Fortunately nothing untoward ever happened to me at the hand of any representative of the church, or anybody else for that matter, and I was a keen Cub Scout and later a Boy Scout. Although I have given up all kinds of superstition these days, I remember my Catholic upbringing with a great deal of affection. I was involved in all sorts of boys activities with the Church, visits to the Natural History and Science Museums being highlights.
On one occasion there was a group of us hiking on Exmoor and one boy slipped and badly sprained his ankle. The Curate personally carried this boy, who would have been about 13 like the rest of us, over 3 miles back to the minibus, and the Curate bore no resemblance whatsoever to Arnie Schwarzenegger.
I know that some people tell horrendous stories about abuse at the hands of the Church, and their testimony chills the blood. But I never witnessed any, nor heard of any in my childhood years, despite being an altar server and involved in lots of extra-curricular activities.