Scott

The statement “10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia” has no basis in fact at all!

In the original speech Mr. Miller cites a July/August 2002 Sojourners article by Rose Marie Berger in which she misinterprets statements from Penn. State Prof. Philip Jenkins regarding sexual abuse by Protestant ministers.

In the original article Berger writes…
“Philip Jenkins concludes in his book “Pedophiles and Priests” that while 1.7 percent of Catholic clergy have been found guilty of pedophilia (specifically of boys), 10 percent of Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia.” (This quote is used in Miller’s speech)

To which Philip Jenkins responds (Sept/Oct 2002)…
“I regret to say that the statement is baloney. I never said it, and it’s not true!… Every time this ten percent statement appears attributed to me, I try to debunk it, but these things have a life of their own. I have no idea what the actual proportion of pedophile protestant clergy is, but I would be amazed if it was more than a fraction of one percent.”

Sojourner Article… http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0207&article=020741d

Sojourners apologized to its readers for passing on erroneous information and revised the article, removing the incorrect and defamatory information. But not before Sam Miller got a hold of it!

Regrettably, this much condensed version of Miller’s speech has spread like wildfire within the Catholic community by way of the internet and e-mail. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of websites, blogs, forums, facebook pages, and news services that have posted this condensed version of Mr. Miller’s speech.

This is not to disparage Mr. Miller or the Catholic church but in the interest of honesty and ecumenical respect this post should be either edited or removed.

Rev. Rob Pollock
Vancouver, BC
CANADA