The Duty of a Good Catholic: Just Say No To Gay Marriage
By
Leah Waldron
Staff Writer
Last week, in an effort to ward off gay marriage legislation in the United Kingdom, Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith, two of England's highest-ranking Roman Catholics, drafted an anti-gay marriage letter that was delivered to 2,500 churches in the United Kingdom.
The letter is filled with Catholic calls to action, including this gem:
"Society recognizes marriage as an important institution for these same reasons: to enhance stability in society and to respect and support parents in the crucial task of having children and bringing them up as well as possible...[Catholics have a] "duty to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations."
A duty? When an official leader of the Roman Catholic Church tells millions of Catholic parishioners that they have a duty to protect children, I can't help but do a spit take.
According to a 2004 John Jay Insititute Report on child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, 10,667 allegations of sexual child abuse were made between 1950 and 2002. To fully comprehend this statistic, that equals 17 cases a month for 52 years. And these are just the reported cases.
Studies like this, as well as the protective and secretive nature of the Catholic Church, have led to worldwide debate on the link between celibacy and pedophilia. According to Professor Klaus Beier at the Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine at Berlin's Charite Hospital, pedophilia may be more rampant in the Catholic Church because: “If you are already struggling with a conflicted sexuality, including pedophile tendencies, then it is attractive to become part of an institution that obliges you to be celibate.”
The Roman Catholic Church has admitted to relocating priests after sex abuse was reported. In 2009, Roger Mahony, Archdiocese of Los Angeles gave this statement in reference to priest relocation:
"In those years ago, decades ago, people didn't realize how serious this was, and so, rather than pulling people out of ministry directly and fully, they were moved."
In other words, the Catholic Church has evolved to recognize that sexually abusing a child is wrong. Oh, and relocating a pedophile priest to a new church, where they can abuse a new crop of young parishioners, is also wrong.
Lesson learned. And Catholics, dutifully, have forgiven them. Or at least I think they have. Someone had to fund those 2,500 anti-gay marriage letters that were mailed to every church in the U.K.
If you are Catholic, the next time you receive a letter (or your priest attempts to read one during mass), consider asking your Archbishop to redirect your cash at solving the problem of priest pedophilia. When it comes to protecting children, Catholics have more important things to conquer than the fight against gay marriage.
The letter is filled with Catholic calls to action, including this gem:
"Society recognizes marriage as an important institution for these same reasons: to enhance stability in society and to respect and support parents in the crucial task of having children and bringing them up as well as possible...[Catholics have a] "duty to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations."
A duty? When an official leader of the Roman Catholic Church tells millions of Catholic parishioners that they have a duty to protect children, I can't help but do a spit take.
According to a 2004 John Jay Insititute Report on child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, 10,667 allegations of sexual child abuse were made between 1950 and 2002. To fully comprehend this statistic, that equals 17 cases a month for 52 years. And these are just the reported cases.
Studies like this, as well as the protective and secretive nature of the Catholic Church, have led to worldwide debate on the link between celibacy and pedophilia. According to Professor Klaus Beier at the Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine at Berlin's Charite Hospital, pedophilia may be more rampant in the Catholic Church because: “If you are already struggling with a conflicted sexuality, including pedophile tendencies, then it is attractive to become part of an institution that obliges you to be celibate.”
The Roman Catholic Church has admitted to relocating priests after sex abuse was reported. In 2009, Roger Mahony, Archdiocese of Los Angeles gave this statement in reference to priest relocation:
"In those years ago, decades ago, people didn't realize how serious this was, and so, rather than pulling people out of ministry directly and fully, they were moved."
In other words, the Catholic Church has evolved to recognize that sexually abusing a child is wrong. Oh, and relocating a pedophile priest to a new church, where they can abuse a new crop of young parishioners, is also wrong.
Lesson learned. And Catholics, dutifully, have forgiven them. Or at least I think they have. Someone had to fund those 2,500 anti-gay marriage letters that were mailed to every church in the U.K.
If you are Catholic, the next time you receive a letter (or your priest attempts to read one during mass), consider asking your Archbishop to redirect your cash at solving the problem of priest pedophilia. When it comes to protecting children, Catholics have more important things to conquer than the fight against gay marriage.
