I have known Sean Hannity for years, and he is a good guy. But I cannot allow our friendship to get in the way of my job.
He made comments on his April 16 Fox News show about the clergy sexual abuse scandal that are dead wrong. Apparently, he also offended Catholics on his radio show this week.
Sean started by saying he was raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools and went to a seminary high school. He claimed he broke away from the Catholic Church because of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. That is his business. But it is my responsibility to correct the record when misstatements of fact abound.
In his remarks, Sean stated: “I left the Catholic Church in large part because of institutionalized corruption. And it was at the parish level to the bishop level, cardinals, all the way to Rome.” He added, “And you know, the very top scandals, terrible behavior, frankly, went not only unchecked but they never fully corrected it or dealt with it. And others at the Vatican have totally lost sight of the true meaning of the bible and its teachings.”
His sweeping assertions do not hold up under scrutiny. While there was a scandal in the Catholic Church, its peak period ended approximately half a century ago, with most offenses occurring between the mid-1960s and mid-1980s.
How widespread was it at its height? A 2002 Washington Post survey found that less than 1.5% of an estimated 60,000 or more men in the Catholic clergy were accused of sexually abusing minors. A New York Times report indicated that 1.8% of priests ordained between 1950 and 2001 faced accusations of sexual abuse. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice study from 2004 showed that over the period 1950–2002, 4% of Catholic clergy were accused of sexually molesting minors. It also found that 149 priests—3.5% with more than ten allegations—were responsible for 26% of all cases. In essence, out of 4,393 priests with accusations between 1950 and 2002 (not all substantiated), only 149 accounted for over a quarter of the allegations.
This is vastly different from what Sean described. A more egregious error is assuming that nothing has changed. Data from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 shows that among 48,176 clergy members, only two had substantiated accusations of sexual abuse by minors—representing a mere 0.004%.
Unfortunately, in any institution where adults interact with minors, sexual misconduct is a problem. Yet no religious or secular entity in American society today has fewer such issues than the Catholic Church. To imply otherwise is irresponsible.
It is also known that 81% of victims were male and 78% were postpubescent, indicating that the majority of abuse was committed by gay men (3.8% were pedophiles). Of course, expect the media to report these facts—unfortunately, Fox News is part of the cover-up.
When my book was released, I was asked for an interview on Fox News. The executives stated that due to its controversy, they would only allow a debate with someone else, and no notable liberal Catholic accepted it. The debate never aired. Would that not be called “institutionalized corruption,” Sean?
Most priests are good men at every level and do not deserve derision. The scandal should never have happened, but it is unfair to generalize from the few to the collective, regardless of demographics.
If Sean wants to debate me, he can call. I provide my work and home numbers.
