part 2...
You have written that the numbers of Catholic priests accused are no higher, proportionally, than other denominations and other services professionals. Does that still ring true, even with the latest revelations out of Boston and so many other places?
Always remember that there are a lot of Catholic clergy compared to those of other denominations, and if we are counting cases that go back to the 1960s, any numbers we use have to take account of everyone who was a priest or religious in the United States in the last 40 years or so — what is that, perhaps 200,000 individuals?
If we assume that 2 or 2.5% of clergy are involved with minors — which seems likely — that suggests an offending population around 4 or 5000. That number is well in keeping with all the cases that have come to light in the last 20 years or so. Don't forget, many of the cases arising now involve acts from the 1970s and before. Also, don't assume that every charge against a priest is automatically justified. Even when the Church settles a case, that does not necessarily involve an admission of guilt. In Civil 'cases, it is often cleverer to cut your losses and settle out of court.
Is the Catholic Church getting an unfair rap in the media because the media fundamentally misunderstand all this?
I think so, both in the exclusive focus on the Catholic side of things, and the exaggeration of what they are supposed to have done ("pedophiles"). I am also shocked by the disingenuous neglect of the legal factors involved in all these cases, and the suggestion that the lawyers representing the victims are always crusaders for truth and justice. A lot are sharks, pure and simple, who shamelessly exploit the media to promote anti-clerical stereotypes.
They are also misusing it to make the issue celibacy, aren't they? This isn't about men who are frustrated because they've taken a vow of chastity, is it?
I would point to the many cases of offending clergy in denominations that allow marriage. If some one produces statistics suggesting a higher offense rate among celibate clergy, I will be happy to accept those figures, to admit defeat, and to change my argument. But I'm still waiting for a worthwhile study on those lines.
Why is it then that there are so many homosexuals, it seems, in the priesthood and seminaries?
I do believe that the rate of gay clergy is far higher than in the population at large. Partly, this is because gay subcultures developed during the 1970s, partly because the exodus of other clergy in this time meant that bishops had to accept the situation or be left with no priests. Of course, a man with homosexual tendencies might make a magnificent priest — as I understand it. Catholic teaching asserts that the tendency itself is not sinful.
Do you see this all getting worse before better?
The main danger presently is financial — litigation in the next few years could be disastrously expensive, and it will be hard to find impartial juries in New England especially. Perhaps the only change could come if a flagrantly false accusation was made. This is after all what defused the panic in 1993, when [Chicago] Cardinal [Joseph] Bernardin was wrongly accused.
What would you suggest in terms of solutions for the Catholic bishops in the United states?
Think much harder about presenting the case for the Church and it's priests; don't accept media definitions of the crisis; don't be afraid to counterattack. Make it clear that mistakes have been made, victims have been hurt, and huge reparation is owed to them; also that wrongdoers will be purged — but that having said all this, the American Church is not going out of business on this matter.
I would also ask liberal critics of the Church to think very, very seriously about what they are doing — do they really, really want to turn this whole affair into an attack on homosexual men who have sex with teenagers? What would that do to other issues in which gay activism is deeply involved, e.g. concerning gay adoptions, gays in the Scout movement etc? Many gays may dislike the Church hierarchy, but do they really want to see an anti-gay panic stemming from this affair?
How did you come to study sexual issues in the context religion?
The topic brought together two of my major interests. I have published on the history of sexual abuse and molestation, in books like Moral Panic (1998); and I am interested in bigotry and racist movements in American history [Hoods and Shirts, 1997]. This topic brought the themes together perfectly, since I was able to recognize the power of the visceral anti-Catholic imagery that was pervading coverage of the clergy-abuse issue when it surfaced in the late 1980's.
In your next book you write about global Christianity. In the context of the whole "Catholic world," how big of a role does the United States and this mess play?
Americans and Europeans often forget what a small proportion of the Catholic world they represent — and that share is declining steadily. Consequently, they ignore the fact that the Vatican has to take account of global matters, and won't jump to the voices coming out of Boston or Chicago. Of course the Vatican is so conservative on social and sexual matters — they have seen the population projections, and they can count! This current crisis might actually reduce U.S. influence in the catholic world, especially if vocations fall any further. Personally, I note that the American Church was missionary territory until 1908 — I wonder if it might regain that status by 2008 or so?
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