A Catholic Layman's View On The Sex Scandals In The Catholic Church

Technically, the majority were NOT pedophile priests. Pedophiles go after pre-pubescent children. Something like 80% of the priests went after males and a majority of those were teenagers. So it is not pedophilia, but unchaste homosexuality. To use pedophilia to describe the problem is incorrect for the vast majority of the abusive priests. These homosexual predators and molesters are ultimately responsible for their actions and must answer to God...not only for the breaking of their vows and the abuses themselves, but also for the scandal they cause and the foreseen effects on the children in the future.

It is easy to understand why unchaste homosexuals and molesters would want to be in a group of men who know children will look up to them and who are easily influenced by men of God. It is harder to understand how so many were able to be successful at this deception.

Only God can judge without error, but do others appear to have an equal responsibility for the extent of the scandal...other than the abusers themselves and those who did not act upon reasonable suspicions of the deviant potential of some candidates and let them flood through the gateway to the priesthood? What about the bishops who were aware of abuses and just transferred the abusers time and time again?

American bishops have tightened the scrutiny of those entering the seminary and have acted with greater justice for those who have been abused. Some priests were defrocked and monetary awards given to victims. Progress has definitely been made, but a related issue still concerns this writer: What is the obligation of bishops who are aware of continuing homosexual activity of priests who have consensual sex with other men but who do not molest children? What about bishops who ignore these actions and allow those priests to continue to minister daily to parishioners?

One might ask how can the Catholic Church be the one, true Church instituted by Christ in view of all the sex scandals. These scandals illustrate the free will of all men even if they are priests. It also shows the laxity of those who were supposed to screen those candidates for the seminary before they became priests. They do nothing to lessen the truth about the Catholic Church being instituted by Christ