By Mary Anne Hackett, Catholic Citizens of Illinois
The Bishops of the Catholic Church in Australia are studying the problem of sexual abuse of minors among the clergy. As Yogi Berra would say, “It’s deja vu all over again.” The first thing bandied around by the press and addressed by the clergy is the “C” word. It is all because the Catholic Church requires its clergy to be celibate.
How does that explain the high incidence of sexual abuse of minors among Protestant clergy and Jewish Rabbis where most of the clergy are married? Of how does it explain the high incidence of sexual abuse of minors among public school teachers where marriage is common? As had happened in the Catholic Church, the teachers are often just transferred to a different school. There terminology used among school administrators and teachers is “taking out the garbage.”
As in the United States, the problem is referred to – over and over, ad nauseum – as pedophilia. Has there been a profile of the victims in Australia? In the United States, according to the John Jay Report, 81% of the victims were adolescent boys. Well, folks, that is not pedophilia. Pedophilia deals with the sexual abuse of pre-pubescent children. If 81% of the victims are adolescent boys, the problem is homosexual molestation.
No one wants to be politically incorrect, but, isn’t it time to tell the truth? Even though homosexuals make up approximately 2% of the population, according to current surveys, numerous studies attest to the fact that homosexuals molest children at a far greater rate than do their heterosexual counterparts. In an all male priesthood, plus the fact that until recently the young people who served at Mass and religious ceremonies were all boys, we cannot overlook opportunity and sexual orientation.
In The Gay Report, by homosexual researchers Karla Jay and Allen Young, the authors report data showing that 73 percent of homosexuals surveyed had at some time had sex with boys sixteen to nineteen years of age or younger. Many pedophiles, in fact, consider themselves to be homosexual. A study of 229 convicted child molesters in Archives of Sexual Behavior found that “eighty-six percent of offenders against males described themselves as homosexual or bi-sexual
What is curious is that after years of study for the priesthood, training in theology and supposedly the practice of virtue, young men make promises and are ordained, but seem surprised that they are expected to be celibate. Did they make the promises with their fingers crossed like children and never intend to keep them? Of did they just decide that the requirement of celibacy is unjust? Did they get to the day of ordination and not know that the Catholic priesthood is celibate?
What of the bishops that transferred homosexual priests who had molested minors from one parish to another and even to other dioceses. Were they more concerned for priests than for the children and families under their care?
Maybe it is time to start taking the teachings of the Catholic Church seriously.
In 1961, Pope St. John XXIII issued an encyclical entitled: Careful Selection and Training of Candidates for the States of Perfection and Sacred Orders which stated:
Advancement to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers.
The encyclical clearly forbade the admission of homosexuals to the priesthood.
In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI issued the Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies
in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders of which the following paragraphs are included:
- Homosexuality and the Ordained Ministry
From the time of the Second Vatican Council until today, various Documents of the Magisterium, and especially theCatechism of the Catholic Church, have confirmed the teaching of the Church on homosexuality. The Catechism distinguishes between homosexual acts and homosexual tendencies.Regarding acts, it teaches that Sacred Scripture presents them as grave sins. The Tradition has constantly considered them as intrinsically immoral and contrary to the natural law. Consequently, under no circumstance can they be approved.Deep-seated homosexual tendencies, which are found in a number of men and women, are also objectively disordered and, for those same people, often constitute a trial. Such persons must be accepted with respect and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. They are called to fulfil God’s will in their lives and to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter.In the light of such teaching, this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called “gay culture”.Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women. One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies.
Let the bishops of Australia, the United States, and other countries where the sexual abuse of minors by priests was rampant, stop focusing on side issues and looked to the facts. The real issue is the admission of homosexuals to the priesthood and the unwillingness of the hierarchy to obey the rules.
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