Vow of Celibacy May Have Contributed to Child Sex Abuse Says Landmark Report from Catholic Church in Australia

news.com.au
December 11, 2014

http://www.news.com.au/national/vow-of-celibacy-may-have-contributed-to-child-sex-abuse-says-landmark-report-from-catholic-church-in-australia/story-fncynjr2-1227153384244

Members of the Care Leavers of Australia Network outside the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse hearings in Sydney. Source: News Limited

THE vow of celibacy may have contributed to decades of child sex abuse committed by Catholic priests and clergy, according to a landmark report from the church’s leaders.

According to The Australian, the church establishment within Australia has for the first time said that “obligatory celibacy” may have resulted in the abuse of thousands of children. The stunning admission in a report to be released today, sets an international precedent and is in stark contrast to a recent US study that said celibacy could not be blamed for the epidemic of abuse.

“Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances,” the report says, and “ongoing training and development, including psychosexual development, is necessary for priests and religious (figures in the church)” as a result.

The church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council has issued the report and its chief executive Francis Sullivan told The Australian that the Catholic Church must now examine how individuals can remain healthy while being celibate, “and not begin acting out of a dysfunctional sense of self”.

The council’s supervisory group includes the archbishops of Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide.

Its report also identifies a culture of “obedience and closed environments”, and the selection process for candidates for the clergy as playing a potential role “in the prevalence of abuse within some orders and dioceses”.