[LN2Campy]

The mandatory celibacy of priests was instituted by the Church in the 12th Century. Its doctrinal basis is not unquestionable, and a lot of historical evidence points to the fact that, conveniently for the Church, priests without heirs led the Church to amass vast amounts of wealth. The Orthodox, who are in schism and NOT heresy, allow for married clergy. I'm not an expert on canon law, but I don't think the idea is meritless.

That being said, I don't believe that the celibacy rule is "responsible" for this alleged pedophilia epidemic. While there certainly have been many shameful incidents that the Church unwisely hushed-up, this slander against the Catholic clergy is largely media bias, and an example of the only sanctioned religious bigotry allowed in our society.

[Chemnitz]

This is a complicated issue. First of all, marriage does not by itself solve the problems of clergy who are sex offenders. One married Protestant minister (with about 5 children) was caught sneaking into girls' dorms to watch them shower while he... He was spotted once, then arrested on another attempt. His family wanted to keep him in the ministry!

Married Protestants and unmarried Roman Catholics have sex offender clergy. Some are hetero. Some are homosexual. The key is that the church leaders would rather cover up a problem than deal with it. They will use sex crimes to get rid of their critics in the denomination while keeping far worse characters who are buddies and supporters. So this rapidly ruins the denomination.

I think there is no excuse for banning marriage. Catholics admit that they create a lot of lonliness and lust by preventing marriage. As one comic said, "According to the pope, lusting for your spouse is a sin...It is also a miracle."

The lavender crowd quickly recruits for their own purposes. In the 1970's two Christian Brothers (a teaching order) told me how they were suspicious of "aspirants." One nickname for aspirants was "the fruit orchard." When heterosexuals left the Roman Catholic Church to get married (priests marrying nuns, in many cases), the remaining religious were more likely to be homosexual and lesbian.

Roman Catholic religious are highly educated and very well connected. They worship like Episcopalians but they vote like Puerto Ricans. For them, the conservative Roman Catholic members are the unwashed crowd they must tolerate. The intellectuals have done a good job of making homosexual and abortion advocacy a mark of intelligence and refinement. I even saw a statement by an order of nuns in favor of abortion on demand. (See the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights).

Let's not make this a Roman Catholic issue. All the denominations have fallen down in protecting the flocks from clerical wolves. A minister should be very careful of his words and actions. It is too easy to prey upon the vulnerable. And all too often the neurotic will prey upon a minister's weaknesses. One woman seduced two ministers in a row and then exposed them. The men were fools. No excuse. But they should have read Proverbs about loose women.