[comitatus]

I don’t know the details of the European priest sex scandal, but in the US well over 80% of the abuse was of post-pubescent adolescent boys. To put it bluntly, the problem was homosexuality in the priesthood. Assuming the problem is even remotely similar in Europe, I don’t think celibacy is the problem. And the experience in the US certainly proves that the Boy Scouts made the right decision.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

I don’t know the details of the European priest sex scandal, but in the US well over 80% of the abuse was of post-pubescent adolescent boys. To put it bluntly, the problem was homosexuality in the priesthood. Assuming the problem is even remotely similar in Europe, I don’t think celibacy is the problem.

The problem is homosexual pedophilia, and I think celibacy is exactly the problem - most pedophiles are aware that their impulses are wrong and criminal and probably try to find ways to escape their own perverted nature. A religious order where everyone is expected to be celibate and control their urges is going to attract people struggling to escape their own perversion in droves. They become priests and find they still can't control their urges, and children around them pay the price.

I'm not aware of any non-celibate religious orders experiencing this kind of problem with sexual deviancy - ministers, rabbis, whatever.