Changes

==Controversy==

==Recent Controversy==

[[Image:Cerro_de_Angeles.jpg|right|thumb|Cerro de los Angeles, Madrid, Spain.]]

[[Image:Cerro_de_Angeles.jpg|right|thumb|Cerro de los Angeles, Madrid, Spain.]]

There has been much controversy in recent years about Catholic priests in relation to the abuse of minors in their care. Cases of inappropiate sexual contact were discovered across many churches with many of the instances of abuse resulting in little repercussion for the priests involved.  In some cases, bishops were aware of the abuse but did not effectively deal with it, allowing the abusive priest to continue to remain in contact with minors. For the most part the Catholic Church quietly cleaned this up internally in the mid 1980s.  The vasty majority of allegations of abuse that were discovered in the 2000s occurred before this time period.  Although words like pedophile were often used in the press, in truth 90% of the cases involved priests making overtures towards teenage boys, and not pedophilia.  It was a case of breaking vows and [[homosexuality]].<ref>http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=72992710807995&mkt=en-US&lang=en-US&w=98cf251&FORM=CVRE4</ref>.  

Widespread controversy erupted in 2001 and the years following over past abuse of minors by some Catholic clergy involving inappropriate sexual contact.  The difficulty spanned multiple churches and, unfortunately, difficulty in knowing how to deal with it sometimes led to the priests who were involved being moved from church to church by the presiding Bishops. For the most part the Catholic Church quietly cleaned this up internally in the mid 1980s.  The vast majority of allegations of abuse that came to light in the 2000s occurred before this time period.  Of course most priests were not involved, but the damage that could be done by even a small number of priests if not properly checked was horrible.  Although words like pedophile were often used in the press, in truth 90% of the cases involved priests making overtures towards teenage boys, and not pedophilia.  It was a case of breaking vows and [[homosexuality]].<ref>http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=72992710807995&mkt=en-US&lang=en-US&w=98cf251&FORM=CVRE4</ref>.  

On July 15 2007 in Los Angeles, the Catholic church paid a $660 million dollar settlement over a priest abuse scandal.  More than five hundred lawsuits dating back to the 1930's were filed in Los Angeles from abuse victims of over two hundred priests and lay people.  The U.S. Catholic church has paid out more than $2 billion in abuse claims dating back to 1950.<ref>[http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070715/la_archdiocese_070715/20070715?hub=CTVNewsAt11 L.A. Catholic church settlement]</ref>

On July 15 2007 in Los Angeles, the Catholic church paid a $660 million dollar settlement over a priest abuse scandal.  More than five hundred lawsuits dating back to the 1930's were filed in Los Angeles from abuse victims of over two hundred priests and lay people.  The U.S. Catholic church has paid out more than $2 billion in abuse claims dating back to 1950.<ref>[http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070715/la_archdiocese_070715/20070715?hub=CTVNewsAt11 L.A. Catholic church settlement]</ref>