Whenever someone argues that the Catholic Church’s celibacy requirement of clergy is the reason sick, twisted men molest defenseless children (or confused adolescents) I want to smack them in the shoulder. Celibacy doesn’t cause child sexual abuse; if it did, all the Demented Daddies out there wouldn’t be grabbing after their own sons and daughters (or more likely, their step-sons and step-daughters). The practice of celibacy is the argument given in this op-ed in yesterday’s NYTimes and it is an argument that lets the Church off the hook in a number of ways.
The sexual abuse of children happens because certain people (I like to call them criminals) get their jollies off of a power differential in sexual encounters. And, frankly, aside from the power differential between a parent and child, the most powerful of these differentials is between clergy and child. (Followed closely by teacher and child and Boy Scout Leader and child.)
Ergo, what we’ve got blowing up (again!) in the Catholic Church – this time on the other side of the Atlantic – ain’t a celibacy issue, it’s a power issue. First there is the power differential between the priest and child, of which the Roman collar-wearing snake takes advantage. But then – and far worse – is the power present in a Church hierarchy that is beholden to no one except (shock!) other men in the hierarchy. When you’ve got a closed system, bad things happen. When you’ve got a system that survives on making sure that the only people who rise through the ranks are “loyal to the Magisterium,” you’ve got yourself a problem — because anyone daring enough to call a spade a spade is quickly marginalized. (Note: Some people are taking responsibility for the abuse in Ireland; a bishop resigned today, begging forgiveness from the children harmed in his diocese.)
Each parish is a little fiefdom with Father in charge. Each diocese is a little fiefdom with Bishop in charge. And Holy Mother Church is a fiefdom writ large with the Pope (and some Cardinals) in charge. Until we make it so that the People of God are in charge, we’re going to have issues of abuse because a closed system protects its own, instead of protecting the vulnerable.
But, you might ask, what about all those diocesan commissions set up after the sex abuse crisis got press (all hail the Boston Globe!) 10 years ago? Aren’t they helping bring more transparency to the system? Well, let’s see – are the people on those commissions elected by the people? Can anyone who wants join the commission? Or are all the members appointed by local bishops and is one of the requirements (save for exceptions made for a handful of survivors on commissions) fidelity to the Magisterium? See the problem?
So, let those who dare, say it out loud: Sexual abuse by priests is not due to celibacy, it is not due to a secularization of society – as Pope Pope Benedict XVI said in his scathing letter to the Church in Ireland last week (see #4 here) – it is not due to poor seminary formation, it is not due to a rise in child pornography and the sexualization of children (where are their parents???!!!). The sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church is primarily due to an institution built as a monarchy, full of male-only power and privilege, that marginalizes those who challenge it and is steeped in a culture of what one priest calls, “I don’t call you on your sins and you don’t call me on mine.”
The aforementioned (celibacy, porn, etc.) can and do contribute to situations in which sexual abuse occur, just as allowing any Tom, Dick or Harry into seminary because of the priest shortage does. (Segue: That problem could be at least partially solved by returning to the Catholic roots of married priesthood or ordaining women, but God forbid we think outside the closed box.) But while those things might “trigger” a beastly response from a sinful man, those things are not the reason sexual abuse of children in the Church lasted as long as it did. That continuation – through many years for some of the victims – was/is caused by a powerful, closed system that protects its own in the name of protecting the Church.
B16 does shame the abusers in no uncertain terms – and the bishops who protected them – in his letter to Ireland. Yet he remains silent on the allegations in Germany and, even in his Ireland letter, refrains from doing what would really help people come to trust the Church again: He doesn’t demand resignations, he doesn’t even demand the bishops spend one day each week meeting with victims – for as long as those victims want – to hear their pain and attempt to heal the soul-murder committed in the name of God. (He could be doing these things in private – but they need to be done in public for transparency’s sake.) And most notably, he doesn’t say, “After careful thought, I’ve realized we’ve obviously screwed up and we need some outside advice, so I propose we rework Canon Law to involve the laity in our operations, particularly parents, and particularly those who have proven to be prophetically challenging to the Church. Maybe we should be listening to them.”
Instead, it is just more of the same – seminary visits by (who else?) priests and bishops (let’s keep it all in the Club, fellas) to see if the problem is seminary formation and a further call for people to return to practices that will lead them closer to God (and, by inference, more “in union” with Rome). Has it ever occurred to anyone in the hierarchy that maybe people aren’t in union with Rome because they think Rome is wrong? It is enough to make me want to bang my head against a wall.
I’m hot under the collar about this because I’m a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and know the damage abuse by an elder does to a child. It is the gift that keeps on giving, and when I hear of children being abused, I lose all sense of mercy for the abuser and those who might protect him/her. You harm a child, I believe you should be harmed. This doesn’t fit with the Christian tenets of repentance and forgiveness, but research shows child abusers rationalize their actions, they don’t repent for them. And, as any good Catholic can tell you, without true repentance, there is no forgiveness – a fact the Catholic heirarchy should keep in mind when figuring out how to respond to yet more revelations of sexual abuse.
Renee Wrote This 
And it’s not about how someone interprets some church doctrine or memo or about salacious journalists or greedy lawyers or vindictive victims or any of the scapegoats desperately devised by church officials. It is, indeed, about power. And until secular authorities step in and limit the limitless power of bishops, those men will continue to abuse their power.- David Clohessy, Executive Director, SNAP – Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, 7234 Arsenal, St. Louis MO 63143 (314 566 9790, SNAPnetwork.org, SNAPclohessy@aol.com
LikeLike
Yes it does contribute ( you can smack me, I understand your propensity towards such act and realize that in my case forcible sterilization isn’t an available option 😉 )
I am of the same age as many of these clergy and remember distinctly in Catholic High School how the two gay guys in our class were enthralled by the prospect of entering the seminary – something which didn’t seem appealing to most of the class.
It takes an unusual personality type to chose “celebacy” as a way of life as a teenager, at least among males.
Contrast the RC experience with the Episcopal church and you will see a dramatic difference.
That said, the real scandal is not that child abusers exist – they do anywhere although I would argue that the “celebacy lifestyle” of the priesthood attracts a larger percentage that the average population.
The real scandal is the church hierarchy covering up for and enabling the child abusers in their ranks, and that is continuing today – they run the church like an organized crime syndicate.
LikeLike
I never liked the argument that celibacy leads to sexual pathology. It just seems to me that the church, like the boy scouts, physical education and camp counseling, is an obvious place to spend your time if you are looking for children to be alone with.
Aside from this, to accept that forced celibacy is a cause of pathological sexual behaviors would mean accepting the old argument that men are somehow not able to control their behavior when it comes to sex. We’d be back to using “she made me rape her because of the way she dressed; I’m not responsible” as a defense at trial.
Don’t get me wrong. I think that religion and the church is the root cause of a lot of bad behavior. I’m just not convinced that this is one of them.
LikeLike
There are many good points made in this article. (I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by priests and nuns). Celibacy, homosexuality and the church hierarchy’s belief that their law is above civil law are all contributing factors or as a result of generations of abuses. The notion that church law (this applies not only to the Catholic church) is above civil law has permitted many instances of abuse to go undetected. Whilst church canons continue to have regulations pertaining to civil matters many of these problems will continue.
Until policing, politicians, health professionals etc can determine where civil laws should be applied (difficult if they have had a Christian education) then abuses and discrimination will continue. There is a simple page at http://www.irishfireandice.com/separation which shows this very clearly.
Here in Australia (and I imagine this is similar in many countries) if you as a victim of past clergy abuse are assessed by Christian police, health, government etc you are determined to be ‘insane’ as there is no other outcome or determination possible from their perspective; this is a primary cause of re-abuse by these authorities (more than 60% re-abused upon reporting). To my mind if the above pages were run in major news sites it would raise this issue of where true separation exists and would assist victims in being treated fairly in a culture and a system which has been corrupted over time. Not only would it assist victims in obtaining a voice it would also assist in reducing the number of suicides in a wider range of social ills which have resulted from this over-reaching by religion.
LikeLike
I never liked the argument that celibacy leads to sexual pathology.
That isn’t the argument – nor is it about “forced celibacy”, since there is nothing “forced” about freely choosing a career in the priesthood.
The argument is that choosing a career which involves societal approval for NOT engaging in the “normal” routines of dating and marriage is quite attractive to people who are dysfunctional in this area for a variety of reasons, as well as unattractive to more “normal” males.
The Episcopals have all of the same incense and chanting, but don’t seem to have the same problems and their priests seem fairly normal.
LikeLike
Bingo and congrats, Renee, for hitting the nail precisely on the head! As anyone who has been abused or worked with the abused will tell you, all abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, etc.) is first and foremost about power. Power-mongers in the Vatican and among clergy are numerous, and abuse in the Roman Church (as well as in other religious groups) won’t end until this is addressed.
LikeLike
Very well said Renee!! Frustration with the Church is rampant.
LikeLike
Renee, this is an amazingly well-written, well-argued post. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. There aren’t enough fellow Catholics (that I know of, anyway) weighing in on this. Most Catholics I know seem to choose to avoid this topic altogether. I’ve been in faith crisis mode for a couple years now and can see that checking out your blog may help me organize my thoughts.
LikeLike
Rene, the research also shows that there is no known cure for pedophilia.
LikeLike
In 300 years the Roman Catholic Church will refer to these times as one in which the church was falsely and malignantly attacked by atheists, non-believers, government and Satanic enemies of Christianity.
“Against a massive effort to discredit the piety and chasteness of the clergy with accusations of heinous crimes, the church and her followers fought a protracted battle against this evil… eventually triumphing in the name of Jesus and to the greater glory of the mother church.”
I assure you that this will come to pass…this has always been the strategy of the criminal enterprise called Catholicism.
May the light of knowledge shine on your path,
May your path lead to truth,
and the LIE die.
LikeLike
So, let those who dare, say it out loud: Sexual abuse by priests is not due to celibacy, it is not due to a secularization of society – as Pope Pope Benedict XVI said in his scathing letter to the Church in Ireland last week (see #4 here) – it is not due to poor seminary formation, it is not due to a rise in child pornography and the sexualization of children (where are their parents???!!!). The sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church is primarily due to an institution built as a monarchy, full of male-only power and privilege, that marginalizes those who challenge it and is steeped in a culture of what one priest calls, “I don’t call you on your sins and you don’t call me on mine.”
Yes, exactly! Religious pathology is often linked to sexual pathology–look at Philip Garrido and the abusers of Elizabeth Smart. Sociopathy is often attracted to cults and religions because within those hierarchical, ‘sick’ systems, the sociopath can prey at will.
LikeLike