The general rule of thumb for police investigators when it comes to victims who come forward to reveal a crime, is that for every victim who comes forward that there are usually at least 3 or 4 who do not. And over the years, the Catholic church has received thousands of allegations of child molestation, taking place at their organization in different areas around the world.

According to statistics, a Catholic cleric is 4x more likely to sexually abuse a child than a member of the public

This issue is a fairly popular one which concerns many. Just last year, a film about how the Boston Globe covered up a massive child abuse scandal with the Catholic church, titled Spotlight, won the Oscar award for best picture of the year. And with this issue, what comes as most surprising to many is that more doesn't see to be done in the way of punishing those who are responsible for the crimes.

Corruption & Cover-up

A former Australian police detective, Denis Ryan, says that when he tried to investigate the allegations made by victims about someone in the church harming them, that he was told by superiors to get off the case.

But Ryan defied their orders and he continued on with his investigation, going on to speak with more than a dozen potential victims.

But when the day came that Ryan finally thought he had enough to move forward and arrest one of the priests who he had been investigating, he lost his job; the priest was moved to a different church which is usually how we see this go.

Ryan alleges that a group of senior police acted corruptly in protecting the abuser rather than trying to seek justice.

We Can't Judge Them All By The Actions Of The Few or Even The Majority

Just because there are bad people within the organization, who have or are committing crimes against others, and even though some others within that same organization might have helped to cover it up, doesn't mean that everyone involved with it is a bad person. No doubt there are many selfless and passionately caring individuals who are a part of that organization because they simply want to better themselves and help others/the world around them.

However, due to the history of allegations surrounding child abuse, many don't look to the Roman Catholic church as the moral compass which it strives to be for the world.

People simply want to see accountability for these alleged crimes, they don't want to see individuals protected when those individuals are predators who victimize young children (or anyone for that matter). And you would think that the church would be as equally concerned about flushing out violent people from their ranks. Yet, there are some priests who have received hundreds of allegations of abuse, and it's astounding to think of the amount of pain they decided to inflict upon others with their actions. And worst of all, that they might still be inflicting harm upon others because of the decision and actions of corrupt individuals to cover-up these crimes and protect them.

Pics:
Pixabay

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(film)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/blogs/jack-the-insider-police-failed-to-stop-epidemic-of-church-abuse/news-story/0fd9d026808c47f35a7d9c305c1f8d2b?utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF&utm_source=TheAustralian&utm_medium=Twitter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sexual_abuse_cases
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/royal-commission-into-child-sex-abuse-claims-of-vatican-coverup/news-story/2c803e092939bf6392c934274ecfff4e