TJP

The claim by the Vatican that journalists are spreading petite gossip about the Pope appears to be a defensive mechanism. However, denial and evasion of sexual abuses by priests will not remedy the problem or remove the stain.

The Roman Catholic priesthood, in the West, has been plagued with accusations of sexual abuse of minors. Thus, it would behoove the Roman Catholic hierarchy to expeditiously and openly deal with pedophilia in their ranks.

What is interesting, however, is the distinction between pedophiles and homosexuals. According to Joe Kort, researchers, such as Gregory Herk, on the topic of homosexuality and child molestation, define pedophilia as “a psychosexual disorder characterized by a preference for prepubescent children as sexual partners, which may or may not be acted upon” and sexual abuse as “actual sexual contact between an adult and someone who has not reached the legal age of consent.” Moreover, Kort notes that quite often pedophiles never develop a sexual orientation toward other adults.

Historically, the Roman Catholic hierarchy seldom brought pedophile priests to justice. In fact, they shuffled them from parish to parish to camouflage their misdeeds. Such protective behavior indicates participatory hierarchical collusion, which may be linked to broader institutional problems.

The Associated Press reported that “Lawyers in a Florida clergy sex abuse case say the Vatican office then headed by Pope Benedict XVI failed to remove an alleged pedophile from the priesthood for years, even when the priest himself asked to be defrocked.”

A study by Timothy Dailey and the Washington D.C.-based Family Research Council indicated a definitive link between male homosexuality and pedophilia. If such a link is factual, the priesthood problem might be wider than pedophilia, which would explain why the Catholic hierarchy has protected pedophile priests to the detriment of little boys and their families.

According to the Family Research Study (FRS), “pedophile themes can be found throughout "mainstream" gay literature, including fiction anthologies such as: The Penguin Book on International Gay Writing, The Gay Canon: What Every Gay Man Should Read, and A History of Gay Literature: The Male Tradition.”

Although, mainstream research groups reject the link between pedophilia and homosexuality; the link appears to be a logical behavioral progression. Thus, we ought not to rule out homosexual tendencies within the priesthood.

And, perhaps, it is this behavior that has made pedophilia so difficult to root out from the Catholic institution.

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