[Desdemona]

"That's an interesting point. So how long do you think Rome has been aware of the sorry state of affairs?"

Honestly, I can't say. I would hazzard a guess that on some level it's been known almost from the beginning, whenever it started. THAT's what I want to know - how long this has been going on. Each new report sets the date earlier. Somehow I doubt it started in the United States. Don't ask me why, but I get the idea that the origins are not American.

[maryz]

Each new report sets the date earlier. Somehow I doubt it started in the United States.

Your post seems to suggest you feel the whole sex abuse scandal is monolithic, almost centralized, perhaps with its own unbroken tradition -- rather than just disparate and more or less spontaneous eruptions.