Before banks of cameras, intense lights and the gaze of victims of sexual abuse, the bishops of the United States recently debated in Dallas a new policy to “repair the breach” with those damaged at the hands of church ministers. They approved overwhelmingly a Charter for the Protection

Child sexual abuse, in the priesthood and in society at large, is a complex issue that does not admit of simple understandings or simple solutions.

A major problem now exists for the future of priestly vocations because of “the alliteration of priest and pedophile.”

It is helpful to understand the sexual abuse of children by priests within the broader context of child victimization.