Vatican should allow priests to have sex with adults

Very few men have much talent for celibacy, let alone for chastity. When priests are deprived of legitimate sexual outlets, many become depressed and alcoholic, some conduct secret affairs with adults, and a few turn to persons under 18. This damages teens and children. In recent years, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States has been in an uproar about sexual abuse of juveniles by "celibate" priests. Bishops in other countries would like to pretend this problem is limited to one country --- but that's a lie.

Soon the Dallas Morning News will document the obvious -- that "celibate priests" are offending in many countries, not just the U.S. [ http://www.DallasNews.com ]. *

And that the Roman Church protects offending priests by shifting them from country to country, and keeps them working.
Why do bishops protect these priests? And why don't they send them to isolated adult-only monasteries, far away from juveniles?

I think the Church protects them because it suffers from a shortage of priests. Over the past few decades, fewer and fewer young men volunteer for the priesthood. So the bishops think they need to keep every current priest, including those who offend. Just as an army, running short of troops, will issue a "stop-loss order" to delay discharges.

So, if the R.C. Church could recruit more priests, it might not need to keep offenders on active duty.

One way to recruit more priests, in the Latin Rite, is to make the celibacy vow optional, for ordinary ("secular") priests.
And to allow a priest to renounce his celibacy vow, if he changes his mind later.

This doesn't require any fundamental change in Catholic theology. Celibacy, so prominent in the Latin Rite, isn't universal throughout the Roman Church. The Pope ALREADY allows married priests in some of the eastern rites, and in the RCC's Anglican Rite.

Another way is to allow women to become priests. (Conservatives might argue that all of Jesus' apostles were men, therefore all priests should be men. If so, then they should realize that all of them were JEWISH men. Jesus chose no gentiles. So if priests must be the same as the twelve apostles, a gentile church is in big trouble.)

Or, if reform of priesthood is impossible, then the RC should allow deacons to perform more of the priestly duties. The deaconate should be open to all classes of adult Roman Catholics -- including women, married persons, queers, and transgendered persons.

-- Watching Rome
June 18, 2004
...........................................................................
Please forward as you think appropriate.
...........................................................................
* [Here's a summary from National Public Radio's Morning Edition show, Friday, June 18, 2004:
"The priest abuse scandal is an international one, according to a report to be published by the Dallas Morning News. Between 100 and 200 Catholic clergy around the world were moved from country to country after they faced criminal charges or serious allegations of sex offenses against minors, the newspaper's 18-month investigation finds. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Dallas Morning News reporter Brooks Egerton. " To hear interview of Egerton online, try
( http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=18-Jun-2004&prgId=3 )
[The Dallas Morning News story (or series) may begin on Father's Day(!), Sunday, June 20, 2004, at
( http://www.DallasNews.com ). ]
..............................................................
###