What went wrong in the Catholic Church?

[SharonAnn]

1. "Insular groups of men do bad things"

A Woman’s Place Is in the Church

The cause of the Catholic clergy's sex-abuse scandal is no mystery: insular groups of men often do bad things. So why not break up the all-male club?


Studies show what we intuitively know: without checks and balances, insular groups of men do bad things. History professor Nicholas Syrett, author of The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities, says studies suggest that 70 to 90 percent of gang rapes on college campuses are committed by men in fraternities. Obviously, he adds, important differences exist between the Roman Catholic hierarchy and college frats—”fraternity men are encouraged to have sex with lots of women. Clearly priests are not.” But in both cases, “men are encouraged to believe that they are in positions of power for a reason…I do think if the hierarchy of the Catholic Church doesn’t discipline these people because they are concerned about reputation, they create a space where those are led to believe that whatever they do is OK.”

Newsweek, April 2, 2010
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/02/a-woman-s-place-is-i...

Original piece at The Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/04/02/a-woman-s-place-is-in-the-church.html