BishopAccountability.org
	Bishop Robinson, Celibacy and Sexual Abuse By Father Gerald Coleman Catholic San Francisco July 12, 2008 http://www.catholic-sf.org/FPArticle205.htm Under the sponsorship of Voice of the Faithful, Geoffrey Robinson, retired auxiliary bishop of Sydney, Australia, recently made a tour of the United States to promote his book, "Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church" ( Garratt Publishing, 2007 ). In the book's introduction, Bishop Robinson states that "sexual abuse of minors by a significant number of priests and religious, together with the attempts of many Church authorities to conceal the abuse, constitute one of the ugliest stories ever to emerge from the Catholic Church. It would be difficult to overestimate the pervasive and lasting harm it has done to the Church." Bishop Robinson is in a unique position to make this assertion, having served for six years as co - chair of the Archdiocese of Sydney's National Committee coordinating the Church's clergy sex abuse. He served as auxiliary bishop from 1984 - 2004. I have no quarrel with Bishop Robinson's assessment of the seriousness of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, or the way it was often mishandled. I do have substantial difficulties with his overarching blame of celibacy as the driving force. He does state that "celibacy is not the sole cause of sexual abuse by priests and religious." He admits that even if "celibacy were abolished tomorrow," the problem would not disappear. In a June 7 interview with the Los Angeles Times, however, he criticized John Paul II and Benedict XVI for their unwillingness to reexamine obligatory celibacy for priests. He is quoted as saying, "Let's start from abuse and follow where it leads. If we find that obligatory celibacy has contributed to abuse, we must put that on the table." Bishop Robinson believes three factors caused priests and religious to sexually abuse children: an unhealthy psychological state; unhealthy ideas about power and sex; and the unhealthy environment or community in which a priest or religious lives. While naming sexual abuse fundamentally "an abuse of power," Bishop Robinson sees celibacy and its lifestyle as the primary culprits that create an abusive environment. This environment creates the conditions for the abuse of children and adults, especially women. He believes this problem cannot be honestly addressed until the question of obligatory celibacy is faced. The centerpiece of his theological argument is that God calls men to a priestly vocation but does not at the same time call them to celibacy. These men want to be priests. So, they tolerate celibacy, some better than others, to obtain their goal of ordination. The resulting sexual frustration leads to abusive behaviors. He writes that these priests are "living in an unwanted, unassimilated and, therefore, unhealthy celibate state. Many of those who have left the priesthood or religious life in the last 40 years have been in this category, but so many of those remain." Obligatory celibacy, according to Bishop Robinson, contributes to depression, misogyny and homophobia. This unhealthy environment contributes to the sexual abuse of children by priests and religious. Since priests and bishops are celibate, they underestimated the "fierce" protection of children by their parents and extent parents. He concludes, "How many abused children is celibacy worth?" I find the arguments flawed as they lead to the misguided judgment that all things being equal, priests abused children because of their celibacy. Consequently, if priests could marry, the sexual abuse of children would cease. There are too many who would like to place child sexual abuse at the feet of the Church and thereby ignore basic facts. Most child abuse takes place within the family. Read such professional studies as "A Sourcebook On Child Sexual Abuse, License to Rape, The Dark Side of Families," and "Child Sexual Abuse" to see proof of this statement. In our efforts to face the horror of the sexual abuse of children, we must provide major focus of attention to the family, not to celibacy. Sexual abuse of a child by a family member results in serious, long - term psychological trauma, especially in the case of parental incest. In the sexual abuse of minors, approximately 30 percent are relatives of the child, most often fathers, uncles or cousins. About 60 percent are other acquaintances such as friends of the family, babysitters or neighbors. Strangers are offenders in roughly 10 percent of cases. Studies overwhelmingly demonstrate that most sexual abuse of children is "intrafamilial" and constitutes incest. Some studies show that 20 million Americans have been sexually victimized by parental incest as children. In the past few decades in the United States, child sexual abuse has gained public attention and has become one of the most high - profile crimes. Child sexual abuse damages children, sometimes beyond full recovery. In an alarming number of cases, it leads to suicide. Why do I find Bishop Robinson's treatment of sexual abuse so annoying and misleading? His treatment of the subject is superficial and is more the result of other fundamental disagreements he has with the Church. How easy it is to blame obligatory celibacy for the sexual abuse of children. Priests and religious who sexually abused children did so because of the sexual disorder of pedophilia or ephebophilia. They abused because of a sexual disorder, not because they were celibate. Sulpician Father Gerald Coleman is vice president for ethics for the Daughters of Charity Health System.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.