Sorry to disillusion you but this was well known in the 70's. It was a standing joke. People knew they just never confronted the issue because ethical standards were pretty low back then.

[–] Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes and no. It was known among the churchgoers. The altar boys knew which priests to avoid, and why. The parishioners knew, or at least heard rumors. And when a priest was suddenly transferred across the country/internationally, it was pretty widely accepted as code for “they got caught.” But they didn’t tend to talk about it outside of the church, and the news was still afraid to be labeled as anti-catholic if they reported on it.

So the general public only really heard the jokes, rumors, and speculation. And the church had the plausible deniability to allow them to screech about being unfairly attacked. And it worked. The church happily played the role of the victim, and the general public turned on her.

[–] Syldon 1 points 1 year ago

The general public were the congregations that went to the churches. I was brought up in a catholic system in the 70's.