Landmark Catholic Church Report Says Enforced Celibacy of Priests and Clergy Contributed to Decades of Child Sex Abuse

By John Carney
Daily Mail
December 11, 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2870152/Catholic-priests-vow-celibacy-child-abusers.html

A new landmark report has revealed that the vow of celibacy taken by Catholic priests and clergy may have been the contributing factor for the years of child sex abuse within the church.

Issued by the Australian church's Truth, Justice and Healing Council the report states that 'obligatory celibacy' may have caused priests to abuse thousands of children and that priests should have 'psycho-sexual development' training.

The council's chief executive Francis Sullivan told The Australian that the church must now examine 'how individuals who have chosen to be celibate, can remain healthy and not begin acting out of a dysfunctional sense of self'.

A new report states that 'obligatory celibacy' may have caused priests to abuse thousands of children

'We've got to ask the question whether celibacy was an added and an unbearable strain for some,' he said.

'It doesn't mean that celibacy has to be eradicated - let's not turn the church on its head - but we are saying you can't have honest and open discussion about the future without an honest and open discussion about celibacy. We are placing celibacy on the table.'

Catholicism is the principal religion in Australia. It is unique among the mainstream Christian churches in that priests and religious leaders must all take a vow of celibacy, and they must renounce sex entirely.

The Catholic Church has for decades been rife with child sex abuse cases

The report identifies a culture of 'obedience and closed environments', as well as how potential candidates for the clergy were picked. it stated that this potentially played a role 'in the prevalence of abuse within some orders and dioceses'.

The Australian church's Truth, Justice and Healing Council's supervisory group includes the archbishops of Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide, it's findings are in stark contrast to a recent US study that said that celibacy should not be blamed for the abuse.

It was a radical departure from findings of the five-year 'The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholics Priests in The United States, 1950-2010', reported The Australian.

Celibacy may have been 'an added and an unbearable strain' for some priests and lead them to abusing children

This report was presented to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2011.

'It is not clear why the commitment to or state of celibate chastity should be seen as a cause for the steady rise in incidence of sexual abuse,' the report said.

A recent US study however, said that celibacy should not be blamed for child abuse