The AP is reporting on controversial remarks made by the Holy Father's right hand man, Crdl Bertone in Chile:
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, made the comments [linking pedophilia to homosexuality] during a news conference Monday in Chile, where one of the church's highest-profile pedophile cases involves a priest having sex with young girls.
"Many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and pedophilia. But many others have demonstrated, I have been told recently, that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia. That is true," said Bertone. "That is the problem."
If the translation of Crdl Bertone's comments is correct, then I believe he is mistaken about there being a link between homosexuality and pedophilia.
Some distinctions are necessary to make his mistake clear. The very definition of the word "homosexual" is "one who is sexually attracted to one's own sex," perhaps even exclusively so attracted. "Pedophilia" is a sexual attraction to children (pre-pubescents, non-adolescents) with no indicated preference for one sex over another. Psychologists do not distinguish between "homosexual pedophiles" and "heterosexual pedophiles." If any such term were to be used, it would be "bisexual pedophiles."
Pedophiles tend to be opportunistic, molesting when the chance to do so arises. Generally, they also regard certain physical characteristics (hair and skin color, precociousness) as the most important in choosing their victims.
The sexual attraction to adolescents is called ephebophilia. In the U.S. clerical abuse cases, the overwhelming number of victims were adolescent males, mostly in the 15-17 year old range. In classical Greece a sexual relationship between an adult male and an adolescent male was called pederasty and was accepted as a positive stage in the younger male's education as a citizen. Once the boy became a man, the relationship stopped. If it did not, the couple was often subject to public humiliation and risked being socially ostracized. There was nothing more damning to a Greek man's virtue than to be though of as a woman.
It is clear from the evidence gathered by the John Jay Study on the Church's abuse scandals in the U.S. that there is a direct link to be drawn between sexually active homosexual priests and the sexual molestation of adolescent males. This does not mean that all homosexual priests are molesters. Nor does it mean that most homosexuals in the general population are molesters. In fact, the overwhelming majority of molesters in the U.S. identify as heterosexual.
The media persists in calling clergy involved in the abuse of adolescents "pedophile priests" b/c they are loathe to draw attention to the politically incorrect fact that a vast majority of abusers were "ephebophile priests," thus avoiding an emphasis on the link between the sexual abuse cases and clerical homosexuality.
By the same token, some in the Church have wrongly concluded that a homosexual inclination (exclusive of behavior) is a sufficient reason to exclude a man from seminary or religious formation. This sort of exclusion fails to take into consideration that not all homosexual men experience their sexuality in exactly the same way. The "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" approach to excluding same-sex attracted men from seminary is uncharitable and unjust. By excluding homosexual men who are capable of living chastely in sexual continence, the Church is depriving herself of the service of potentially exemplary priests and encouraging those called to priesthood to begin their ministries under a shadow of deceit. The emphasis in formation needs to be squarely and heavily placed on chaste, celibate continence, regardless of sexual orientation.
It is entirely possible that Crdl Bertone is confused about the terminology he is using, or perhaps he is trying to point out that the current crisis is mostly about sexually active homosexual clergy. Whatever he may have intended, it is wrong to suggest that there is a link between homosexuality and pedophilia. They are two completely different burdens.
Pedophiles tend to be opportunistic, molesting when the chance to do so arises. Generally, they also regard certain physical characteristics (hair and skin color, precociousness) as the most important in choosing their victims.
The sexual attraction to adolescents is called ephebophilia. In the U.S. clerical abuse cases, the overwhelming number of victims were adolescent males, mostly in the 15-17 year old range. In classical Greece a sexual relationship between an adult male and an adolescent male was called pederasty and was accepted as a positive stage in the younger male's education as a citizen. Once the boy became a man, the relationship stopped. If it did not, the couple was often subject to public humiliation and risked being socially ostracized. There was nothing more damning to a Greek man's virtue than to be though of as a woman.
It is clear from the evidence gathered by the John Jay Study on the Church's abuse scandals in the U.S. that there is a direct link to be drawn between sexually active homosexual priests and the sexual molestation of adolescent males. This does not mean that all homosexual priests are molesters. Nor does it mean that most homosexuals in the general population are molesters. In fact, the overwhelming majority of molesters in the U.S. identify as heterosexual.
The media persists in calling clergy involved in the abuse of adolescents "pedophile priests" b/c they are loathe to draw attention to the politically incorrect fact that a vast majority of abusers were "ephebophile priests," thus avoiding an emphasis on the link between the sexual abuse cases and clerical homosexuality.
By the same token, some in the Church have wrongly concluded that a homosexual inclination (exclusive of behavior) is a sufficient reason to exclude a man from seminary or religious formation. This sort of exclusion fails to take into consideration that not all homosexual men experience their sexuality in exactly the same way. The "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" approach to excluding same-sex attracted men from seminary is uncharitable and unjust. By excluding homosexual men who are capable of living chastely in sexual continence, the Church is depriving herself of the service of potentially exemplary priests and encouraging those called to priesthood to begin their ministries under a shadow of deceit. The emphasis in formation needs to be squarely and heavily placed on chaste, celibate continence, regardless of sexual orientation.
It is entirely possible that Crdl Bertone is confused about the terminology he is using, or perhaps he is trying to point out that the current crisis is mostly about sexually active homosexual clergy. Whatever he may have intended, it is wrong to suggest that there is a link between homosexuality and pedophilia. They are two completely different burdens.
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