Requiring Celibacy of Priests Does NOT Cause Child Sexual Abuse

[MineralMan]

What it actually does is make the pool of potential priests very, very shallow. By eliminating all men from consideration who wish to reproduce in the manner of all mammals on this planet, it restricts the priesthood to those for whom that is not a priority. Recruiting from a shallow talent pool, especially in times when becoming a "man of God" is less attractive, is not a plan for success.

Beyond that, by eliminating half of the people on Earth from the recruitment pool, the RCC has made women automatically not part of the potential recruiting class. That further reduces the depth of the pool to a mere thin film.

Of course, I hold no hope that the Vatican will reconsider its recruiting strategies, so things will continue as they have for almost 2000 years. Not a good plan.

[dawg day]

1. "Celibacy" means no marriage-

So this eliminates anyone who wants to have a permanent relationship with an ADULT.

I remember when there were talks about reuniting with some of the other Catholic groups (Anglicans, Orthodox), one of the issues was that most of them allow priests to marry (without, it should be said, any marked difference in piety).

[marylandblue]

2. Celibacy was optional until the year 1139

Even today, some Eastern Rite priests may marry. So I don't see why they can't just change back to the original way. Eventually they will.

[MineralMan]

9. Actually, I doubt they will change that rule.

Here's why:

Any change in the celibacy rules would have to be made by the church hierarchy, which is made up of men who have bought into the concept fully. They have accepted and embraced the idea. Why would they change it and disrupt the flow of tradition? Look how long it took for women to get the right to vote, to become physicians, or to be elected to public office, even in this country.

As long as the RCC is run by celibate men, it will not change that policy. The entire hierarchy is made up of men committed to that concept. There is no reason for them to accept a change to the basic structure of it.

[marylandblue]

12. They don't have enough priests as it is

Eventually they will have to do something to attract more men to the priesthood.

[MineralMan]

13. "to attract more men"

I don't think that's the answer, really. It's not more men they need. The change they need is to change the patriarchal nature of the organization by seeking out women to join it as equal members. That change, alone, would solve their historical and future problems. The essential fault in the RCC is exclusion of half of the human race from leadership.

Until they do that, they miss out on an entire spectrum of human expression.

[marylandblue]

14. I agree with that, they'll need women too

But allowing married priests will be an easier sell. Maybe both will happen when the current leadership dies out and a new generation comes up that understands the problems better.

[MineralMan]

15. I don't know. If revelations continue to be made about

child sexual abuse in more and more places, the RCC may well not survive long enough to make those changes.

I suspect that more investigations are coming, with similar results. Financially, the RCC is on shaky ground already in the United States. More bankruptcies are likely as additional archdioceses are revealed as child abuse centers. Parish churches are already closing, due to reduced attendance and inadequate funds. Even Catholic schools have shut down in some places.

The sheer financial cost of all of this may eventually bring the organization to its knees. While it's down on those knees, much praying will occur, no doubt, but without any response from above.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. There's an ultra-con cardinal who in last day or two blamed it on gays.

US cardinal, I think. Leads the opposition to Pope Francis but has been sidelined with no duties and little effective power.

[Arkansas Granny]

4. Pedophilia and homosexuality are not the same.

Pedophiles prey on prepubescent boys and/or girls. Homosexuals have relationships with adults.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Exactly. But that fact doesn't derail ultra-con moralists in their jihad v people they dislike. . nt

[MineralMan]

6. Well, that's just stupid. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with it.

Relationships, however, do. Most people want a close relationship with a life partner. That, to the RCC, means less dedication to the job of being a priest, since loyalty to a life partner is a powerful thing. That's the concept, anyhow, but it goes against our evolutionary development.

Patriarchal hierarchies, however, are quite common. Until fairly recently, men were in charge or exclusively allowed in many professional lines of work. Change in those attitudes has come slowly and has been fought against in most professions. The Roman Catholic Church is a holdout in that regard. In part, too, relationships with women, in some areas, are thought to "weaken" men.

I remember the high school football coach in my little town high school. He strongly discouraged dating for the boys on his team. He felt it would sap their strength and competitiveness on the field. He said as much. So many "men's" organizations bar women from membership for similar reasons. It's toxic.

The RCC will be the very last of groups to end this stupidity, I'm sure, since it's all men now, and has successfully maintained that patriarchal organization for a couple of millennia. The men who run it will continue to insist that women have no place in the hierarchy. They'll continue to exclude women and close relationships with women until the church is dead.

[marylandblue]

7. Church has hung on for 2000 years, so they know how to survive

When social changes threaten to destroy it, they have a big council and make major changes. Something like that will happen again, sooner or later.

Mea while, in response to their current crisis, they need a sunshine commission, to root the corruption out themselves, and work with civil authorities to prosecute the criminals. They probably won't do that though, because so much of the current leadership were complicit in the coverup.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Yup. Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. Predatory child sexual abuse is child sexual abuse.

It doesn't matter what the gender orientation of either the victim or the abuser. The two keys are "child" and "sexual abuse". But facts don't matter to ultra-con moralists who lie to try to achieve what they can't otherwise. It is a lie to say that homosexuality causes child abuse, of course, as we all on DU know the truth about it.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142138114

[MineralMan]

10. Sadly, children are easy targets for abusers.

That's why they are chosen by some people. Adults are more complex and have developed a better sense of what they do and do not want.

Even more unfortunately, people who prey on children often seek positions that provide a pool of potential victims. That is why having a very shallow pool from which to recruit often leads to accepting people who have an interest in targeting young people as sexual victims. It's a feedback loop that is self-sustaining, I think.

[MineralMan]

11. Further, the RCC considers sexual behavior outside of marriage

to be a sin, and so also has a rule requiring priests to be sexually abstinent. That compounds the issue and also limits the pool of potential candidates for the priesthood.

[thucythucy]

16. While it doesn't CAUSE sexual child abuse

it enables it in ways beyond what have been stated here thus far.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again because when I first heard this POV it was something of a revelation to me. This is from commentary in the movie "Spotlight" which is an excellent film I recommend to anyone.

According to the expert cited in the film, at least fifty percent of priests will break their vow of celibacy at one time or another. Usually it's with a consenting adult, but even so the relationship must be kept secret if one wants to remain a priest. This engenders a culture of secrecy, of looking the other way, of not throwing stones if you live in a glass house.

Priests learn, consciously or not, not to "rat" on one another, to keep each others' "dirty secrets." And so the lip service paid to celibacy creates an atmosphere where pedophilia and other forms of sexual abuse are far more likely to thrive. Even priests who aren't pedophiles themselves may be less likely to report abuse, if they themselves are breaking the rules and thus don't want to bring attention onto themselves.

This is in addition to all the other factors already mentioned in the OP and resulting thread.

[Iggo]

17. Never could figure out how celibacy is supposed to make people fuck children.

[Permanut]

18. Which demonstrates that the priesthood is selected from the shallow end of the gene pool.

[uriel1972]

19. Those who abuse others...

are attracted to positions of power and privilege, like flies to rotting meat. Whatever their perversion the church seems to prefer aiding and abetting them, rather than exposing them to justice. For the good of the Church I assume.
.
Hopefully there will come an accounting and the "Good of the Church" will destroy them. I doubt it though

[edhopper]

20. Not saying anything about the cause

but the Priesthood is a cult and protecting itself against those outside (outside includes Catholic church goers) is the priority over protecting children.

[MineralMan]

21. Well, it is at least a closed society with many secrets to keep.

The "odor of sanctity" must be preserved, no matter what. It's sort of like the Febreze of the soul, I guess. Maintaining the myth of priestly holiness is crucial to the RCC. Any hint that priests are just like regular human beings must be suppressed.