The release of a grand jury report on the Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse over many years in Pennsylvania prompts me to post this diagnosis which I shared three years ago.
The question to be asked is why bishops, and others in the world-wide Roman Catholic hierarchy, protected their clergy and failed to protect their children? The answer, I believe, lies in the unnatural requirement of celibacy for clergy. To expect clergy to live celibate lives goes against nature. To give priests the absolute authority in their congregations, and to deny lay people any say in the government of the church, so that their voices are discounted, dismissed, or unheard, creates an unhealthy environment. Martin Luther recognized this in the sixteenth century when he revealed the corruption that was endemic to the nature of the church and promulgated his understanding of the priesthood of all believers: that everyone was a priest before God and needed no one to be a mediator between himself and the Lord. Jesus was the only mediator or High Priest needed for access to God.
Jesus said, “Do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father in heaven” (Matthew 23:9). I have never allowed anyone to call me Father for the reason that it implies an attitude of subservience or dependence. Of course priests love to be called ‘Father’ (or today, ‘Mother’) because it flatters them. When I have participated in sexual abuse or harassment training the message that I have received is that abuse happens out of a need of the abuser for a sense of power over another. Power corrupts. When priests play at being God to their parishioners they commit the worst of sins. To use their power to molest children is not only a sin but a crime that cannot be swept under the rug.
The other reason the Roman Catholic Church protected their abusive priests is their belief in the indelibility of Holy Orders. The effect of the sacrament of order is to impart the Holy Spirit and to impress an indelible character, which permanently distinguishes those in orders from the laity. The priest is ordained to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass and to forgive sins and so continue the salvation of Christ on the Cross. This gift of ordination imparts an indelible character on the priest which cannot be removed except by the Vicar of Christ, the Pope. Therefore a bishop cannot fire a priest for misconduct without a lengthy process of laicization.
This view of the priesthood is one of the reasons the Roman Catholic Church cannot recognize the ministry of other churches. We do not have an indelibility of ordination and do not believe in an apostolic succession of ordination. Protestant clergy can and are fired and their ordination is revoked by their denomination when there is misconduct. We can be held accountable by church committees of inquiry on which lay people serve. While moral failure occurs amongst Protestant clergy there is a healthier environment of accountability than exists in the Roman Catholic Church.
The situation will not improve in the RCC until they have solved the problem of the requirement of celibacy and the heresy of the sacrament of the indelibility of Holy Orders. The Form for the Solemnization of Matrimony in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer included one of the causes for which Matrimony was ordained. “It was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication; that such persons as have not the gift of continency might marry and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ’s body.” Marriage would remedy many of the abuses that are inherent in the unnatural caste system of the Roman Catholic priesthood and which damages their credibility and witness to the Gospel.
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Dear Ted,
First, congratulations on your retirement and your many, many years of meaningful ministry around the world. Well done!
Second, this article is spot on about the RCC and the problems deep within the church, which have created an environment to foster the sexual abuse of boys and girls by priests and bishops and the RCC’s shameful coverup of the horrific crimes committed by their clergy against children for decades. I don’t think investigators have yet scratched the surface of the true number of children abused within the church.
The Pope’s most recent statements are hopelessly inadequate and the measures you suggest are the only solution to the church’s fundamental problem with their priests and bishops. One can only pray and hope that the RCC will finally reach the same conclusion. Since it is just now apologizing for conduct in 1204 (to the Danes, perhaps, I can’t recall), I’m not optimistic.
Finally, I wish you and Antoinette much happiness and excellent health in the years ahead.
+ Wendell Hall
Wendell, Thank you. You are so right. One of their problems is that with no wives to confront them with the truth they carry on with their old boys’ club. Their misogyny is covered up by their veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. While most of the priests I encountered in San Antonio were admirable and great friends, their culture is medieval. Ted
Thank you Pastor Ted. As always your comments and insights have strengthened my walk with Christ.
Many blessings as you head into this new season.
Rob Goyette
Ted…No surprise that your hit the nail – squarely.
Celibacy is a self-imposed mandate from sinful man who we know is laden with error. This 12th century restriction belongs to that age and not in the 21st century.
The Pope should fix the problem by convening the College of Cardinals together to embrace reality – that celibacy is outdated and not biblical (minor detail).
Such a move would also fix the RCC’s shortage of priests.
Dear Ted, Thanks for this thoughtful analysis.
My own view is that another element is to encourage into RC ordination men who are homosexually inclined as a refuge from the need to consider marriage. It seems not too great a step to see the temptation to physical expression among those similarly inclined. And the rumours are strong.
Which is not to say there are not very many honourable exceptions.
Ian
Ted,
Thoughtful insight into the RC requirements for priests.
Thank you for opening this discussion.
Ted, this article was spot on. Thanks for having the courage to speak so clearly as to the problem of unmarried clergy. When pressed, Catholic clergy will admit the rule against marriage could always be changed, I heard a bishop from Wisconsin say in an interview last week that practically speaking, if priests got married and then divorced, the church couldn’t afford to take care of them and their families financially. I didn’t think that was a compelling reason.
Congratulations on your retirement. I hope you are able to write and do other things that bring joy to you and Antoinette. I do appreciate that you have this blog so we can stay connected.
Judson
this is the RCC #MeToo moment. Now the Pope himself is implicated on coverups and collusion. I guess he can forgive himself!!!!! Good to hear from you Judson. I follow you on Facebook.