Catholicism abstinence and peadophilia

[Stephen Eastwood]

I sometimes wonder why so many Catholic priests become peadophiles and the logical reasoning to me is that abstinence is a doorway to peadophile behaviours. does abstinence make a person any more pure or pious. No, all priests should be encouraged to marry and live normal lives, just like the rest of us

 

[bèlla]

Abstinence does not beget pedophilia. Nor would chastity foster attraction to a child. Most acts of that nature are crimes of opportunity. There was a time when society viewed men of the cloth differently and weren’t concerned about leaving their children in their presence. The notion of harm was unfathomable. They had yet to confront the realities of homosexuality or that impropriety of any sort was taking place. While the revelations were heart wrenching and grievous to hear it was a much needed wake up call that brought reforms and safeguards that weren’t in place.

We’re not addressing men with normal urges we’re speaking of predators and much like an animal he’s ruled by his nature and answers to his lower self. The body is in control. Not the mind or spirit. When desire looms he heeds the call and doesn’t fight against it. Marriage is unlikely to sate him and it’s probable he’d seek relief elsewhere. The best remedy is removal and castration coupled with legal correction and therapy.

I used to converse with someone years ago who treated sexual deviants. I asked if the desires ever went away and he said they didn’t. They may learn to control them but it’s always lurking in the background. We require people who commit those crimes to register and there are restrictions on mobility to some degree as it pertains to children. We don’t do the same for other offenders but this is something that’s rarely fixed and reoccurrences are common.

The fault isn’t wholly on perversion but the system that’s incapable of discerning unsuitable leaders is equally culpable. We don’t do that in the natural. God has granted a spirit of discernment for that purpose and more that’s woefully absent in the church. There’s a spiritual component involved that the bearer of the gift will notice. You need other things in tow to bend the mind to that degree. Deviance isn’t a solitary state. It has helpers that support its presence.

Given the decline of persons choosing that vocation one can see how somethings may be overlooked or set aside. That isn’t comforting but numbers matter nonetheless. Chastity in and of itself doesn’t make one more pious and the majority aren’t called to singleness. The ability to hold oneself in that state is imparted by God not the flesh. When you swim against the current it becomes tiresome after a while. You’re fighting yourself everyday and don’t have the spiritual enabling to fend it off. If you want to have relations and it doesn’t abate you’re not called to that path. There’s no middle ground on that. Be a deacon instead.

~bella

 

[zippy2006]

I sometimes wonder why so many Catholic priests become peadophiles and the logical reasoning to me is that abstinence is a doorway to peadophile behaviours. does abstinence make a person any more pure or pious. No, all priests should be encouraged to marry and live normal lives, just like the rest of us

Are there higher rates of pedophilia among Catholic celibates, Buddhist monks, Hindu Brahmachari, etc., than among the non-celibate population? Or than among Protestant pastors who are married? That's the question you should look into.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I sometimes wonder why so many Catholic priests become peadophiles and the logical reasoning to me is that abstinence is a doorway to peadophile behaviours. does abstinence make a person any more pure or pious. No, all priests should be encouraged to marry and live normal lives, just like the rest of us

First, it's not true pedophilia, which is exceedingly rare so far. Pedophilia is an attraction to very young children. Think toddlers. Most of the problem among Catholic priests is among older children, pre-pubescent or older.

Second, such behavior is actually uncommon among Catholic priests. It's not like they all do it. It is uncommon among Baptists too, yet the Southern Baptists have been rocked by clergy abusing children. But Baptist clergy can marry, so it shouldn't be a problem, right? Oh, and it's not just a Baptist and Catholic problem. If you think your group hasn't got it's share you just haven't looked very well for the skeletons in the closet.

Not everyone is called to abstinence. Some are. Some aren't. Those that aren't just shouldn't become Latin Rite Catholic priests. Seminaries should be weeding these people out if they have entered seminary. Those that thought they were called to abstinence but have discovered they aren't called should be dismissed if they have already become priests. Those that abuse children should be locked up in prisons. No other option there, like to hide it. Let's not pretend that being married and living 'normal' lives solves everything. It doesn't. Divine assistance in living a life of chastity is what is needed. But not everyone avails themselves of the graces provided for them. Trying to be abstinent without the graces to live a life of chastity is a train wreck waiting to happen. Trying to live a 'normal' married life without the graces to live that life of chastity is also a train wreck waiting to happen.

Failures in chastity result in sexual abuse, or divorce, or all manner of problems from pornography to abortion For one thing, chastity is a virtue that we are all called to, chastity as married or unmarried people. It is a failure of chastity that results in some people becoming sexual predators. Or adulterers, or other kinds of fornicators. Last I checked, while some Catholic priests have their share of problems, there's a whole lot of problems going on in the culture and among Christians. Sexual abuse by Protestant clergy (who can marry) is as bad or worse than among Catholic priests.

The one thing abusing Catholic priests do seem to have cornered is abusing minor adolescent boys. I lay that squarely on a handful of monster clerics who abused seminarians (think ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who took seminarians to his beach house and debauched as many of them as he could, then promoted the debauched ones to positions of power in the Church while kicking the other ones out of seminary).

 

[chevyontheriver]

Are there higher rates of pedophilia among Catholic celibates, Buddhist monks, Hindu Brahmachari, etc., than among the non-celibate population? Or than among Protestant pastors who are married? That's the question you should look into.

There is a higher rate among public school teachers than Catholic priests. And public school teachers can marry.

 

[RileyG]

I sometimes wonder why so many Catholic priests become peadophiles and the logical reasoning to me is that abstinence is a doorway to peadophile behaviours. does abstinence make a person any more pure or pious. No, all priests should be encouraged to marry and live normal lives, just like the rest of us

I disagree completely. It’s not pedophilia, rather it’s homosexual predation. It’s mostly young men or teenage boys who were sexually assaulted. That being said, most priests are NOT predators. To say so, is flat out bigotry.

 

[RileyG]

There is a higher rate among public school teachers than Catholic priests. And public school teachers can marry.

Exactly!

 

[chevyontheriver]

I disagree completely. It’s not pedophilia, rather it’s homosexual predation. It’s mostly young men or teenage boys who were sexually assaulted. That being said, most priests are NOT predators. To say so, is flat out bigotry.

I agree with you.

At the same time we do need to clean out the Lavender mafia that have been so prominent in the pope Francis years. Not a one of them should be a pope or a cardinal or a bishop or a priest or a seminary professor or a seminarian. Those who have done nothing illegal should be simply removed with all due diligence. Those who have done something illegal should be turned over to the police first and then defrocked. Lets see if pope Leo has any inner St. Peter Damian in him. One can hope and pray.

 

[lismore]

I sometimes wonder why so many Catholic priests become peadophiles and the logical reasoning to me is that abstinence is a doorway to peadophile behaviours. does abstinence make a person any more pure or pious. No, all priests should be encouraged to marry and live normal lives, just like the rest of us

Hello! No I don't think so, there are married paedophiles. There was a news report I remember, some kind of fundie Mormons in the USA with multiple wives and concubines who were also child abusers.

However from older (former) Catholic relatives who received an education in Catholic Schools I have heard many times that part of the reason they left Catholicism was stern and angry sometimes bordering on savage Priests and Nuns. Corporal punishment bordering on physical cruelty for trivial causes was reported by many. Perhaps there was also a practice in past decades that pressure would be applied on a second son or a daughter to become a priest or nun, specifically in Irish and RCC Scottish culture, thereby gaining status for the family. Perhaps part of this sternness and anger came from the pressure that was applied, frustrated and resentful people who had been pushed into a vocation they did not want. Also why many in past decades perhaps had the reputation of turning to drink. There were kindly priests and nuns of course, but my older relatives all seem to remember their school days with the overarching and abiding sensation of fear. Anger towards children rather than attraction to them.

The real scandal in the RCC was I believe not the number of paedophiles but rather how the church hierarchy dealt with them. Moving paedophile priests from one parish to another to hide their crimes, being secretive rather than transparent, attempting to deceive parents, obfuscating, obstructing the authorities in their lawful investigations and other facets of what was perceived as institutional corruption, putting the system before the sheep. God Bless

 

[RileyG]

I agree with you.

At the same time we do need to clean out the Lavender mafia that have been so prominent in the pope Francis years. Not a one of them should be a pope or a cardinal or a bishop or a priest or a seminary professor or a seminarian. Those who have done nothing illegal should be simply removed with all due diligence. Those who have done something illegal should be turned over to the police first and then defrocked. Lets see if pope Leo has any inner St. Peter Damian in him. One can hope and pray.

Yup. Stop ordaining homosexuals to the priesthood. Period. The lavender mafia must be held accountable.

 

[chevyontheriver]

The real scandal in the RCC was I believe not the number of paedophiles but rather how the church hierarchy dealt with them. Moving paedophile priests from one parish to another to hide their crimes, being secretive rather than transparent, attempting to deceive parents, obfuscating, obstructing the authorities in their lawful investigations and other facets of what was perceived as institutional corruption, putting the system before the sheep. God Bless

There was a period of time where the experts all told us that abusers were a product of their environment. After a brief stint of therapy move him to a new parish and he will never be a problem again. That’s what the experts were saying. Problem is bishops were ignoring Christian moral teaching to believe these experts. So, unsurprisingly the perps continued to perpetrate. The solution is arrest and conviction and removal from the clergy. Some bishops listened to the experts. Some wanted to hide the sordid deeds. Some bishops were morally compromised. Some were blackmailable. And so we got repeat offender clergy. St. Peter Damian, scourge of deviant clergy, pray for us.