The myth that the clergy abuse scandal has nothing to do with homosexuality is a politically correct mantra chanted by the same folks who’ve gotten us into this mess in the first place — backed by their ideological allies in the secular society. (Reminder: a full 80% of documented abuse instances in the U.S.A. were homosexual in nature.) Brian W. Clowes, Ph.D., director of research for Human Life International tackles the myth in his paper, “Homosexuality and the Church Crisis.”
Here is the paper’s abstract:
Due to clergy sex abuse scandals centered primarily in the Northern hemisphere, the moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church has been subjected to an opportunistic siege by prominent individuals and organizations who see the chance to advance their goals, including the ordination of women and the suspension of the requirement for priestly celibacy.
There is also a strongly defensive element to this strategy. Opponents of the Church know that there is a well-documented and strong correlation between male homosexuality and child sexual abuse, but claim that there is no evidence supporting this connection.
And, of course, those who are currently attacking the Church hope that they can undermine its moral authority to preach on the sinfulness of homosexual behavior and weaken its opposition to ersatz homosexual “marriage.”
This paper demonstrates that there is indeed a very strong link between male homosexuality and child sexual abuse. It also shows that there is a similar rate of child sexual abuse among other very large groups of adult males (e.g., Protestant clergy, who are usually married), thus proving that celibacy is not the root of the problem — homosexuality is.
