Could the Catholic Male-only Priesthood be the reason there’s so much child abuse?
Think about it. Do we hear about Child Sex Abuse in the Episcopalian Church? Could it be because in that Protestant denomination, WOMEN are allowed to be priests. WOMEN are in positions of power.
The Catholic Church is a notorious partiarchy. Additionally, the vow of celibacy actually then self-selects for men that might have sexual identity and sexual predatory natures. Here’s the theory: Let’s say a man has pedophilic tendencies. It’s upsetting to him. He prays that this vice be removed. He believes if he actually turns his life over to God that he will not act out on his sexual perversions. And then, lo and behold, he becomes a priest only to find other men with similar perversions. These priests have absolute authority. Children obey them. And, well, the rest is horror for the children.
The recent report about the abuse of over 600 children in the Baltimore area from the 1940s to 2002 shocks the nation. But it shouldn’t. It’s been the way of the Catholic Church — at least in this country — for a very, very long time.
I was raised a Catholic and went to Catholic school. The power of the priest was supreme. The nuns were slaves to the priests. When a priest came into the classroom, it’s as if the King has arrived. We stood, heads bowed.
I remember once when one priest came to my classroom for a visit. He walked down the aisle petting the heads of some, the shoulders of others, and in my case, gave me a “loving” tap on my behind. It felt wrong, but there was no way to complain.
The Catholic Church frankly hates women. The mostly white men in the U.S. Catholic Church fear women. They force the nuns to be subservient and that’s what’s modeled to the children.
The Catholic Church needs a complete reform. And they should begin with elevating women to equal status.
Each day, many former Catholics leave the church. Luckily for us, even if they don’t reform, there soon won’t be many of the faithful left.