It might just be the sheer number of Catholics in South America. There will be more of everything - more priests, more religious orders, more scope for starting and recruiting to possibly dodgy religious organisations.
One notorious example, in a country with a relatively small population and a large Catholic minority, was The Brothers of…
It might just be the sheer number of Catholics in South America. There will be more of everything - more priests, more religious orders, more scope for starting and recruiting to possibly dodgy religious organisations.
One notorious example, in a country with a relatively small population and a large Catholic minority, was The Brothers of St Gérard Majella, based mostly on Sydney, Australia. Its appalling founder, John Sweeney, abused only his brothers - not, mercifully, the teenage boys they were teaching. But Sweeney was only 21 when he founded the order with permission from the Archbishop of Sydney. He was barely old enough to have a basic teacher's certificate. What was the Archbishop thinking of?
It might just be the sheer number of Catholics in South America. There will be more of everything - more priests, more religious orders, more scope for starting and recruiting to possibly dodgy religious organisations.
One notorious example, in a country with a relatively small population and a large Catholic minority, was The Brothers of St Gérard Majella, based mostly on Sydney, Australia. Its appalling founder, John Sweeney, abused only his brothers - not, mercifully, the teenage boys they were teaching. But Sweeney was only 21 when he founded the order with permission from the Archbishop of Sydney. He was barely old enough to have a basic teacher's certificate. What was the Archbishop thinking of?
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/reports/2000_Coldrey_Integrity/integrity_23.htm#app4