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Are there more pedophiles per capita in the Catholic Church than other religions, or in other professions in general? If so, what is the evidence. This seems like a very difficult thing to really know beyond anecdotal evidence, which of course there is a lot of.

I refer to anecdotal evidence of the kind exemplified in the first post here:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=556630

of which I have seen lots.

This article:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/11/priestly-celibacy-catholic-sex-scandals

also repeats the common attitude that priestly lifelong celibacy (a largely catholic practice) is the cause.

So, the question is, does something about Catholicism cause pedophilia at a higher rate than other religions or professions and is that thing celibacy?

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    Welcome to Skeptics! This site isn't about just asking any question. We want to focus our attention on doubtful claims that are widely held or are made by notable people. Please provide some references to places where this claim is being made.
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Mar 9, 2016 at 5:11
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    It's obviously made all the time implicitly. alternet.org/story/146920/…
    – Benjamin
    Mar 9, 2016 at 5:32
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    And by statistically, I mean per capita.
    – Benjamin
    Mar 9, 2016 at 5:34
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    Probably a duplicate of this question: skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/2107/…
    – Andrew Grimm
    Mar 9, 2016 at 8:13
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    @AndrewGrimm That question is more about systemic issues. It might for example be the case that the catholic church has an average or even a low number of pedophiles per capita, but still has systemic issues regarding the rape of children (systematic cover ups, blaming of victims, etc).
    – tim ♦
    Mar 9, 2016 at 14:21

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