Neither Homosexuality nor Celibacy the Cause of Abuse in Catholic Church

A new study conducted by the John Jay College in New York claims that neither homosexuality nor celibacy is the cause of so many sexually abused boys in the Roman Catholic church. Commissioned by the church, the famous criminal justice school reveals that the rising number of abuse is actually the result of poor seminary training and next to no emotional support for the priests.

There is only one thing wrong with this study: it does not hold water.

Common sense says that all-male clubs like the Roman Catholic priesthood will only attract men who know they can have access to young boys, the majority of whose families are filing legal action against the church across the nation and in Europe. While homosexuality is hardly the cause here '" something requiring consenting adults '" what makes the system so attractive is its potential for pedophiles to enter. As a rule, pedophiles only enter jobs and careers they know that will allow them access to children. Such careers usually imply a degree of established trust, such as teachers and priests. But what is more disturbing is the Roman Catholic church's failure to defrock these priests, and instead keep them in their system. Most people will claim the church is in a state of denial, but more importantly, the study seems to be in a state of denial itself: it states less than 5% of the accused Roman Catholic priests involved can be technically classified as being pedophiles. Straight men are not going to be attracted to joining the priesthood precisely because they want to have the choice to marry.

So while the study seems to favor the church in this case and attempt to provide legal fodder for their protection, it hardly seems likely that the church will change their position on allowing priests to marry. Ironically, the Roman Catholic church views celibacy as a discipline, not a doctrine, and that disciplines can be changed as "needed." But the truth of the matter is this: The Roman Catholic church is still an "old boys network", no different from those modern counterparts in the United States known as fraternities. Even though this church also forbids membership in fraternities (they have a lay branch known as the Knights of Columbus), it is still a hierarchical power that has not changed over the centuries. While this hierarchy has no scriptural basis in the New Testament, one can only hope the sexual abuse of buys by priests will eventually end at some point to prevent further tarnishing to the church's image.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110518/ap_on_re/us_rel_church_abuse_report;_ylt=An2cqDlxtti3h08KGRFJMcGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFoZGo1bHFsBHBvcwMyNgRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNzdHVkeWhvbW9zZXg-