AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail
By JOHN CARNEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
A new landmark report has revealed that the vow of celibacy taken by Catholic priests and clergy may have been the contributing factor for the years of child sex abuse within the church.
Issued by the Australian church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council the report states that ‘obligatory celibacy’ may have caused priests to abuse thousands of children and that priests should have ‘psycho-sexual development’ training.
The council’s chief executive Francis Sullivan told The Australian that the church must now examine ‘how individuals who have chosen to be celibate, can remain healthy and not begin acting out of a dysfunctional sense of self’.
‘We’ve got to ask the question whether celibacy was an added and an unbearable strain for some,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t mean that celibacy has to be eradicated – let’s not turn the church on its head – but we are saying you can’t have honest and open discussion about the future without an honest and open discussion about celibacy. We are placing celibacy on the table.’
Catholicism is the principal religion in Australia. It is unique among the mainstream Christian churches in that priests and religious leaders must all take a vow of celibacy, and they must renounce sex entirely.
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