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	Voice of the Faithful's Conclusions about the John Jay College Report, the Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010 Voice of the Faithful November 15, 2011 http://www.votf.org/Govt_reports/VOTF_Conclusions_Report.pdf [pdf] 1. Overview In May 2011, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published the John Jay College's Report, The Causes and Context of the Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2011. Much of the media coverage and responses by a variety of observers focused on the Report's seeming attribution of clergy sexual abuse of minors to the societal freedoms that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, quickly dubbed by some as "The Woodstock Defense." Voice of the Faithful undertook a comprehensive review of the Report and publishes here our assessment of the Report's findings and conclusions. We add our own conclusions and recommendations at the end of this document. The principal objective of the John Jay College's Causes and Context report is to explain why Catholic priests in the U.S. sexually abused minors in the 60-year period 1950-2010. Despite the John Jay researchers' reliance on non-independently-verified data supplied by diocesan leaders, VOTF believes that they compiled a highly credible study that is based on exhaustive research and analysis, and that the report provides an invaluable resource for anyone who attempts to understand the phenomenon of clergy sexual abuse of minors in the U.S. VOTF agrees that the report's "findings support a consistent set of conclusions." However, VOTF also believes that the findings support some valid alternative conclusions, particularly with regard to hierarchical officials' roles in the occurrence and persistence of clergy sexual abuse during this extended period. Too often the report seems to attribute client-friendly characterizations of the bishops' behavior, or lack thereof, when other characterizations might equally apply
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