http://www.newsweek.com/id/236096
Will attempt to respond more fully later.
I had not looked at it in those terms [priests abuse at the same rate as the population as a whole]. I'd be hypocritical if I did, since I've argued many times that incidents of violent abuse in the Army are not higher than those in the general population. So, I concede the point.
However, this is not just about incidents of abuse, it is about the way the Church has handled abusers. Specifically it has concealed their crimes both actively and passively, to a degree which suggests an institutional policy. That is, in the technical vernacular, totally ****ing mental.
It's what everyone does, though. Basically, everyone reasons that concealment and denial is the best policy until they get caught. There was a paedophilia case here in Portugal involving a charity organization where it was basically the same deal. Only over 20 years after the fact did the victims come forward.