Vatican denies celibacy requirement led to sex scandal

In a related statement the Vatican on Sunday denied that the priests and other clergy ever think about sex after taking their vows.

Celibacy per se is not the cause of this scandal. The church's negative attitude towards homosexuals does. It seems that the best place for homosexual Catholics to "hide" is the priesthood where they gain acceptance and respect... those who are too weak to resist has easy access to their prey, the choir members and altar boys. Their are only few who are blessed with the gift of celebacy but the harvest is plenty and the laborers are few. Therefore, I agree with the abolition of celibacy.

'“First off, it’s known that sexual abuse of minors is more widespread among lay people and those who are married than in the celibate priesthood,” he wrote. “Secondly, research has shown that priests guilty of abuse had long before stopped observing celibacy.”

A report endorsed in 2004 by the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference, however, argued that an understanding of the problem of clerical sex abuse isn’t possible without reference to both celibacy and homosexuality, since the vast majority of U.S. abuse cases were of a homosexual nature.

While stressing neither celibacy nor homosexuality causes abuse, the report said “The church did an inadequate job both of screening out those individuals who were destined to fail in meeting the demands of the priesthood, and of forming others to meet those demands, including the rigors of a celibate life.”'

On the inside and outside the church is being attacked by perversion. The hierarchy is to blame in many ways by not listening to their hearts, with its demands to protect the innocent, but by listening to "reason" of the lawyers and the psudo-science called psychology. Ask a common person, who is a father or mother, or anyone who listens to the inner moral imprint common to all men, what they should do with a child abuser, and you will find an almost unanimous "hang 'em" (get them out of here and away from children, if found guilty "prison"). The church is doing this right now, but the decisions it has made in the past of transferring abusive priests just sickens me.

I have lost much respect for the structure of the church. It is just too hidden and political. What ever happened to the "contrite heart and humble spirit" that makes people acceptable. What the church really needs is to level the hierarchy with the laymen. Get rid of the rings and all the ritual and get back to the truth of the Gospel. "Faith and Morals" are still valid? Yes, they are, in spite of the fact that wheat and weeds are growing together. There are still many good people in the church with that "contrite heart and humble spirit" and I pray they will be able to keep the church teachings from being defiled, by people who have darkened their consciences. This is the promise that "the gates of hell will not prevail".

Celibacy the problem? I guess the denominations with married clergy have these problems as well. It is the handling of these terrible things that really makes my skin crawl. Even in secular society, these perverted people are allowed to be released into society and very often to abuse again, as we have read in San Diego recently. Once this kind of offense occurs, the offender should be locked up for good. Beware of "wolves in sheep clothing".

Bisoy: those who are too weak to resist has easy access to their prey, the choir members and altar boys

There's a pretty large difference between homosexuality & pedophilia.... The church needs to have better psychological evaluations before ordaining priests imo

When I was a kid we were told if we so much as took a bite of a hot dog on a Friday we'd wind up in hell around a camp fire with Pol Pot and Hitler; but I guess the rule book is different for priests...

When I was a kid we were told if we so much as took a bite of a hot dog on a Friday we'd wind up in hell around a camp fire with Pol Pot and Hitler; but I guess the rule book is different for priests...

Yeah also if you touch you will go blind. The same people said this. One dau people will realise there is no god and priests having sex with children, is NOT god testing their family's faith.

The irony is that the Catholic church turns a blind eye to priests marrying in South American countries since they discovered that priests simply aren't taken seriously if they're not married. Celibacy is an outmoded and misguided policy that should have been discarded ages ago. In the end I suspect that the reasons for celibacy are more financial than religious. The Catholic church is simply too cheap and tight-fisted to pay for the spouses and children of priests so it insists on them remaining celibate. And frankly celibacy is unnatural and it's small wonder that priests become sexually deviant. I would also like to add that the number of cases is vastly under-reported, and will remain so because of the religious complications adding to existing social pressure not to talk about child abuse, so the statistical debate is misleading.

Wow, didn't realize that the child-abuse issue had reached right up to the Pope, when he was Archbishop in Munich. And, unfortuntely, he handled it the same way Cardinal Law in Boston, and dozens of other cardinals and bishops did, by simply shifting the offender to another parish. No wonder he did not have the guts to demand resignations from the Irish bishops whom he met with a few weeks ago. He's as guilty as they are. As a practicing Catholic, I think the church has really lost complete moral authority due to the manner in which it has dealt with the sex scandal, and needs to look at all aspects of priestly life, including celibacy, to try to re-gain some credibility.

The irony is that the Catholic church turns a blind eye to priests marrying in South American countries since they discovered that priests simply aren't taken seriously if they're not married.

I've never heard that; it sounds like an urban legend.

People who take vows of celibacy don't suddenly find children attractive - these are pedophiles, pure and simple, and they would be abusers with or without vows of celibacy.

religions these days are run like businesses. Ban religions now!

People who take vows of celibacy don't suddenly find children attractive - these are pedophiles, pure and simple, and they would be abusers with or without vows of celibacy

I agree. They pray that they can control their sexual urges which prove to be more powerful than their faith in their religion.

People who take vows of celibacy don't suddenly find children attractive - these are pedophiles, pure and simple, and they would be abusers with or without vows of celibacy.

Not really, it is more about unnatural urges coming through denial of sex. It is like prison, homosexuality prevails because there is no other option.

Vows of celibacy go against the law of nature and should not be enforced.

When priests are assaulting people, mostly males, then it's gay sex. Should I not mention gay sex and just say that all these priests are all just pedophiles? < :-)

I remember reading somewhere that around 30% of priests are gay. Anybody have the link/stats/info?

I don't think celibacy is the problem either myself. Supposedly people go into the priesthood for spiritual reasons, if they don't want to abide by celibacy, then they should leave the church or go to a church that allows them to marry or w/e.

People need understand themselves instead of claiming "God called me". As Shakespeare wrote,"Know thyself".