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Sinead O'Connor, Bill Donohue discuss Catholic clergy abuse on CNN

By
DARA KELLY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 9:20 AM
Updated Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 10:38 AM

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On Tuesday night, CNN anchor Larry King held a roundtable on the Catholic Church's sexual abuse epidemic featuring Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, former CNN anchor and sexual abuse victim Thomas Roberts, and Catholic League conservative commentator Bill Donohue.

Donohue continued to defend the Pope and reiterated his controversial claim that the majority of priests involved in the multiple worldwide scandals aren't pedophiles, they're homosexuals.

"It's not pedophilia," said Donohue. "Most of the victims are post- pubescent. You have to get your facts straight. I'm sorry. If I'm the only one who is dealing with facts tonight, that's it. The vast majority of the victims are post-pubescent. That's not pedophilia, buddy. That's homosexuality. Post-pubescent means beyond puberty. In other words, you're adolescent. That's what homosexuals do, and of the molesters have been homosexuals in the Catholic Church."

Donohue's comments appalled the other invited speakers, who said that in trying to protect the Church he was simply scapegoating gays and refusing to face the real facts about the abuse cases.
 

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6 Comments

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ainehannah | Apr 03, 2010, 03:11 PM EDT
Sinead spoke convincingly on the subject BBC2's Newsnight too, however I feel she's unfortunately bleating in the wind. There won't be any prosecutions for those who chose to talk children, but more disgracefully, their parents into keeping quiet

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MarySmith77 | Apr 01, 2010, 06:31 AM EDT
Bill Donohue is truly the vilest of all the Pope's minions. His lies do not help the Church or its victims.

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KathyCallahan | Mar 31, 2010, 07:33 PM EDT
bill donahoe has the look, sound and feel of a very troubled and dangerous man who is playing out extremely serious issues and closeted demons on the public stage. And is quite frankly an embarrasment to Irish Catholics because of the staggeringly malevolent misinformation and propaganda that he dishes out. He said in essence on cnn, most of those boys were 12 years old and of age and the priests were homosexuals. He claims that he himself has turned in and reported many sexual predators. Those records should be exhumed and analyzed in full.

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hollabackgurl | Mar 31, 2010, 05:45 PM EDT
It disgusts me the way Donohue tries to kick accountability down the road, rather than confront it where it should be confronted. His attempts to pin this crisis on gays might have worked ten years ago, but most fair minded people see his effort for what it is now - a transparent pass-the-buck campaign.

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deenaww | Mar 31, 2010, 11:16 AM EDT
He is a disgusting liar. The truth is we don't know the average age of the children the statistics are just coming together. Both boys and girls were being abused by the church. Don't blame the victims.

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Portia777 | Mar 31, 2010, 09:42 AM EDT
"The vast majority of the victims are post-pubescent.That's not pedophilia, buddy. That's homosexuality. Post-pubescent means beyond puberty. In other words, you're adolescent." The victims are still children under the law. Adult or child- abuse =abuse= pain= suffering= CRIME

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