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Vatican Slams Sex Abuse in Other Religions
Pedophilia statement charges that most abusers are gay
By Jason Farago
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Posted Sep 29, 09 5:22 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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The Vatican hit out at critics of its handling of the church's sexual abuse crisis yesterday, maintaining that most of its abusive clergymen were gay men and not pedophiles. The Holy See's UN representative cited "available research" that only 5% or less of its clergy were involved in child sex abuse, and that up to 90% of them "belong to this sexual orientation minority" attracted to teenage boys. His statement also cited a newspaper report that Protestant and Jewish communities also suffer from sex abuse.
The archbishop's statement concluded: "As the Catholic church has been busy cleaning its own house, it would be good if other institutions and authorities, where the major part of abuses are reported, could do the same and inform the media about it." Leaders of other religions regretted the finger pointing. "Comparative tragedy is a dangerous path on which to travel," said a New York rabbi.