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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
In recent years, hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals have come forward claiming sexual abuse from priests in the Roman Catholic Church. Numerous "pedophile priests" have been identified. Sadly, rather than defrocking the priests (removing from the priesthood), the Catholic Church has in most instances attempted to cover up the sexual abuse by transferring the offending priest(s) to different parishes. The scandal and attempted cover-up continues to expand, reaching all the way to the papacy itself. So, what is the cause of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church? Why does pedophilia seem to be such a common problem among Roman Catholic priests?
First, let us be abundantly clear, as an Evangelical Protestant Christian organization, we have strong disagreements with virtually every area of Roman Catholic doctrine and practice.
Second, with the priesthood of all believers and Jesus' fulfillment/completion of the Old Testament sacrificial system and priesthood, we do not believe the New Testament instructs that there should even be priests. Biblically speaking, a priest is a mediator (primarily through sacrifices) between God and man. With Jesus as our High Priest, we already have direct access to God (Hebrews 4:14-16) and have no need for any other mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).
Third, it is important not to take the horribly evil actions of some Roman Catholic priests and attribute them to the entire Roman Catholic priesthood. While we strongly disagree with Roman Catholic doctrine and practice, we have no doubt that many Roman Catholic priests truly love the Lord Jesus Christ, truly desire to minister to people, and would absolutely never molest a child. It is impossible to discover how many "pedophile priests" have been, or still are, active in the Roman Catholic Church. Whatever the number is, it is surely an exceedingly small percentage. The vast majority of Catholic priests has never, and would never, molest or harm a child in any way.
Back to the question at hand, what is the cause of the sexual abuse that has taken place in the Roman Catholic Church? Our contention is that the unbiblical requirement that priests be celibate is a primary cause. It is biblical to say that celibacy can be useful to ministry (1 Corinthians 7:32-34). At the same time, it is completely unbiblical for any church to require celibacy of its leaders. In the qualifications of church leadership (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9), the apostle Paul assumes that bishops, elders, overseers, and deacons will be married and have children. While these qualifications should not be viewed as requiring marriage/family to serve in church leadership, they are most definitely an allowance for married men to serve as leaders in the church. It is, therefore, completely anti-biblical for any church to require celibacy of its leaders.
The unbiblical requirement of celibacy on priests in the Roman Catholic Church likely contributes to sexual abuse in that men whom God never intended to be celibate are forced into celibacy, resulting in sexual tension and stress. Also, the stricture of celibacy is appealing to some men with abnormal sexual tendencies who view the priesthood as a means of keeping their desires under control. These men find that external rules do little to change the heart, and, when they give in to sexual temptations, the result is unnatural sexual acts, such as homosexuality or pedophilia.
Compounding the problem is the Catholic teaching of "once a priest, always a priest." The fact that the "sacred ordination" cannot be invalidated has contributed to a reluctance to defrock pedophile priests. When abusive priests are transferred to different parishes, the same behavior is repeated. Also, lax rule enforcement and cover-ups have encouraged the application of pedophiles to the priesthood. Many pedophiles see the priesthood as a means of easy, unsupervised access to children.
Whatever the cause of the sexual abuse in the church, pedophile priests should be arrested and punished just as any other pedophile would be. Anyone covering up or, by negligence, enabling pedophilia in the church should be prosecuted. A priest who has sexually abused anyone should never be allowed back into church leadership, as he could most definitely not be considered "above reproach" (1 Timothy 3:2).
The pedophile priest scandal in the Roman Catholic Church is absolutely horrid. There is nothing more antithetical to the message of Christ than priests sexually abusing children. May God use this scandal to awaken the church of Jesus Christ to the presence of apostates within the church and to strongly motivate the church to be fully biblical in all of its beliefs and practices.
See http://www.gotquestions.org/Catholic-abuse.html
Emo Tenorio
Supporter
I humbly submit that one major factor on this subject occurred in 1910 that altered confession with an infallible papal decree by pope Pius X 1903 - 1914 Prior to it confession had been a once or twice a year deal, now it became a weekly sacrament. This change would now also include children starting at the age of seven years, to be alone with a stranger in a dark setting to confess? Statistics of paedophile priest offences such as Dubin's Murphy report reveal a clear and striking pattern of sexual proclivities and abuse toward the prime target age group of 7 to 13. Matthew 23:8 The sacrament of confession was used by the molesting priest to discover vulnerabilities within his future victims and thus groom the unlucky candidates for their later abhorrent abuse! Matthew 23:9 I believe the abuse is rooted in the faulty premiss of any man's esoteric infallibility and the pride to defend and protect this temporal illusion at all cost! Consider that any records had to be obtained by various court orders over the years, instead of protecting the most innocent sheep, it seems the wolfs were protected. Habakkuk 2:8 And yes there have been abuses within various dominations from time to time, but when they were exposed, the transgressors were removed quickly. Proverbs 10:14 In the Lord's freedom and justice...................warrior on
Tom Huntford
Supporter
Elders (in the Bible also known as pastors, also known as bishops, Acts 20, Titus 1, 1 Pet 5) are to be "the husbands of one wife". How anyone could take that command and turn it on its head to where anyone who wants to serve as a church leader has to have no wife, is beyond me. Those groups who did so just invite sexual immorality. Now, even in church groups who follow the Bible in having pastors who marry, there is sometime fornication. But the Roman Catholic practice of forbidding the clergy to marry invites immorality, and history proves it out. Its a good warning to all of us to not go beyond what God has said in his Word.
mark wilkinson
Supporter
Of course the root cause of all such abominations is that the heart of man (and women) is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Sin always looks for opportunities - and certain situations such as mentioned in previous posts have allowed sin to take root and germinate and ripen into fruit that destroys both victim and perpetrator.
Vincent Mercado
Supporter
The sex abuse scandal is really one of the dark periods, not only in Church History, but in Human history. It's a serious problem and should be addressed. It is a social problem. We find sex abuse everywhere - at homes, in schools, in offices. Fathers, educators, social workers who work with young people have been accused of sexual abuse. The root cause of this problem is not having a good role model for teenagers. Fathers should teach young men how to be chivalrous and respectful of women, wanting only the good of the other person, to sacrifice himself to protect women. Mothers should teach young men to respect other women as they would respect her. Mothers should teach young women not to dress provocatively and protect themselves, to stay away from dangerous situations. Fathers should teach young women that a good man will not take advantage of her and take care of her as her father would. The father should set the standard of what a good boyfriend is.
kabwama Joseph
Supporter
The question could be phrased as ''what is the cause of sexual abuse in the catholic church leaders?'' Sexual abuse is a sin which is done unto a man's body 1cor 6:18 as the bible states 1cor 7:1 its good for man to marry and if someone decides or chooses to be a celibate its ones choice The catholic church makes it mandatory that if you want to serve then be a celibate hence infringing on the right of decision. Marriage was initiated by God in Eden and the act of creating a man and a woman meant sex for the different reasons. Denying a person the natural right will make him or her find a way of fulfilling this.Research show that this forceful celibacy is increasing the sexual sin among the catholic church ministers/leaders. this can be curbed by allowing people to join freely and if they choose celibacy they do and if someone want to marry or get married they do. 1Timothy 3:2 but be of one wife
John Moyo
Supporter
All Catholic priests enter the priesthood of their own accord and with full knowledge of the requirement for celibacy. During the long period (typically seven years) of training to be a priest they have the option to opt out at any time before they take final vows. Some priests even leave the priesthood to get married after years of service. Therefore the idea of pedophiles is simply an unfortunate submission to the temptations of the devil.
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