Study ties Catholic clergy's sex abuse of children to sexual, social freedom that started in 1960s

There was - and remains - no easy way to identify candidates for priesthood who might molest children, the John Jay team concluded.

"Priests who sexually abused minors did not differ significantly from other priests passed on psychological or intelligence tests," the report stated. It noted, however, that they typically had "vulnerabilities, intimacy deficits, and an absence of close personal relationships before and during seminary." Many abusers grew up in families where sexuality was never discussed, the study found.

Those who were sexually abused in childhood or came from dysfunctional families were also likely to seek sexual gratification from children, the report said. It noted, however, that those patterns were typical of sexually abusive men in general.

The researchers found that many bishops reached out to help abusive priests, most often by sending them to treatment. Throughout the 1970s and early '80s, psychologists and other therapists took an "optimistic" view of therapy's ability to mend an abuser's ways, but bishops began having increasing doubts about therapy's effectiveness around 1985.

The hierarchy, however, was exceedingly slow to grasp the psychological damage of sexual abuse - especially by a trusted adult.

"Diocesan leaders responded to acts of abuse," the report asserted, "but with a focus on the priests and not the victims."