May 19, 2011--Blame It On Woodstock
The Culture War continues. This time within the Catholic Church.
In an attempt to find the "definitive answer" to what caused the sexual abuse crisis within the Church, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops--the very group that for years turned a blind eye to the scandal as it was revealed--commissioned a study by researchers at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
And the USCCB got the definitive answer it hoped and paid for--it wasn't the fault of priestly celibacy, homosexuality, or the Church hierarchy.
At the heart of the problem was the free love, sexual culture of the 1960s and 70s.
This reflects the views of the highest U.S. Catholic authorities and the Vatican itself, where Pope Benedict XVI continues to cite what, in Church circles, is called the "blame Woodstock" explanation--that priests at that time were so confused and poorly prepared for the changing sexual mores that were swirling about them that these cultural victims became so stressed that they had little choice but to turn to prepubescent children for relief.
The report (which you can read linked below in its entirety) further concludes that fewer than 5 percent of the priests who abused children were engaging in pedophilia--forcing sex on boys younger than 10. This finding will undoubtedly bring solace to excuse-makers within the Church.
A problem with this, however, is that the American Psychiatric Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classifies pedophilia as engaging in sexual behavior with prepubescent children age 13 or younger. If the John Jay hired hands had used this universal standard, the percentage of priests engaging in this aberrant practice would have been much, much higher. And if they had looked at their behavior with children between 13 and 18, the number who transgressed this way would be higher still.
The report also "finds" that as priests became discombobulated by what they saw gong on at Woodstock and among the youth in their very parishes, to find an outlet for their sexual frustration they turned, inexorably, to those closest at hand--choir boys.
If more girls had been around, the report implies, they too would have become priestly victims. But at least we would be able to breathe a small sigh of relief--the problem isn't about homosexuality. Just who was within literal reach.
Priests couldn't make the bar scene or hang out at rock-and-roll clubs or hit on women who were among their parishioner; but in their frenzy of confusion they, as Rona put it bluntly on the morning the report was released, had little choice but to get a nearby boy to give them a BJ to calm them down.
In an attempt to find the "definitive answer" to what caused the sexual abuse crisis within the Church, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops--the very group that for years turned a blind eye to the scandal as it was revealed--commissioned a study by researchers at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
And the USCCB got the definitive answer it hoped and paid for--it wasn't the fault of priestly celibacy, homosexuality, or the Church hierarchy.
At the heart of the problem was the free love, sexual culture of the 1960s and 70s.
This reflects the views of the highest U.S. Catholic authorities and the Vatican itself, where Pope Benedict XVI continues to cite what, in Church circles, is called the "blame Woodstock" explanation--that priests at that time were so confused and poorly prepared for the changing sexual mores that were swirling about them that these cultural victims became so stressed that they had little choice but to turn to prepubescent children for relief.
The report (which you can read linked below in its entirety) further concludes that fewer than 5 percent of the priests who abused children were engaging in pedophilia--forcing sex on boys younger than 10. This finding will undoubtedly bring solace to excuse-makers within the Church.
A problem with this, however, is that the American Psychiatric Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classifies pedophilia as engaging in sexual behavior with prepubescent children age 13 or younger. If the John Jay hired hands had used this universal standard, the percentage of priests engaging in this aberrant practice would have been much, much higher. And if they had looked at their behavior with children between 13 and 18, the number who transgressed this way would be higher still.
The report also "finds" that as priests became discombobulated by what they saw gong on at Woodstock and among the youth in their very parishes, to find an outlet for their sexual frustration they turned, inexorably, to those closest at hand--choir boys.
If more girls had been around, the report implies, they too would have become priestly victims. But at least we would be able to breathe a small sigh of relief--the problem isn't about homosexuality. Just who was within literal reach.
Priests couldn't make the bar scene or hang out at rock-and-roll clubs or hit on women who were among their parishioner; but in their frenzy of confusion they, as Rona put it bluntly on the morning the report was released, had little choice but to get a nearby boy to give them a BJ to calm them down.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:28 AM
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