DUBLIN (IRELAND)
The Independent
November 18, 2017
By Sarah MacDonald
Celibacy cannot be blamed for clerical sex abuse because the average perpetrator does not commit the crime for up to 20 years after entering the priesthood, according to a top Vatican expert.
Professor Hans Zollner, a member of the Vatican’s Commission for the Protection of Minors, said “celibacy as such is not the problem” because the average age of clerical paedophiles is 39. If were a problem, the age would be closer to that when priests take their vows, which is usually in their twenties.
The “biggest risk”, he warned, was when “celibacy is not lived in an integrated way”, and when priests are not given the support they need for their priesthood, which can lead to isolation, spiritual difficulties and even addictions.
Prof Zollner was giving an address to a symposium on the formation of Catholic priests at the national seminary in Maynooth, Co Kildare.
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