The Guardian view on sexual abuse and the Catholic church: contrition is not enough | Editorial
GuardianOct 10, 2021
An investigation released Tuesday by the Illinois attorney general's office found that nearly 2K children were abused by 451 Catholic clergy members between 1950 and 2019 in the state, more than previously reported.
This adds 149 previously unknown abusers to the lists of perpetrators, most of whom belong to religious orders independent of dioceses.
Thousands upon thousands of new victims of abuse come forward every year, first victimized by a depraved priest, and then again by an institution determined to protect abusers. The Catholic Church is in dire need of a transformation to root out abusive priests and those who covered for them. The faithful are forced to grapple with the immense scale and scope of abuse.
The Church stands with the victims of sexual violence and has devoted substantial efforts to rectify what has been done. Despite the progress already made, the media hounds one of the few institutions that treat child sexual abuse with such concern. Schools, sports teams, and other well-respected establishments are hotbeds for abuse, with no statistical evidence to support a singling out of the Catholic Church among other institutions.