Nothing Sacred about Celibacy
By Adele Horin
As the reputation of the Catholic Church sinks further into the mire with the latest allegations of sex abuse and cover-up, it is worth raising again the subject of priestly celibacy. Celibacy cuts to the heart of what is wrong with the church - along with its homophobia and misogyny. Father F, a focus of the Four Corners expose this week, admitted to interfering with five boys aged 10 and 11. He forced two of them to have oral sex regularly over a year, according to a letter written by one of the three priests who interviewed him in 1992. But understandably overlooked in the outrage over the alleged paedophilia and cover-up is that Father F also admitted to two affairs with young women. This is also a grave offence in the church's eye. For most people, it is the rank hypocrisy that is offensive. It is hard to see the church recovering from the worldwide scandals that have ruined its standing until it abandons the rule of compulsory celibacy. It is hard to see the church stemming the exodus of priests to marry, or attracting sufficient recruits until it ditches its quaint attachment to priestly chastity. The Protestants have managed nicely without it for centuries. Compulsory celibacy is the common denominator underlying the twin crises afflicting the church: reputation loss and a lack of priests. It is not that celibacy causes people to become child abusers. Celibacy doesn't make a paedophile and marriage doesn't cure one. An infamous Boston paedophile priest continued to abuse children after he left the priesthood and married. Even so, celibacy is central to the issues facing the church. Few religions have been spared damage as child abuse victims have found the courage to denounce their abusers. But it is hard to ignore the predominance of Catholic clergy as scandals rocked Ireland, Britain, the United States, Germany, Holland, Italy, Austria, and Australia. Last month a new chapter unfolded in the US when Monsignor William Lynn, a former cardinal's aide, became the first senior church official convicted of covering up sexual abuse by priests under his supervision. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the unique factor of a celibate, all-male priesthood has contributed to the church's woes, and to the woes inflicted on its victims. For a start, the celibacy rule has so narrowed the pool of priests that it has encouraged disproportionate numbers of suppressed and self-denying homosexuals as well as paedophiles into the seminary. It has drawn the sexually confused and immature. It has also attracted a share of narcissists convinced they are entitled to lecture the laity on sex, contraception and abortion. The celibacy rule has fostered a poisonous culture of secrecy and shame among priests in which sexual behaviour of any kind must be hidden. Deception and lies have protected the shadow lives of sexually active priests and protected those with histories of sexual crimes. Because so much of the mystique and power of Catholic priests springs from the special quality of their celibacy, the Church has more to lose than most organisations caught up in sex abuse scandals. Priests weren't supposed to have sex with anyone - let alone children. Priests were presumed to be especially self-disciplined and trustworthy because of their vow of celibacy, not less so. The celibacy rule has contributed to the church's behaviour being worse than a modern corporation's or public service department's caught in similar circumstances of reputational damage. It is hard to imagine the education department, for example, conveying such indifference to the suffering of children as the church has done. It is hard not to feel sorry for the decent and committed priests left wearing the dog collar today. Though a rank outsider to the Catholic church, even I regarded them with reverence in my childhood. Now their reputation is blackened, they are ageing and overworked. And from what I have read over 20 years of following the scandals, many are lonely. Surely it is time to free priests from the shackle of compulsory celibacy, allow them to marry and welcome married ex-priests back into the fold. Changed attitudes to homosexuality (in the Anglican church, too) would enable the many homosexual priests to live an honest life. In Africa, where the church is growing strongest, celibacy is often flouted by the priesthood, according to Newsweek; many priests have unofficial wives, and some have been accused of raping nuns. Because a celibate male has low value in Africa, the African church may put celibacy to its harshest test yet. Back in 2005, the National Council of Priests in Australia representing then almost 1700 priests petitioned the Vatican asking it to allow priests to marry. More than 17,000 mass-going Catholics signed a similar petition to Australian bishops. The current pope, like his predecessors, has defended ''the value of sacred celibacy'' and said the ancient rule would not be changed because of ''passing cultural fashions''. But celibacy was a 12th-century invention adopted to prevent married priests passing church property onto their children. It is not sacred dogma. It can be changed; and it should.
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