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	Edward Sadie: Celibacy Not at Fault in Sexual Abuse Crisis Sunday Gazette-Mail April 11, 2010 http://sundaygazettemail.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201004100439 CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I re-read the article by William Pfaff, "Crisis of Catholicism can be traced to priest celibacy rule," after noting Sacred Heart's High Mass count of 1,527 and 2,039 the last two Sundays. Pfaff is a distinguished author on contemporary history. Any serious thinker must make "peace or accommodation with his harsh message." I prefer "challenge" to "crisis" to describe the constant history of the Church. For better insights into Pfaff's topic, I recommend "The Joy of Priesthood" by the Rev. Stephen J. Rosetti, who has spent much of his priestly life ministering to troubled priests, and "Sex, Priestly Ministry and the Church" by Lex Sperry, M.D., Ph.D., clinical professor of psychiatry at Medical College of Wisconsin. Both these men have made an extensive study of the sexual maturity, intimacy, and celibacy of the clergy of the Catholic Church and other denominations. I question Pfaff's experience/credibility in psychosexual development, and his ability to distinguish the various sexual/gender orientations and various sexual difficulties/disorders. Sperry identifies 50-plus definitions and descriptions as the coin of the realm in discussions about sexual issues in the Church. Pope Benedict XVI has stated that there is no place in the Catholic Church for priests, nuns or lay ministers who sexually/physically abuse children entrusted to their care, for bishops who irresponsibly shield them, and that abuse should be reported to the civil authorities. To protect children, the Catholic Church has led the way in establishing guidelines that other institutions are very slowly establishing. Because of the hierarchical/financial set-up of the Catholic Church, it remains the best, easiest and most visible target of principled and unprincipled lawyers. Statutory law protects the public school system. Maybe one day the Charleston Gazette will do an exposé on sexual/physical abuse there and in other churches/professions rather than simply berating the Catholic Church for following the best medical advice of the 1980s and not intuiting the knowledge we have in 2010. We priests need to put more emphasis on the joyful self-sacrifice and gift of celibacy. It may be a powerful counter-cultural witness in a sex-obsessed world, but it needs to be proclaimed and "sold" in a more effective way. However, let me point out that no man is forced to become a priest. He freely chooses priesthood and celibacy that goes with it only after a period of discernment lasting from five to 12 years. Also compare the growth of the Catholic Church in the Western world with its celibate clergy to the growth of other churches. Early on, the Catholic Church sent celibate missionaries from Rome throughout the Western world. I do not disparage the dedication of married priests and ministers, but celibates can more easily be assigned to the outposts even in rural West Virginia. Experts in psychosexual development state celibacy is not the cause of sexual abuse, that the greater proportion of sexual abuse incidents occurs at the hands of fathers, stepfathers and relatives who are usually married. Under-reported and under-publicized is the abuse involving clergy of other denominations, teachers and homosexuals with prepubescent children, ages 13 or under (pedophilia) and postpubescent minor adolescents, ages 14-17 (ephebophia) as well as the abuse committed by teenage and older males against underage females forced to undergo aborticide. As regards "Crisis of Catholicism," Pfaff nowhere speaks of the Church's phenomenal growth around the world, especially in Africa and India; its worldwide role engaging moderate and radical Islam; efforts to protect marriage and family life; efforts to raise the quality of life for females around the world; response to worldwide poverty, illiteracy, hunger and natural disasters; efforts to end capital punishment; and efforts to care for the sick, aged, disenfranchised, orphans and widows in its various health care institutions. Strangely, Pfaff doesn't mention the continued strength of the Catholic Church, nor the decline of other mainline churches and their problems of sexual abuse. He admits the Church has survived what he called the "challenge," not "crisis," of the Protestant Reformation. He states that the church has failed "to address the intellectual challenge of the post Enlightenment West." I think the Catholic Church is the only Church meeting this challenge. He speaks of the present challenge "when the secular culture has been in upheaval as have traditional sexual roles and traditional marriage and family structures." Where, I wonder, except in the Catholic Church, does Pfaff, or anyone, find hope for a confused world? A much greater crisis will affect the Catholic Church when it ceases to be attacked, as was its founder, Jesus of Nazareth, by its many enemies in every age. Monsignor Sadie is rector of Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in Charleston.
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