Evidence, including report from U.S. Catholic Church, showed extensive abuse by priests

Editor:

On Sept. 17, Mr. Falkenburgh complained about the “extremely hateful and harmful view of Catholics and our priests,” referencing a letter by Mr. Fredericks. In rebuttal, Mr. Fredericks was correct in suggesting that Mr. Falkenburgh do some research and check out the facts.

When Mr. Falkenburgh does check he facts, he will discover that in response to public pressure, in 2002 the US Catholic Church asked the John Jay College of Criminology (City College of New York) to investigate its own priests to determine the severity of the sexual abuse problem.

The report stated from 1950-2002: 10,667 cases of abuse by 4,392 Catholic clergy, or 4% of the 109,694 serving priests. Of that total 252 were convicted and 100 sent to jail.

In 2018 the State of Pennsylvania received a Grand Jury Report that stated over 1,000 children had been abused in Pennsylvania by 600 priests over a 70-year period. In November 2022, the Attorney General of Maryland issued a report that in the Archdiocese of Baltimore 600 victims had been abused by 158 priests over an 80 year period.

I recommend Mr. Falkenburgh read the three reports and contact the US Conference of Bishops for details. The Bishops will have what he needs because they helped start the whole investigation in the first place. They can be reached at phone number 202 541 3000.

Jack Capurso

Albion High School graduate in 1960

Ashburn, Va.