Posted on 04/05/2002 8:45:54 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
10 MYTHS ABOUT PRIESTLY PEDOPHILIA
1. Catholic priests are more likely to be pedophiles than other groups of men.
This is just plain false. There's absolutely no evidence that priests are more likely to abuse children than are other groups of men. The use and abuse of children as objects for the sexual gratification of adults is epidemic in all classes, professions, religions, and ethnic communities across the globe, as figures on child pornography, incest, and child prostitution make abundantly clear. Pedophilia (the sexual abuse of a prepubescent child) among priests is extremely rare, affecting only 0.3% of the entire population of clergy. This figure, cited in the book Pedophiles and Priests by non-Catholic scholar, Philip Jenkins, is from the most comprehensive study to date, which found that only one out of 2,252 priests considered over a thirty-year period was afflicted with pedophilia. In the recent Boston scandal, only four of the more than eighty priests labeled by the media as "pedophiles" are actually guilty of molesting young children.
Pedophilia is a particular type of compulsive sexual disorder in which an adult (man or woman) abuses prepubescent children. The vast majority of the clerical sex-abuse scandals now coming to light do not involve pedophilia. Rather, they involve ephebophilia -- homosexual attraction to adolescent boys. While the total number of sexual abusers in the priesthood is much higher than those guilty of pedophilia, it still amounts to less than 2 percent -- comparable to the rate among married men (Jenkins, Pedophiles = and Priests).
In the wake of the current crisis in the Church, other religious denominations and non-religious institutions have admitted to having similar problems with both pedophilia and ephebophilia among the ranks of their clergy. There's no evidence that Catholic prelates are more likely to be pedophiles than Protestant ministers, Jewish leaders, physicians, or any other institution in which adults are in a position of authority and power over children.
2. The celibate state of priests leads to pedophilia.
Celibacy bears no causal relation to any type of deviant sexual addiction including pedophilia. In fact, married men are just as likely as celibate priests to sexually abuse children (Jenkins, Priests and Pedophilia). In the general population, the majority of abusers are regressed heterosexual men who sexually abuse girls. Women are also found to be among those sexual abusers. While it's difficult to obtain accurate statistics on childhood sexual abuse, the characteristic patterns of repeat child sex offenders have been well described. The profiles of child molesters never include normal adults who become erotically attracted to children as a result of abstinence (Fred Berlin, "Compulsive Sexual Behaviors" in Addiction and Compulsion Behaviors [Boston: NCBC, 1998]; Patrick J. Carnes, "Sexual Compulsion: Challenge for Church Leaders" in Addiction and Compulsion; Dale O'Leary, "Homosexuality and Abuse").
3. Married clergy would make pedophilia and other forms of sexual misconduct go away.
Some people -- including a few vocal dissenting Catholics -- are exploiting this crisis to draw attention to their own agendas. Some are demanding a married Catholic clergy in response to the scandal, as if marriage would make men stop hurting children. This flies in the face of the aforementioned statistic that married men are just as likely to abuse children as celibate priests (Jenkins, Pedophilia and Priests).
Since neither being Catholic nor being celibate predisposes a person to develop pedophilia, a married clergy wouldn't solve the problem ("Doctors call for pedophilia research," The Hartford Currant, March 23). One has only to look at similar crises in other denominations and professions to see this.
The plain fact is, healthy heterosexual men have never been known to develop erotic attractions to children as a result of abstinence.
4. Clerical celibacy was a medieval invention.
Wrong. In the Western Catholic Church, celibacy became universally practiced in the 4th century, beginning with St. Augustine's adoption of the monastic discipline for all of his priests. In addition to the many practical reasons for this discipline -- it was supposed to discourage nepotism -- the celibate lifestyle allowed priests to be more independent and available. This ideal also called diocesan priests to live out the same witness as their brothers in monastic life. The Church hasn't changed her directives for celibacy, because over the centuries she has realized the practical = and spiritual value of the practice (Pope Paul VI, On the Celibacy of the Priesthood;, Encyclical letter, 1967). Indeed, even in the Eastern Catholic Church -- which includes a married clergy -- the bishops are chosen only from unmarried priests.
Christ revealed the true value and meaning of celibacy. Catholic priests from St. Paul to the present have imitated Him in their total gift of self to God and others as celibates. Although Christ raised marriage to the level of a sacrament that reveals the love and life of the Trinity, He was also a living witness to the life of the world to come. The celibate priesthood is for us a living witness to this life in which the unity and joy of marriage between a man and a woman is surpassed in the perfect, loving communion with God. Celibacy properly understood and lived frees a person to love and serve others as Christ did.
Over the past forty years, celibacy has been an even more powerful witness to the loving sacrifice of men and women who offer themselves in service their communities.
5. Female clergy would help solve the problem.
There's simply no logical connection between the deviant behavior of a tiny minority of male clergy and the inclusion of women in their ranks. While it's true that most statistics on child molestation show that men are more likely to abuse children, the fact is that some women are also child molesters. In 1994, the National Opinion Research Center showed that the second most common form of child sexual abuse involved women abusing boys. For every three male abusers, there's one female abuser. Statistics on female sex offenders are more difficult to obtain because the crime is more hidden (Interview with Dr. Richard Cross, "A Question of Character,", National Opinion Research Center; cf. Carnes). Also, their most frequent victims (boys) are less likely to report sexual abuse, especially when the abuser is a woman (O'Leary, "Child Sexual Abuse").
There are reasons why the Church cannot ordain women (as John Paul II has explained numerous times). But that is beside the point. The debate about women's ordination is completely unrelated to the problem of pedophilia and other forms of sexual misconduct.
6. Homosexuality isn't connected to pedophilia.
This is plainly false. Homosexuals are three times as likely to be pedophiles as heterosexual men. Although exclusive pedophilia (adult attraction to prepubescent children) is an extreme and rare phenomenon, one third of homosexual men are attracted to teenage boys (Jenkins, Priests and Pedophilia). The seduction of teenage boys by homosexual men is a well-documented phenomenon. This form of deviant behavior is the most common type of clerical abuse and is directly connected to homosexual behavior.
As Michael Rose shows in his upcoming book, Goodbye! Good Men, there's an active homosexual sub-culture within the Church. This is due to several factors. The Church's confusion in the wake of the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the tumult following the Second Vatican Council, and the greater approval of homosexual behavior in the culture at large created an environment in which active homosexual men were admitted to and tolerated in the priesthood. The Church also came to rely more on the psychiatric profession for screening candidates and for treating those priests identified as having problems. In 1973, the American Psychological Association changed its characterization of homosexuality as an objectively disordered orientation and removed it from the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual IV (Nicolosi, J., 1991, Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality, 1991; Diamond, E., et. al., Homosexuality and Hope, unpublished CMA document). The treatment of deviant sexual behaviors followed suit.
While the Church's approach to those who struggle with homosexual attractions has been compassionate, she has been consistent in maintaining the view that homosexuality is objectively disordered and that marriage between a man and woman is the proper context for sexual activity.
7. The Catholic hierarchy has done nothing to address pedophilia.
While we can all agree that the hierarchy hasn't done enough, this claim is nevertheless false. When the Church's Code of Canon Law was revised in 1983, an important passage was added: "The cleric who commits any other offense against the sixth precept of the Decalogue, if the offense was committed with violence or threats, or publicly or with a minor who is under 16 years [now extended to 18 years], must be punished with just punishments, not excluding expulsion from the clerical state" (CIC 1395:2).
But that certainly isn't the only thing the Church has done. The bishops, beginning with Pope Paul VI in 1967, issued a warning to the Catholic faithful concerning the negative consequences of the sexual revolution. The pope's encyclical letter, "On the Celibacy of the Priests," addressed the question of a celibate priesthood in the face of a culture crying out for greater sexual "freedom." The pope affirmed celibacy even as he called on bishops to take responsibility for "fellow priests troubled by difficulties which greatly endanger the divine gift they have." He advised the bishops to seek appropriate help for these priests, or, in grave cases, to seek a dispensation for priests who could not be helped. In addition, he urged them to be more prudent in judging the fitness of candidates for the priesthood.
In 1975, the Church issued another document called "Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics" (written by Joseph Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) that explicitly addressed, among other issues, the problem of homosexuality among priests. Both the 1967 and 1975 documents addressed kinds of sexual deviancy, including pedophilia and ephebophilia, that are
especially prevalent among homosexuals.
In 1994, the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse issued guidelines to the nation's then 191 dioceses to help them develop policies to deal with the problem of sexual abuse of minors. Almost all dioceses responded and developed their own policies (USCCB document: Guidelines for dealing with Child Sexual Abuse, 1993-1994). By this time, pedophilia was recognized as a disorder that could not be cured, and a problem that was becoming more prevalent due to the increase of pornography. Before 1994, bishops took their cue from experts in the psychiatric profession who believed pedophilia could be successfully treated. Priests guilty of sexual abuse were sent to one of several treatment facilities across the United States. Bishops often relied upon the judgments of experts in determining whether priests were fit for ministry. This doesn't mitigate the negligence on the part of some in the hierarchy, but it does offer some insight.
In response to the recent scandals, some dioceses are setting up special commissions on child abuse, as well as victims' advocacy groups; and they are officially acknowledging that any legitimate allegation of abuse must be dealt with immediately.
8. The Church's teaching on sexual morality is the real problem, not pedophilia.
The Church's teaching on sexual morality is rooted in the dignity of the human person and the goodness of human sexuality. This teaching condemns the sexual abuse of children in all its forms, just as it condemns other reprehensible sexual crimes such as rape, incest, child pornography, and child prostitution. In other words, if this teaching were lived out, there'd be no pedophilia problem at all.
The notion that this teaching somehow leads to pedophilia is based on a misunderstanding or deliberate misrepresentation of Catholic sexual morality. The Church recognizes that sexual activity without the love and commitment found uniquely in marriage undermines the dignity of the human person and is ultimately destructive. As far as celibacy is concerned, centuries of experience have proven that men and women can abstain from sexual activity while living fulfilling, healthy, and meaningful lives.
9. Catholic journalists have ignored the pedophile problem.
As any reader of CRISIS knows, this claim is patently false. Our October 2001 cover story featured "The High Price of Priestly Pederasty," an expose on the scandal that wouldn't erupt into the mainstream press for another three months. You can read our full article at: http://www.crisismagazine.com/october2001/index.html.
And we weren't the only ones who have covered the pedophilia/pederasty problem. Charles Sennot, author of Broken Covenant, Rod Dreher of The National Review, CRISIS co-founder Ralph MacInerny, Maggie Gallagher, Dale O'Leary, the Catholic Medical Association, Michael Novak, Peggy Noonan, Bill Donohue, Dr. Richard Cross, Philip Lawler, Alan Keyes, and Msgr. George Kelly have all covered the issue exhaustively.
Just because the mainstream media have chosen to ignore our work doesn't mean the work hasn't been done.
10. Requiring celibacy limits the number of men as candidates for the priesthood, resulting in a high number of sexually unbalanced priests.
First of all, there isn't a "high number of sexually unbalanced priests." Again, the vast majority of priests are normal, healthy, and faithful. Every day they prove themselves worthy of the trust and confidence of those entrusted to their care.
Secondly, those who do not feel called to a life of celibacy are ipso facto not called to be Catholic priests. Indeed, most men are not meant to be celibate. However, some are -- and of those, some are called by God to the priesthood.
A priestly vocation, like a marriage, requires the mutual and free consent of both parties. Thus, the Church must discern that a candidate is indeed worthy and fit mentally, physically, and spiritually to commit to a life of priestly service. A candidate's desire for the priesthood does not constitute a vocation in and of itself. Spiritual and vocation directors are now even more attuned to the character flaws that would make an otherwise qualified man an unfit candidate.
Being the relationship is more intimate, lawsuits are more likely. There is no equivalent relationship to be made to let's say a homosexual teacher and his administrator.
Ditto. Obviously there is a double standard. If you are a celebrity or a liberal politician, you get let off the hook. If you are a Catholic priest, however, with the promise of a juicy settlement, there's quite another standard. Doesn't make much sense. But, hey, when did the media ever give the Church fair treatment? If priestly celibacy causes gay pedophila or teenophilia, what causes it for Michael Jackson and Co.?
So the issue will be the adult that is trying to have sexual relations of a sort with a child and NOT whether someone is straight or gay as Boy George.
To attempt to marry the issues together will be tougher than getting a camel through the eye of a needle.
I do think homosexuality is perverted and I will go so far as to say they are more violent and many wish to convert.
But to try to handle homosexuality as (homosexual = pedophile) is a tough sell.
With me they are both disgusting, but a pedophile is the worse of the two by far.
1. Until recently, no one questioned a priest's interaction with children.
That is because abuses of children by priests, as the common sense and common knowledge tell, are almost non-existent. Massmedia create a totally false picture of an utterly corrupt Church to which picture you seem to succumb. You became naïvely trusting of the media and greatly suspicious of the Church. Get your priorities straight.
2. Given that pedophiles tend to seek out occupations where they can take advantage of children, it is unsurprising that the cover of "celibacy" distracts the casual observer.
Under the cover of "foster-parenting" the deviants may sexually take advantage of adopted children. Since the Catholic clergy misdeeds have been taken care of, I suggest you spend your energy on protecting children where real danger STILL exists. (Somehow, I don't think you are that kind of a fighter).
3. Married clergy would make it difficult for pedophiles and other deviants to use the priesthood to hide their activities.
Your point seems to suggest the hiding of deviant activities is the purpose of celibacy in the Catholic priesthood. You don't know much about the Church and about the purpose of clergy celibacy. Your knowledge of Catholicism appears to be limited to what can be found in the Boston Globe.
4. Martin Luther... male nude frescoes... Popes married... celibacy entices the perverts, or celibacy creates them.
Again, you do not sound in this point like a true Catholic. Mixing those things together doesn't even make sense. Celibacy of the clergy is God's gift to the Church, which all Catholics gratefully embrace.
5. Aging lesbians dominate the cloisters.
Pure BS. Again, you show lack of basic knowledge of the Catholic Church. A real Catholic would never call cloistered religious sisters "aging lesbians."
6. Although homosexuals are more likely to be pedophiles, the church's problem is that it attracts pedophiles, many of whom just happen to be homosexual. It is the ability to have contact with potential victims with virtual impunity that attracts pedophiles to the church, and this is not based on the particular orientation of the pedophile.
Real "pedophilia" is extremely rare. The problem is homosexual ephebophilia: male attraction to adolescent boys. In the US it was the result of admitting homosexuals in some dioceses to the priesthood.
7. The church has done plenty to address pedophilia, including: paying millions in hush money, covering up thousand of sex crimes against minors, and reassigning pedophiles to new position where different children can be attacked.
8. The church aids and abets pedophiles.
In these points you lose proportions, perspective and plainly unfairly attack the whole Church.
9. Listening to Catholic journalists "address" pedophilia is like listening to Bill Clinton "feel your pain."
That depends what your meaning of "Catholic journalist" is. The Wanderer, or the NCR?
Regardless of good intentions, someone still ends up getting screwed in the end, in this case minor children.
Keep in mind, the accusations are OLD, and so are the "minor children."
10. Requiring celibacy is resulting in a high number of sexually unbalanced priests.
Again, a complete lie. What is your "high" number? A majority? You either are a product of massmedia brainwash or you are a part of the brainwash machine.
a disgusted Catholic
How about "confused"?
Homosexuals are good at being cry babies. The squeaky wheel often gets oiled and that is their strength. They also are single people who have thrown themselves into their jobs and make good money. Much of that wage goes in donations to political parties to buy influence. As you know, they have in some areas become big voting blocks in some areas as well. (San Francisco).
So until conservatives can do what they do better politically, their smaller more squeaky wheel will get oiled more.
I know what they used to do to "tame" themselves. They would beat themselves with whips, hairshirts, and other harsh disciplines. God forbid we have to go back to that. That could be the root of sadomasichism in the western world.
It doesn't matter all that much to me one way or the other except I don't want any more people to get hurt needlessly. I would think God would want his people happy and abiding by the commandments and not place extra burdens upon them.
Our Lord warned us, though, that if things were going wrong in the green wood, how would it be in the dry? Translated: If the young church had problems involving scandals (except for Judas minor by today's standards), we should expect to see multiple scandals and confusion toward the end. That doesn't mean we should excuse it, however, and fail to make effective remedies.
The Church has always had at it's disposal a group of holy priests, known as spiritual directors, who's responsibility it was to decide if a man had a vocation, if he was truly called by God to become a priest. They were known for their ability to read the souls of those in their charge. Most of these pedophile priest DID NOT truly have a vocation. They should never have been ordained. Whoever told them they had a vocation will share in the responsibility of their actions.
The way a lot of us in the conservative end of the Church are thinking is that Our Lord is allowing a thinning out of His ranks. It is painful, but it must be done. He wants a purified ranks and He will get it. The point at which the Church finds itself right now mirrors the point at which Our Lord was hanging on the cross and had been stripped of His clothes. It was humiliating for Him. It is humiliating for all of us who love the Church.
"Vocation" comes from the latin word "vocare" which means to call. Since every priest has been called by God your statement could get you in trouble with the God who called you out of nothingness. Where do you come up with all this "off the wall" stuff?
Yes, that was my original perception of how it was supposed to work. A lot, no doubt all, of that has been done away with. With the advent of psychology there are new ways of looking at things, not all good, but not all bad either.
As for the humiliation, I'm deeply sorry about that, and I'm deeply sorry for those priests caught up in this who are falsely accused and who are good and are trying so hard to lead people who aren't very amenable to being led any more. Priests have tried to counsel people to give up some of their new age stuff and they get disobeyed and rebuffed. Powerful people in parishes sometimes make life difficult for priests. They are caught in the middle between the disobedient bishops and willful people. When they try to simpify things, like asking not to have flowers at a wedding, they get defiance. The only side of the church I really know is what people talk about privately and it isn't always about scandals and the mass. Often they are angry about something and are being selfish and unreasonable in their expectations. When a priest won't do what they want, they go shopping to find one who will.
In other words, when priests try to make legitimate reforms, the people will resist and make their lives difficult.
I agree it's pedophilia but I keep getting told by others that it isn't true pedophilia when the child is 12 to 18 which is the case in most of these molestations. I suppose it depends on what definition is used ---but I agree these are children and it's pedophilia ---but I also know that homosexuals tend to prefer boys in that 12-18 year old age range. Homosexuals preferring boys under 10 years old are rarer.
After the Church rids itself of these men, they will seek out other professions, I'm sure many would go into teaching or other jobs that put them around children and teenage boys. What then? There won't be a diocese to sue or a bishop to hold responsible but they'll be just as dangerous. Once they aren't priests, the secular courts aren't likely to put them in prisons just like all the other child sex offenders aren't in prisons. They are free and living in neighborhoods where children are and these ex-priests will still be a danger just as the others are.
I caught some ex-priest on a TV show talking about how he was approached by a priest at 12 and maintained the behavior through the age of 17. Sounds like classic pedophilia with the angle of it being with a major authority figure.
Sad stuff.
Thank you for this personal touch :-)
It is nice to see that you joined us just in time to defend child molesters...
I DO NOT defend child molesters, and I do not think the real target of your attacks are child molesters. Child molesters are still very active, and guess what... they are NOT in the Catholic Church anymore. A person with a brain and integrity should be able to figure out what is true and what is BS.
Very true. It surely looks to me an Open Season on the Catholic Church more than anything else. In February it was announced Chicago's R&B singer R. Kelly had sex with a number of under-aged girls, some as young as 14. Some of the acts were video taped. None of the self-righteous anti-Catholic "child defenders" on TV or elsewhere even mentioned that.
But in any case,right now we would be asking for more trouble and continuing disarray to relax the rules on celibacy.Which of course,is exactly what those who seek to destroy the Church would like to see.
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