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	Portuguese Sexologist Refutes Connection between Abuse and Homosexuality The Portugal News April 16, 2010 http://www.theportugalnews.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=1057-18 Well known Portuguese psychologist and sex expert Marta Crawford this week rejected recent suggestions by the Catholic Church that there is a connection between paedophilia and homosexuality, claiming she did not understand the Church’s reasons for trying to establish a link between the two. “I cannot see any connection between paedophilia and homosexuality. Paedophilia is not restricted to acts between two people of the same sex. Right there, just because of that no links can be made. Being a paedophile does not mean relations between two people of the same sex, it means forced sex with people of a different age”, Marta Crawford explained to Lusa News Agency. During a recent visit to Chile, Vatican State Secretary Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone related paedophilia to homosexuality, rejecting any connection to the celibacy that priests are submitted to. “Many sociologists and psychiatrists have proved that there is no relation between celibacy and paedophilia, but many others showed, and recently said, that there is a connection between homosexuality and paedophilia”, Cardinal Bertone recently declared to journalists, refuting suggested links between cases of abuse and the celibacy imposed on men of the cloth. “I don’t know what the Church’s objective is in trying to mix this all together. What is the Church trying to prove? I don’t get the intention” sexologist Marta Crawford responded when questioned about the Cardinal’s statement. According to the specialist, it is important to underline that paedophilia is a “clinically diagnosed situation”, and homosexuality “is not a disease” and “has nothing to do with sexual abuse inflicted on others”. She further refutes any relation between paedophilia and celibacy. “There are many paedophiles that have nothing to do with the Church. It seems too far-fetched to try and say that all men of the Church, who are subjected to celibacy, are potential paedophiles. It is not circumstance that fabricates paedophiles. There is a clinical condition behind it which is a psychological issue”, she concluded.
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