BishopAccountability.org
	Celibacy Vow Used As a Scapegoat By Jennifer Kim The Japan Times April 10, 2010 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/rc20100404a5.html Regarding Kevin Rafferty's March 31 article, "The pope's Easter mystery": I am one Catholic — hopefully among many — who is horrified that anyone, much less a Catholic priest, would sexually abuse a young person. Also horrifying, though, is the distorted view of this issue presented by the media, which seem less interested in protecting young people than in singling out the church for something that occurs in many segments of society. Most cases of sexual abuse by priests happened not just years ago, but decades ago. In current times, credible accusations against priests are extremely rare — just six in the United States last year. Why do the media focus on such old news while largely ignoring the much more frequent acts of pedophilia by teachers and coaches and kids' own relatives? Is it because the Catholic Church voices certain moral teachings — on abortion, gay marriage and so on — that the secular media just can't stand? To suggest removing priestly celibacy to prevent sex abuse is absurd. The vast majority of priests stick to their celibacy vows, and the number of these priests who have molested a kid is zero. Why not also remove the marriage vow to prevent adultery? The logic, or lack thereof, is the same. Sex-offender registries in U.S. states are not dominated by avowed celibates; most pedophilia is committed by people who have not taken a celibacy vow. In a horribly oversexed society, celibacy has become a convenient scapegoat. The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.