[traditionalist]

It’s ludicrous to define what degree the perversion is, all are equally and morally the same.

They are all equally immoral, but they are not clinically the same, and hence the measures needed to keep men with these various perverions out of the priesthood are different.

For example, homosexual men do not have a greater tendency toward pedophilia than to heterosexual men. However, it is a clinical fact that the proportion of homosexual men who are ephebophilies is vastly greater than the proportion of heterosexual men who are ephebophiles. In fact, ephebophilia is a celebrated part of gay culture. Hence if the Church's problem is mainly one of ephebophilia, rooting out homosexuals is best solution.

This solution would not work, however, to solve a pedophelia problem because, as we have seen, a large percentage of pedophiles are not homosexual.

[Cboldt]

It's ludicrous to define what degree the perversion is, all are equally and morally the same.

They are all equally immoral, but they are not clinically the same, and hence the measures needed to keep men with these various perverions out of the priesthood are different.

Yours is one good answer - that the differentiation is required to develop a remedy. Another way to look at the matter is to question the assumption directly. Are pedophilia and hebephilia (sp?) morally equivalent in all people's minds? Why the avoidance of the term "hebephilia" in news accounts? Is it because certain powerful interest groups don't want to arouse public awareness, and receive resounding disapproval of the practice? More to the point, does the male gay community perceive hebephilia as a moral wrong?

[Clint N. Suhks]

For example, homosexual men do not have a greater tendency toward pedophilia than to heterosexual men.

• Not true, gay advocates correctly state that most child molesters are heterosexual males. But this is a misleading statement. In proportion to their numbers (about 1 out of 36 men), homosexual males are more likely to engage in sex with minors: in fact, they appear to be three times more likely than straight men to engage in adult-child sexual relations Freund, K. and R. I. Watson, The Proportions of Heterosexual and Homo sexual Pedophiles Among Sex Offenders Against Children: An Exploratory Study, Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 18 (Spring 1992): 3443.
• While no more than 2% of male adults are homosexual, some studies indicate that approximately 35% of pedophiles are homosexual. K. Freund et al., Pedophilia and Heterosexuality vs. Homosexuality, Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 10 (Fall 1984): 197.
• Homosexual pedophiles victimize far more children than do heterosexual pedophiles Freund, K. and R. I. Watson, The Proportions of Heterosexual and Homosexual Pedophiles Among Sex Offenders Against Children: An Exploratory Study, Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 18 (Spring 1992): 3443.
• It is estimated that approximately 80% of pedophilic victims are boys who have been molested by adult males
• Schmidt, Thomas (1995). Straight and Narrow? Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexuality Debate. Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, p. 114.

However, it is a clinical fact that the proportion of homosexual men who are ephebophilies is vastly greater than the proportion of heterosexual men who are ephebophiles. In fact, ephebophilia is a celebrated part of gay culture.

The only reason for defining the degree of perversion is for correctional treatment or therapy and it’s not the Church’s objective or mission to rehabilitate the offenders. Many offenders are polymorphous perverse and for that reason it’s ludicrous to differentiate between the pathologies. It does not help or hinder the fact that it’s homosexuals who are largely responsible for the child sex abuse in the Catholic Church.