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To judge by my f-list and other Catholic bloggers I have seen, Mary Eberstadt's article on First Things about the vindication of Humanae Vitae has made more waves than anything in years. I suppose that is because it goes further than most Christians had been thinking of going. While most people are aware that abortion is at least controversial,

Comments

correct three times.

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Sadly, you are quite correct about child abuse, it has a long and horrible history.

And of course, you are quite correct, the priesthood is only one of the avenues that child molesters take in their search for victims. Any role giving them a position of power over children will be sought - I have been peripherally involved in the battle to keep them out of the Scouting movement. I did not intend to imply that this is unique to your priesthood; still, given media emphasis I can see that I should have been clearer in stating this.
Sadly though, it is going to keep getting worse within the priesthood, as other opportunities are closed off, especially as media coverage makes the priesthood seem more tempting to child molesters looking for something to exploit. And protesting media bias won't change this, quite the contrary. The only solution is a combination of constant vigilance and the ruthless and public punishment of those caught.
That 8% figure is probably far lower than the actual figure. The major problem with fighting child abuse is that people don't realise how big the problem is.

Finally - yes, the Pagan world was nauseating. Replace 'anyone with a conscience' with 'any Christian or Jew with a conscience'.

Re: correct three times.

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Just one thing: if other avenues are closed off - and the complete lack of any real punishment in the teaching profession suggests otherwise - why should you assume that the priesthood would remain open? The same pressures, mainly bad publicity, apply, and some, such as predatory lawsuits, apply a lot more (since, under American law, you can exact a lot more from the Church than from a public school). What is more, you seem not to consider that the priesthood is a hard profession to enter - including the equivalent of a degree course as well as several levels of assessment - and that the Pope has made it very clear that seminaries and other institutions are expected to positively reject unsuitable candidates.