study was commissioned as part of the widespread reforms enacted at the height of the abuse scandal which began in 2002. The Vatican ordered a review of all US seminaries that, among other issues, looked for any "evidence of homosexuality" in the establishments, and in 2005, issued a policy statement that men with a "deep-seated" attraction to other men should be barred from the priesthood.
The issue had been raised because in the almost 14,000 molestation claims filed against the Catholic clergy in the US since 1950 the overwhelming majority of known subjects were boys. But Karen Terry, a John Jay researcher, said it was important to distinguish between sexual identity and behaviour, and to look at who the offender had access to when seeking victims.
