D
Dr. Jai Maharaj
Guest
Celibacy isn't cause of sex abuse
By Andrew Greeley
THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A couple of weeks ago I challenged the conventional wisdom
of some Catholic liberals that celibacy is the cause of
sexual abuse of children and young people by priests. I
pointed out that it was also a problem for married
Protestant clergy. What was unique for Catholics was the
cover-up by church authorities -- a strategy that worked
for a long, long time. Celibacy does not cause abuse, and
marriage is not a cure for it.
I was deluged with hate mail from angry priests and laity.
It was obvious, they ranted, that celibacy was the cause of
abuse. Yet a Greek Orthodox priest wrote me an e-mail
asserting that "even the married Greek clergy are not
immune from pedophilia." He referred me to the Web page the
Orthodox Church maintains about its problems,
www.orthodoxreform.org. My ranting critics ridiculed my
sociological data about the professional and personal
happiness of priests in comparison with ministers. I
suggest they look up the Greek Web page.
The Greeks are transparent about their problems. They don't
seem to rally around their offenders in protective circles
of denial. Quite the contrary, they seem to distance
themselves from the abusers. They don't argue, as I heard
several years ago from an Irish priest, "Father, they are
PRIESTS!"
I contend that the problem will be solved only when priests
assume full responsibility for self-policing. The current
response of many priests is to wash their hands of the
crimes and blame the bishops while at the same time they
demand the abolition of obligatory celibacy. Their crusade
against celibacy -- and by implications against celibates -
- is a cover-up for their failure to protect children and
young people in the past.
It may well be that celibacy should be optional if only to
attract more young people to priestly vocations. I wonder,
however, how many young women would want to be married to a
priest in the Church today. The Catholic Church is in a
gosh awful mess, mainly because the Roman Curia has, in the
words of the London Tablet, aborted the reforms of the
Vatican Council and concentrated all power in itself. The
great -- and reasonable -- hopes of the council have been
blighted, not permanently indeed, but temporarily. Once an
admired and respected profession (vocation, if you will),
the priesthood is now in disgrace. It remains to be
demonstrated that married priests could restore the image
of the clergy and the morale of the laity.
A young man who considers the priesthood today has to make
a strong act of faith that it would be a happy choice. Nor
is the restoration of the Latin mass likely to have much of
an effect, despite the starry-eyed conviction that it will
undo some of the effects of the council. Those who wish to
revoke the council seem blithely unaware that you can't do
that, and it is blind folly to try.
In fact, the priesthood would be a happy choice if one
takes seriously the empirical data. But who takes such data
seriously in this era of Grand Ideology and Grand
Ideologues?
Both the married life and the celibate life have their
advantages and disadvantages. Both callings are honorable
and difficult. Both are pleasing to God. Both have their
problems and both have their graces.
At one time clericalist ideology demeaned the calling of
the married laity. Now a more recent ideology demeans the
calling of the celibate clergy. It is time for this silly
and immature confrontation to stop.
More at:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/greeley/790518,CST-EDT-GREEL13.article
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
By Andrew Greeley
THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A couple of weeks ago I challenged the conventional wisdom
of some Catholic liberals that celibacy is the cause of
sexual abuse of children and young people by priests. I
pointed out that it was also a problem for married
Protestant clergy. What was unique for Catholics was the
cover-up by church authorities -- a strategy that worked
for a long, long time. Celibacy does not cause abuse, and
marriage is not a cure for it.
I was deluged with hate mail from angry priests and laity.
It was obvious, they ranted, that celibacy was the cause of
abuse. Yet a Greek Orthodox priest wrote me an e-mail
asserting that "even the married Greek clergy are not
immune from pedophilia." He referred me to the Web page the
Orthodox Church maintains about its problems,
www.orthodoxreform.org. My ranting critics ridiculed my
sociological data about the professional and personal
happiness of priests in comparison with ministers. I
suggest they look up the Greek Web page.
The Greeks are transparent about their problems. They don't
seem to rally around their offenders in protective circles
of denial. Quite the contrary, they seem to distance
themselves from the abusers. They don't argue, as I heard
several years ago from an Irish priest, "Father, they are
PRIESTS!"
I contend that the problem will be solved only when priests
assume full responsibility for self-policing. The current
response of many priests is to wash their hands of the
crimes and blame the bishops while at the same time they
demand the abolition of obligatory celibacy. Their crusade
against celibacy -- and by implications against celibates -
- is a cover-up for their failure to protect children and
young people in the past.
It may well be that celibacy should be optional if only to
attract more young people to priestly vocations. I wonder,
however, how many young women would want to be married to a
priest in the Church today. The Catholic Church is in a
gosh awful mess, mainly because the Roman Curia has, in the
words of the London Tablet, aborted the reforms of the
Vatican Council and concentrated all power in itself. The
great -- and reasonable -- hopes of the council have been
blighted, not permanently indeed, but temporarily. Once an
admired and respected profession (vocation, if you will),
the priesthood is now in disgrace. It remains to be
demonstrated that married priests could restore the image
of the clergy and the morale of the laity.
A young man who considers the priesthood today has to make
a strong act of faith that it would be a happy choice. Nor
is the restoration of the Latin mass likely to have much of
an effect, despite the starry-eyed conviction that it will
undo some of the effects of the council. Those who wish to
revoke the council seem blithely unaware that you can't do
that, and it is blind folly to try.
In fact, the priesthood would be a happy choice if one
takes seriously the empirical data. But who takes such data
seriously in this era of Grand Ideology and Grand
Ideologues?
Both the married life and the celibate life have their
advantages and disadvantages. Both callings are honorable
and difficult. Both are pleasing to God. Both have their
problems and both have their graces.
At one time clericalist ideology demeaned the calling of
the married laity. Now a more recent ideology demeans the
calling of the celibate clergy. It is time for this silly
and immature confrontation to stop.
More at:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/greeley/790518,CST-EDT-GREEL13.article
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.