MORE than 50 Roman Catholic priests and brothers have taken part in an Irish treatment programme for clergymen who have sexually abused children.
The programme, under the auspices of the St John of God Hospital, Co Dublin, has been organised over the past two years, with £60,000 received from Catholic dioceses and religious orders in Ireland. The money is also used to treat lay abusers.
The director of Psychological Services with St John of God Hospital, Dr Patrick Walsh, said 70 per cent of the clergymen in the programme had abused boys, while 28 per cent had abused girls. Two per cent abused both.
This imbalance may be linked to the fact that priests and brothers had more access to boys as students or as altar boys. It may also be that many priests, because of their celibate state, found sexual involvement with any female to be taboo.
A survey of 43 clerical abusers in the programme revealed that the majority, 56 per cent, of children abused were in their teens, aged 13 to 17 years, while 30 per cent were aged between six and 12.
Dr Walsh said that, while some of the clerical abusers had been victims of sexual abuse in childhood, a central experience the majority seemed to have in common was a profound psychological humiliation at some point, whether at home or at school.
"These men show persistent emotional isolation," he said. "They are often quite highly accomplished individuals who can function well on a public platform, but show very considerable emotional isolation in intimate aspects of their lives."
Many of the men showed considerable evidence of sexual immaturity, and had no way of teasing out what it was to be a "sexual being".
Ms Marie Keenan, who is also involved in the programme, said getting the men to accept full responsibility for their actions, and the damage caused by the abuse, was central to the treatment.
This included accepting the legal responsibility and consequences of their actions.