Jesuits Explain Child Sex Abuse: " Stress" Makes Them Do It
What They Knew
[with video] The Society of Jesus has long been regarded for the intellectual prowess of its priests and educators. In the marketplace of ideas Jesuits have made significant contributions to both the physical and social sciences. But there is evidence that this is starting to slip. Recent cases in California and elsewhere have begged the question, "What has happened to the Jesuit Order? Can they still wave their intellectual wands and make sexual abuse a defensible act?" We stumbled upon this bit of Jesuit produced research (link to Santa Clara Univ. article) into why Jesuits abuse. Written by Gerdenio Sonny Manuel, S. J., a member of the California Province Sensitive Incidents Team, entitled Living Chastity: Psychosexual Well Being in Jesuit Life An Essay for Studies in Jesuit Spirituality. The thrust of his intellectual question, with regards to being a Jesuit is "How in the world could you do that to yourself?" Basically sex abuse by Jesuits boils down to lack of self-understanding, loneliness and stress. From the article: "In addition to coping with the stress related to our lifestyle and ministry, there are the usual varieties of ordinary life events that can burden us: personal illness or misfortune, interpersonal conflicts, family struggles, aging, the death of loved ones. From time to time, friends, family, or the Society will inevitably disappoint and even hurt us. And so, independently or cumulatively we can be stressed by our lifestyle, ministry, and ordinary life traumas and find ourselves in pain and searching for solace. During these times of distress, we need to be especially vigilant that we do not use sex as a way of altering mood or as an escape. Along with other forms of gratification or socially isolating activities like extended television viewing, engaging in sexual fantasies, various forms of internet pornography, and sexually acting out can be ways of coping with sadness by medicating our pain and suffering." So child porn, rape and sexual assault, drunken hooliganism – and the evil of excessive television viewing all boil down to STRESS. Something Jesuits are particularly afflicted with one would guess, at least more so than everyone else. "Rather, we need to be aware of what we would consider healthy self-solacing activities and other constructive coping strategies that relieve our suffering We can find ourselves responding defensively to even our own community discussions about chastity and to recent efforts to monitor ourselves through explicit sex abuse policies and safety certification programs like Praesidium and other organizations founded to protect those in our care from abuse and to preserve trust. When sexual feelings emerge, he needs to acknowledge them to himself and carefully discern their meaning and intent, so that he doesn't hurt others, himself, or the Society by unreflective sexual acting- out. Finally, such perceived deprivation, deepening helplessness, and unacknowledged turmoil make one prone to sexual misconduct, looking for identity and healing through sexual contact. In an article last week on The Daily Beast about the use of science in spotting pedophiles, Thomas Plante PhD, also from the California Jesuit Sensitive Incidents Team and Santa Clara University said the following: "We're looking for a machine that goes 'bing,'" says Thomas Plante, a psychology professor at California's Santa Clara University who has done extensive research on child abuse within the Catholic Church. Instead of finding a "magic pharmaceutical that will make a certain part of the brain not light up," Plante says, "we need a more integrated perspective if we want to keep kids safe." Treating pedophilia is particularly difficult, he argues, because many of the sex offenders that authorities consider pedophiles are "not pedophiles at all." Instead of targeting children specifically, offenders will "target teenagers or they are situational generalists who target anyone they can get," Plante says. He adds that many pedophiles and sex offenders "have more than one diagnosis. They may have substance-abuse disorders, impulse-control disorders, or personality disorders." Finding a solution to that potentially combustible combination of diseases "is more complicated than it appears," Plante says. Plante says the new policies and procedures in place at institutions that have been nearly destroyed by sexual deviance—the Catholic Church and even the Boy Scouts—should serve as a model for child-focused organizations trying to prevent sexual abuse. He says pedophilia can be considered a public-health issue that requires a hybrid of biological, psychological, and social treatments rather than a criminal predilection or a disease easily treated with a pill. Hate the sin and not the sinner? Or stop putting my friends in jail? Until there is this "magic pill" Dr. Plante suggests, society seems to be in general agreement as to where these over-stressed priest belong: PRISON. Instead of rationalizing and intellectualizing the crimes of Jesuits, we suggest what St. Augustine wrote: The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works. Say you're wasting away Say you're wasting your days I don't believe you Say you're going thru a phase You're acting your age I don't believe Oh There's nothing we can do If I don't believe you Say you're feeling kinda ill You're just feeling rather sick I don't believe you You're just feeling from the pill You just wanna make it stick I don't believe you Say you're wasting away Say you're wasting your days I don't believe you Say you're going far away Say you're leaving in day I don't believe you Our history is incomplete
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