Is the entire Church guilty of pedophaelia? Of course not. But the reality is that when Church elders heard of priests committing acts of abuse they gave them a stern talking to, suggested they pray (prey?) and ask God's forgiveness, and then moved them to a new parish (at times even a new country) where the root issue isn't really addressed.
Gays are villified in the Church - priest or not, even though the gay priests are as celibate as any other. Today, priests are subjected to rigorous psychological profiling just to determine their sexual orientation, and yet I've heard of nothing of the same battery of testing to determine their predilection toward atypical sexual deviances. The Church has addressed the disease without treating the symptoms. Unless something more than a financial payout is done, the Church is going to crumble. And that's a shame because there are so many good people who see their faith as a sign of strength and comfort, and yet are turning away because it has become a representation of much of what is wrong in this world.
When you see how many priests and bishops have been incriminated for sexual abuses and kiddie porn charges you have to wonder how many criminals are able to hide within the Church. The Church says ALL gays are sinners and must live celibate lives to be considered "acceptable" children of God. Interesting that statistics show that the VAST majority of sexual predators are heterosexual. According to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (1988), the typical child sex offender molests an average of 117 children (most of whom do not report the offence). That's the average...which means it can be more (or less).
So I should be celibate while priests will break their vows of chastity with innocent children - who are never the same. I've seen priests getting drunk at bars and yet they lead AA groups. I am sick and tired of the Church getting away with gross hypocrisy just to maintain an image that may never have truly existed. I can't sit back anymore and watch this kind of thing happen without speaking out. How the Church treats me is one thing, but when the most innocent of all people (children) are being manipulated and abused I refuse to be silent on the issue. You must understand that this is a commentary driven by frustration and anger at an institution that refuses to acknowledge a need for overwhelming reflection and change.
"For some sexually undeveloped priests, sexual abuse of a pubertal boy may have signified sexual merger with a male perceived to be a psychosexual peer of the abuser. In addition, it may have represented an unconscious act of hostility toward a boy who otherwise could look forward to a sexual life closed off to the priest. In other words, the abuser, who could have entered a minor seminary at age 14 or 15, may have unconsciously attacked his victim’s sexuality at the same age he was when he entered the minor seminary, symbolically castrating the victim as he himself was symbolically castrated. Finally, clinicians working with Catholic priests say some priests define celibacy as refraining from sexual relationships with women and thus could convince themselves that sex with minor males did not jeopardize their celibate status. Vatican officials, in their search to blame the sexual abuse scandal on someone or something external to institutional and doctrinal failings of the church itself, conflated sexual orientation with psychosexual maturation and with criminal behavior." (Frawley-O'Dea, Mary G. "Experts on sex offenders have news for Vatican: Abusers’ behavior does not stem from orientation, studies show" from National Catholic Reporter. Fall/Winter: 2005. 9.3.)
Priests should be able to get married. That kind of change would encourage more men to take their vows because unrealistic expectations would not discourage them from following a path to God. And if priests take their vows for the right reasons, there might not be an opportunity for those who pursue it for the wrong reasons. Women should be able to lead a congregation. Many men have proven themselves incapable of doing it with honor or faith. Gays should be just as welcome within ALL of the precepts of the Church as any other Christian. Not just gays who deny much of what makes them human. God loves us all - male and female, gay and straight. He created us ALL in his image. An image of inclusion and love. And until the powers that be come to terms with that very fact, they will preside over the destruction of that which they allege to hold most dear.
