AUSTRALIA
Perth Now
EOIN BLACKWELL, AAP AAP MAY 07, 2014
CELIBACY in religious institutions can turn some people into bitter “lemons” unable to reach out healthily to others – but it isn’t a contributing factor to child abuse, a senior Christian Brother says.
Deputy head of the Christian Brothers Oceania province, Brother Julian McDonald, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse celibacy could be the wrong choice for some, but did not cause abuse.
“There is no strong evidence to suggest that celibacy is the cause of offending against children or a strong contributing factor,” Br McDonald said on Wednesday.
“There have been people who have found their way into religious life for whom celibacy was a very unhealthy choice.
“It effectively turned them into lemons – bitter people who could not reach out healthily to anybody else.”
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