Protestant clergy worse abusers than Catholics

From Eric Conway

In 2007 the respected news service Associated Press reported the results of a survey by three insurance companies (Church Mutual; Guide One Insurance; Brotherhood Mutual) for the mainstream Protestant denominations.
The results showed that on average 260 minors were sexually abused by Protestant clergy every year. The comparable figure for the Catholic church is 228. Still 228 too many, but interesting in view of the liberal media hysteria of the last few years.
These figures are testament to the sinister agenda-driven campaign of the Irish media in relation to the Catholic church. It is also significant that the figures for church-related abuse pale into insignificance when compared with Prof Carol Shakeshaft's study of the scale of teacher abuse in the US state school system.
The really interesting aspect is that these reports were ignored by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and virtually all the Irish media. I wonder why?
Eric Conway,
Balreask Village,
Navan, Co Meath

August 29, 2010

Comments

#1 Declan Doyle commented, on August 29, 2010 at 8:31 p.m.:

Perhaps I can explain. The catholic church have mastered the art of industrialised, and morally debased, cover-up of the defacto organised abuse of children, and the cynical evasion of detection. This evil has often been facilitated by weak and/or collusive states, Ireland being the prime example. The real evil is that as a direct result of catholic church cover up, we simply do not know the true figure of children abused by the catholic church. The reason the media is so rightly exercised about the organised cover-up of the abuse of children by the catholic church is because the institutional cover-up facilitated the rape of countless children in the notional care of the church. The protestants have not been revealed as having facilitated the cover up of child rape to the highest level of its leadership, and if it were, then all right thinking people should condemn them also.

#2 Myles Duffy commented, on August 29, 2010 at 8:57 p.m.:

Is the purpose of this letter to persuade us that Elvis is still alive and that the innocent trust we placed in Irish priests, Irish bishops and Irish cardinals for decades was not blackguarded with devastating consequences?

#3 Eric Conway commented, on August 30, 2010 at 8:57 a.m.:

Thanks Declan, thanks Myles. Yes just as I revealed, a cover for reactionary anti-Catholic bigotry. QED. Oh Myles, I saw Elvis in my local last night, will pass on your best wishes.

#4 Michael commented, on August 30, 2010 at 4:32 p.m.:

I've just checked the information related to Eric Conway's claim in Protestant clergy sexual abuse being worse than Roman Catholic clergy. On reading this I decided to check whether this claim was true. I found an article by a Rose French in the Insurance Journal of June 18th 2007. After giving various statistics Ms. French wrote: "Church Mutual and Insurance Mutual each provided statistics to the Associated Press, although they did not produce supporting documentation or a way to determine whther the reports were credible ". I would like to know if Eeric Conway was aware of this important aspect of the story?

#5 Eric Conway commented, on August 30, 2010 at 5:54 p.m.:

The insurance company reports are accurate, & form the basis for liability cover for the Protestant denominations involved. The actual abuse by Protestant clergy is likely to be substantially greater, as the figures from the insurance companies only relate to the main stream Protestant denominations. There are hundreds of other Protestant denominations not covered by these reports.

#6 John commented, on August 30, 2010 at 6 p.m.:

I love to read Eric Conway's letters.
The guy has a great sense of humour and none of you realise that he is just taking the piss.
I mean, seriously, do you think that that anybody who calls himself a catholic could be actually that nasty?
And as for the anti-gay rethoric, it is probably some drag queen with a load of self hatred.

#7 Michael commented, on August 30, 2010 at 7:09 p.m.:

Eric Conway hasn't addressed what Ms. French said in relation to the insurance companies not providing documentation to the Press Association that proved the credibility of their claims. But she wrote that the RCC reported [ or perhaps only admitted to ] 30,000 credible cases of sexual abuse by RCC clergy from 1950 up to that time [ 2007?] - a total of 57 years. Since the insurers claims 260 such cases annually where Protestant clergy are concerned that would total a number of 14,820 in the same 57 years. I am only going on what is contained in Ms. French's report in the Insurance Journal to which I have already alluded.

#8 Michael commented, on August 30, 2010 at 7:18 p.m.:

Another thing I would like to add to what I've already said is this. As these reports appear to be for the US alone their interpretation can have a different slant. Those who claim to be Protestants in the US far exceed the numbers of those who are Roman Catholics and this would suggest that where percentages are concerned that the abuse by Roman Catholic clergy is even worse than Eric Conway admits to in the first place.

#9 Eric Conway commented, on August 31, 2010 at 9:02 a.m.:

That's what I like John, a nice rational/reasoned response. It does'nt actually matter whether sex abusers are homosexual or paedophile,the result is equally bad. As for self-hatred, au-contraire ( to quote the sagacious Del Trotter ), I'm more frequently accussed of having a rather high opinion of myself. Justified, I'm sure you'll agree. Take care & Keep the Faith.

#10 Eric Conway commented, on August 31, 2010 at 11:08 a.m.:

One final comment. Patrick Moreland of Church Mutual confirmed their figures. My letter was intended to redress the balance at a perceived singling out of the Catholic Church. I dont take any pleasure at revealing the level of abuse by Protestant clergy. I wish it was zero. Those Catholic clergy who committed abuse & those who failed to deal with them are to be absolutely condemned. But equal standards must be applied to all religions, & to secular organisations.

#11 Michael commented, on August 31, 2010 at 12:28 p.m.:

Eric ( Comment#10 ), As I pointed out before, Ms. French stated that the insurance companies provided no documentation to back up their claims. And you haven't addressed my point on Protestants and their various denominations far outnumbering the population of Roman Catholics in the US. Do you accept the calculations on the respective numbers of cases of sexual abuse of both denominations I provided on RCC and Protestant admitted cases - based on the annual figures provided by the insurance companies and the RCC? Whatever the denomination - Protestant or Roman Catholic - these were awful crimes against children, but for many years the perpetrators were protected by those in authority in their respective denominations whilst children were not.

#12 Eric Conway commented, on August 31, 2010 at 4:23 p.m.:

Michael, Ms. French is wrong. The insurance companies absolutely stood over their figures in total quantitative terms. These are reputable companies, subject to audit etc. They cant give specific details because there are confidentiality issues involved. Also, to reiterate, the abuses relating to the Protestant denominations are likely to be considerably greater, as there are hundreds of other denominations not covered by these insurance companies. However, it's semantics to a large extent. Lets end on agreement & condemn abuse from all sources. I absolutely agree with your last sentence.

#13 Michael commented, on August 31, 2010 at 7:20 p.m.:

Let's both accept one anothers sincerity and deep convictions. And we are both of the one mind in condemning these awful crimes. Take care!

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