AUSTRALIA
Telegraph
Celibacy a probable cause of ‘tsunami of sexual abuse’ that hit church Marist Brother says
MATTHEW BENNS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH DECEMBER 17, 2013
THE vow of chastity imposed on young priests is the probable cause of the “tsunami of sexual abuse” to hit the Catholic Church.
Michael Hill, the former head of the Marist Brothers in Australia, told the Royal Commission into childhood sexual abuse that his training for a life of celibacy consisted of one word: “Don’t”.
Justice Peter McClellan asked: “Do you look upon the vow of chastity imposed upon teenage boys, soon to become men, as one of the elements that may be responsible for the tsunami that came?”
Brother Hill, a trained psychologist, told him: “In some cases I agree that that’s a probable cause, yes.”
He said the lack of training on the vow of celibacy when he became a Marist brother in the 1960s as an 18-year-old was “intolerable” and would be “totally unacceptable” today.
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