Priest Sex Scandal
With each new accusation and revelation of sexual abuse by Catholic priests I grind my teeth and ask myself, “Where were the nuns while all of this was going on?” But we know from the Irish example that the sisters aren’t innocent. It is a confirmation of the comical accuracy of all those stereotypes of strict and neurotic Catholic schooling that we have seen in the movies for years. Crying about it seems more appropriate than laughing, but I don’t know
Those who live chastely or who are prohibited from practicing carnality are less than fully human.
Hopefully there will come a time - after things get a lot worse than they currently are - when good order is established in the Catholic pastoral ministry. And perhaps these incidents will force a repeal of the priestly celibacy rule. But a married clergy will not extinguish the kinds of heinous episodes we now are hearing about with greater frequency. First, because celibacy alone is not directly causally related to child sex abuse. To some it only looks that way. The suspect priests would be pedophiles even if they were not priests, although I understand the suggestion that they might have gravitated towards that profession because it offered them better opportunities for exposure to children. And, second, because celibacy is not the issue - or, it shouldn’t be, anyway. The issue is chastity in a modern, secular world that sees sex as a normal and healthy adult human activity, and which harbors the suspicion that people who choose to live chastely or who are prohibited from practicing carnality are less than fully human. Confusing the two by implication is just another common error, an association fallacy.
The unraveling sex abuse scandal will not deter me from being a religious person, and I am strongly in favor of a celibate (male) priesthood as a symbol of persons devoted in body and mind to God and His work. At the same time I want to avoid talking about chastity out of simple good manners. I do not expect Catholic priests, nuns, monks, friars, popes, cardinals, etc. to be virgins. Not at all. They were human before they were religious, naturally. What I do expect is that once a person has taken vows and made a promise and a commitment - monogamous marriage, or poverty, chastity and obedience, etc. - that they live accordingly.
In the long run the celibacy policy may unavoidably have to yield to a married Catholic clergy and I expect the effect will range from being negligible to being a definite improvement. Protestant, Eastern Orthodox and Jewish congregations demonstrate that perfectly adequate pastoral service is available through a married clergy.