Reddit reviews Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000 Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse

Obviously, I can't prove it but consider this:

• The core reason why this happened to the Catholic Church is probably a combination of celibacy, easy victims, and an institution, as institutions are want to do, protecting itself.
  
  
• consider that this abuse happened independently all over the world.
  
  
• There has been well documented sex and other criminal behavior over centuries.
  
  
• In previous centuries, in particular before the nation state took power from the church, it was completely untouchable.
  
  Add that all together and you have a recipe for abuse stretching back centuries. It would be shocking if it wasn't the case.
  
  Googling around:
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Priests-Secret-Codes-Catholic/dp/1566252652/ref=la_B001JS147K_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343015063&sr=1-1
  

I think you made cogent points in your posting.

Regarding sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy, the problem of child abuse by priests is not just a recent phenomenon. It has existed in the Catholic Church for many centuries, but the problem is not confined to the Catholic Church.

>The Penitential of Bede (England, eight century) advises that clerics who commit sodomy with children be given increasingly severe penances commensurate with their rank.

Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000 Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse by Thomas P. Doyle, pages 18-19

Bede (672/673 - May 26, 735), also known as Saint Bede and the Venerable Bede, was a monk who was also an author and scholar. His most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The Father of English History".

Paragraphs 6-8 of A VERY SHORT HISTORY OF CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH by the same Rev. Thomas Doyle discusses how the response of church leadership to such revelations almost a thousand years ago has similarities to the responses of some church leaders today.

Unfortunately, molestation of children has not been confined only to the clergy of the Catholic Church, however.

• Independent Baptist Fellowship International
  
  >Additionally, the increasing isolation of fundamentalist Baptists from the mainstream of theology, including conservative and historic Protestant theology, has narrowed the base of churches from which the I.B.F.I. can draw students and support. Since 1993, scandals in fundamentalist Baptist churches, including those perceived to be leading churches in Fundamentalism, has damaged the credibility of the independent, fundamentalist Baptist cause. Since the Jack Hyles-Jenny Nischik scandal, several notorious cases have been made public, the most recent of which was the Trinity Baptist (Jacksonville, FL) legal battles, in which 23 adults came forward alleging that they were molested by former pastor Bob Gray, with the knowledge and collusion of the deacon board.Cases like these, no longer able to be silenced, seem to be sounding the death knell for the smaller fundamentalist Baptist schools
  
  
• Sexual abuse scandal in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney
  
  >However, the ordinances which applied to clergy sexual abuse for nearly the whole of the 20th Century (1904–1996) proved as much of an obstacle to deposition of offending ministers as a help.
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  >...
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  >Furthermore, any complaint had to be lodged within twelve months of the date of the offence. This provision ensured that almost no child sexual abuse complaints would be lodged with the Tribunal, given the length of time which usually occurs between an offence and the victim becoming sufficiently aware of his/her rights to pursue a charge.
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  >...
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  >However, the fact that the victim's father had complained to the church as early as 1985, with no action taken, led Ms Paddy Bergin, Counsel Assisting the Commissioner, to insist that Archbishop Goodhew admit that the church's handling of the complaint had been "a disgrace", and that it was completely unacceptable for the minister concerned to have continued in ministry without any investigation having been conducted.
  
  The Catholic Church court cases helped change the policies of the Anglican Diocese in Sydney, Australia.
  
  
• Episcopalians defend bishop’s decision in clergy sexual abuse case
  
  In the above case their have also been accusations that church leadership mishandled the matter, though that is disputed by the Episcopal Church and the extent of the problem does not seem to be anywhere near as great as with the Catholic Church.
  
  Nor is it a problem confined to Christianity. Rabbis have also been involved in child abuse. Abuse has occured by Orthodox Jewish rabbis.
  
  >That's not a swipe at Orthodoxy. It's simply a reflection of the fact that in past years, every major case of sexual abuse by rabbis, both in America and in Israel, has involved Orthodox rabbis. Because I identify as Orthodox, that act causes me great pain.
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  >It must be admitted because it is probably no coincidence that sexual abuse by clergy seems much more prevalent in communities with stricter guidelines about sexuality. I am not suggesting that one causes the other. But it is not something that we can afford to ignore, either.
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  >I also appreciate that there is no central authority for Jews that parallels that of the Catholic Church. We do not have the kind of institutional structure that can control problems in the same way, even if it wanted to. That is why it becomes especially important to get everything out in the open as quickly as possible.
  
  Source: Abusing Children: Not Just For Catholic Priests
  
  >His 10 years of outspoken activism have made him many enemies in the haredi community to which he belongs. He has, in particular, exposed incidents of the abuse of boys by men in yeshivot and mikvot.
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  >More disturbingly, Rabbi Rosenberg has shown the lengths to which community leaders will go to cover up these crimes.
  
  Source: Rabbi: Sexual abuse of children a problem
  
  You can find articles related to other religious leaders involved in instances of child sexual abuse at List of religious leaders convicted of crimes
  
  But I don't think that one can present that as a problem due to religion. Pedophiles are often attracted to positions that give them access to children and a position of authority and trust in relation to children. Some go into coaching children's sports. I think it would be grossly unfair to look with suspicion at adults, the vast majority of whom genuinely want to help children, their own as well as others, who coach children. Similarly, those clerics who use their positions of trust to abuse children are reprehensible, but they also represent a small fraction of those who become clerics. Unfortunately, there are too many church leaders, though, who would prefer to sweep the misdeeds of members of the clergy under the rug, or who are more interested in ensuring that word of the incidents does not spread than addressing the problems, but that isn't a problem confined to the Catholic Church, though the Church's insistence on celibacy for its clergy may exacerbate the problem.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia excommunication can be used to correct bad behaviour. in practice it looks like it is used mostly on people who disobey dogma and/or the hierarchy.

According to this book, written by catholic priests the church doesn't even follow its own internal rules under cannon law for disciplinnning paedophile priests: Sex, Priests and Secret Codes

Here's an excellent source. This is also helpful. Also this. Have you read any of these?