AUSTRALIA
The Guardian
Calla Wahlquist
Thursday 11 December 2014
Celibacy could have contributed to the instances of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church, a report by the church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council in Australia has found.
The report, released on Friday, said “obligatory celibacy” for Catholic priests “may … have contributed to abuse in some circumstances”, and recommended priests undergo “psycho-sexual development” training.
It said the church’s response to child sex abuse had been shaped by its culture and “clericalism”, which it defined as an “ordained ministry geared to power over others, not service to others”.
“Church institutions and their leaders, over many decades, seemed to turn a blind eye, either instinctively or deliberately, to the abuse happening within their diocese or religious order, protecting the institution rather than caring for the child,” the report said.
It said the selection process for priests may have contributed to a culture that ignored abuse.
The council was formed by Australian Catholic church leaders in 2013 in response to the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.
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