It’s no secret that the Catholic church has had its share of abuse scandals. Many of these abuse cases have been related to crimes against children. Perhaps one of the most disturbing beliefs by some priests, is that the children themselves are to blame for the abuse.
With this type of mentality, there’s no doubt that Pope Francis has his hands full trying to repair the Catholic church’s reputation. While there is no amount of money that could repair the damage done to the children of abuse, new research indicates that the Catholic church has paid out $3,994,797,060.10 since 1950.
In regards to lawsuits, Patheos reports:
“According to their research, since 1950, that amount comes out to $3,994,797,060.10. Nearly $4 billion. And that’s an underestimate since we still don’t know how much was spent for therapy for the victims, help for the offenders, and the creation of “safe environment” programs.”
The research Patheos speaks of comes from the National Catholic Reporter (NCR). The NCR also reports:
“The U.S. Catholic church has incurred nearly $4 billion in costs related to the priest sex abuse crisis during the past 65 years, according to an extensive NCR investigation of media reports, databases, and church documents. In addition, separate research recently published calculates that other scandal-related consequences such as lost membership and diverted giving has cost the church more than $2.3 billion annually for the past 30 years.”
Another disturbing aspect to all of this is that not all cases are reported. The figure is sure to be higher. Between non-reported abuse and sealed settlements, $3,994,797,060.10 is probably not even close to the true number.
The abuse that these sick animals inflict upon children in secret should be brought to light at every opportunity. With that, Ranker has set up a list of Christian priests convicted for sexual abuse.
If parents choose to practice any religion, I would beg you to thoroughly investigate the people that you will be entrusting your child’s welfare to. In the video below, the amazing, late, Christopher Hitchens, speaks on the disgusting cover-ups by the Catholic church.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD-e7fiRiUc&w=640&h=480]
