FREEPORT (ME)
U.S. Newswire
FREEPORT, Maine, Nov. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A revolutionary new book entitled "The Bingo Report" links sexual abuse to mandatory celibacy in the Roman Catholic priesthood for the first time. According to the new groundbreaking study conducted by the Center for the Study of Religious Issues (CSRI), the longer a priest remains in the priesthood, the more likely he will struggle with mandatory celibacy both biologically and psychologically, and the more likely he will act on his struggles and become deviant or criminal in his actions.
Documentable evidence indicates a "nurture rather than nature effect" on priests in the subculture of the clerical priesthood. The only exception according to prior research would be if he were celibate by design, representing only 2 percent of the priesthood (Sipe, 1990).
The controversial study that includes a priest study update, a victim study and a literary study also reveals that the church has been aware of the effect of forced celibacy for a long time; indeed it does not end with priests. Through its own professional research, the church knows that priests cannot biologically or psychologically live up to their vows.
According to The Bingo Report author Louise Haggett of the Center for the Study of Religious Issues, "For years, the church denied that clergy sexual abuse was more than a few isolated cases. The people now know the truth. Since 2002, the church has continued to deny that mandatory celibacy is linked to clergy sexual abuse. Ten years of sociological research say differently. The evidence is so strong that we can predict a continuation of the crime against women and children as long as mandatory celibacy exists in the Roman Catholic priesthood."