An article in Today’s Trib cites an advance copy of a five-year study commissioned by the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops that concludes that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality caused the church’s sexual abuse crisis, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, but instead was caused by priests who were poorly prepared and monitored, and were under stress, due to the social and sexual turmoil of the 1960s and ’70s.  Yes, that’s right:  Woodstock made me do it!

Yet another problem with this report is that it defines “prepubescent” children as those age 10 and under. Using this cutoff, the report found that only 22 percent of the priests’ victims were prepubescent.  But the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classifies a prepubescent child as age 13 or younger.  Under that definition, the vast majority of the abusers’ victims would have been considered prepubescent.

Putting aside the sheer absurdity of this “Blame Woodstock” comment, how then do you explain the pedophile priests of earlier years?  The Wizard of Odd?  Gone with the Wand? hey, i’m on a roll here, folks.