It was all about the Sixties

The Roman Catholic Bishops of the United States commissioned a study to "analyze patterns of sex abuse".  It's conclusions?

WASHINGTON - Researchers commissioned by U.S. Roman Catholic bishops to analyze the pattern of clergy sex abuse over decades have concluded that homosexuality, celibacy and an all-male priesthood did not cause the scandal.

The report from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York said about 44 per cent of the known abuse cases involved priests who were ordained in the 1940s and 1950s, at a time when seminaries did not properly train them to live a celibate life. These men were not equipped to withstand the social upheaval of the 1960s, which was a time of an increase in sexual deviancy and a spike in crime in society at large, the authors said.

Apparently the reasons were primarily that they were not properly trained to live a celibate life and the 'increase in sexual deviancy' and crime during the 1960s.  Looks like they got it all figured out!  Also, this about sums up the whole debate between 'liberals' and 'conservatives' on the matter.

The debate over what caused the crisis has fallen along ideological lines, with liberals blaming mandatory celibacy or the lack of women in positions of authority. Conservatives pointed to gay priests, since the overwhelming majority of known victims were boys. 

Yep, it's a debate between whether there are administrative and doctrinal issues at play, or 'gay priests'.  Apparently the conservatives think that the Roman Catholic Church is full of 'em.