CELIBACY AND DEVIANT SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
Celibacy and Deviant Sexual Behaviour are not really life-styles characteristic of most men and women in the general population. However in the Catholic Church it is expected of priests and nuns to be celibate and a question has arisen, does the need to be celibate create actions of child sexual abuse or deviant sexual behaviour in general.
The Vatican has vehemently denied that its celibacy requirement for priests is the root cause of the clerical sex abuse scandal convulsing the church in Europe now, and in the recent past in North America. Suggestions that the celibacy rule is in part responsible for the deviant behaviour of sexually abusive priests have swirled in recent days in opinion pieces in German newspapers. There are even suggestions that when the present Pope Benedict XV1 was active in Germany he did not take sufficient action to defrock the priests involved , or even move them to jobs where there was no chance to encounter young children Much of the furor was spurred by comments from one of the Pope`s closest advisers, Vienna archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who called last week for an honest examination of issues like celibacy and priestly education to root out the origins of sex abuse His office quickly stressed Schoenborn wasn`t calling into question priestly celibacy, which had just been reaffirmed recently by the Pope as an “expression of the gift of oneself to God and others”
In my opinion celibacy does not create deviant sexual abusers. This is inherent in the personality of the person involved. It however makes good sense, for an individual so inclined by nature, and aware of the law and requirements of society, to take a job in a field where one is not expected to be sexually active, so as to hide their behavior from the public. There are many opportunities to take advantage of children in this job.
It also is beholden on the church to take immediate action if a priest is suspected of this activity.
