A reader writes:
After seeing the shock on my face when my dad (now gone over 10 years) told me of the abuse he suffered by a priest while in a Hartford Catholic school during the early 30's, he said "I think it happened to most of the boys. It was like a rite of passage." He was trying to diminish the impact of the crime for me by normalizing it.
He went from being a young man headed for the priesthood, to a troubled alcoholic. Thankfully he overcame his demons, but not without a lot of work.