Why were there so many sexual abuse problems in the RCC?

[Apocalypse]

Originally posted by Dissident
the president is extremely busy yet he is allowed to have a wife. Well maybe not this lazy ass president. But Clinton was busy. He only slept like 3 hours a night.

Usually the president's kids are rather grown though, and they have people aside from their parents to keep watch on them.

[Dis]

the secret service? yes, very good guardians

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
2. The main (practical) arguement for not marrying is that priests are incredibly busy. If you look at the average schedule for most parish priests, there wouldn't be much time for family. Furthermore, look at many of the kids of protestant preachers. They get very little supervision. One of my friends years ago (before I knew him) always hung out at the house of a friend whose father was a priest because there was absolutely no supervision since the parent was always busy. I forget where the mother was exactly, but the point is, the father wasn't there to really raise the kid.

How about pastors, preachers, rabbis and etc.? Is there some reason why Catholic priests are busier? In some Protestant sects preachers are often expected to have another job to suppoort his family.
How about doctors?

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Dissident
the secret service? yes, very good guardians

HA! I'd like to see Ted try, just try to hit it!

[Ted Striker]

I thought the original reason for the Roman priests not marrying was because of land ownership.

They really need to let them marry.

[Vesayen]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


How about pastors, preachers, rabbis and etc.? Is there some reason why Catholic priests are busier? In some Protestant sects preachers are often expected to have another job to suppoort his family.
How about doctors?

Well us Jews dont see sex as dirty or sinfull, G-Ds first commandment was to go get it on, so dont toss us into that group .

I think the RCC line of reasoning is that sex is a distraction from their duties..... that logic is flawed as it causes other problems but thats the rationale.

[Seeker]

"Well us Jews dont see sex as dirty or sinfull, G-Ds first commandment was to go get it on, so dont toss us into that group "

yep, my favourite part of modern Jewish culture...a jewish friend once explained that before marriage it was basically acceptable for a young man to 'sow his wild oats' as they say.

[DinoDoc]

Many compared to what? The population at large?

[Apocalypse]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
How about pastors, preachers, rabbis and etc.? Is there some reason why Catholic priests are busier? In some Protestant sects preachers are often expected to have another job to suppoort his family.
How about doctors?

I didn't say Catholics were necessarily busier. In fact, I said that many protestant priests didn't watch their kids enough. And I've heard about the schedules of some priests. Their days are pretty packed. Not that supervising kids all the time is necessarily a good thing. Just that it isn't ideal since they usually don't have much time to themselves already. And furthermore, they need to be called on at any time to help someone in the hospital or some other emergency situation. It'd be much more difficult for them to be tied down by kids. Also, catholic parishes many times have more people being served than protestant ones.

[Ben Kenobi]

I don't think it's for anyone. It's not phsyically and mentally healthy.

Why not? Celibacy is healthy. Do you have any evidence that celibacy is unhealthy to people who undertake such a state willingly?

[Ming]

Do you have any "evidence" that it isn't

Logic tells us that ignoring a "basic" reproduction urge is not a good thing

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


HA! I'd like to see Ted try, just try to hit it!

I don't know, Bush's daughters seem kinda freaky!!!

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Ming
Do you have any "evidence" that it isn't

Do you have any evidence I'm not watching you at this very moment?

[Alexander's Horse]

The RCC isn't the only Christian church having this problem. It seems quite widespread.

The US bishops Congress found the proportion of paedophile priests was on average the same as the general population i.e. about 1%. They were shocked - they thought it would be less.

It's only in the last 20 years or so that sexuality has been openly discussed or broadly understood. I'm not sure some of these priests saw what they were doing as sexual, which would be regarded as intercourse. Bad, impure, wrong? Yes they knew that. The taboos around sex, the inability to talk about it, also explain the cover ups as much as avoidng scandal.

Arrested sexual development explains some of it - many of these priests were recruited into "junior seminaries" at a very young age and their sexual development was stunted.

Initiation practices could be another part of it. Some were abused by other clergy and may have seen that as some sort of initiation.

Celibacy and the loneliness of priesthood could be another factor. But other societies manage it.

[Ben Kenobi]

Logic tells us that ignoring a "basic" reproduction urge is not a good thing

Presumes that such an urge is 'basic'.

I'm not so sure this is the case. I grant that celibacy is not for everyone, which is why people who burn are encouraged to marry.