No one can doubt that Fr. Tom Doyle was instrumental in first revealing the extent of the Scandal as far back as the 80s and was treated very poorly for his efforts. And there’s also little doubt that his raw treatment by the Church he had been bonded to as a priest left its marks on him. Frankly, his coziness with Voice of the Faithful in recent years has left me wary of him. It seems I had good reason.
Doyle has co-authored a book with former priests A.W.R Sipe and Patrick Wall entitled “Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church’s 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse.”
When the press release begins by referencing The Da Vinci Code, you know it’s trouble. The book claims “that sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by Catholic clergy not only spans the Church’s history, but has in fact, been well-known and protected by its hierarchy for centuries.” Is it likely that there have been bad apples in the priesthood and the episcopacy for the past 2,000 years? Is the Church made up of both sinners and saints? Of course! Certainly, there have always been perverts in collars, just as there have been perverts in the pews. We’ve also had more than our fair share of ambitious power-hungry, butt-covering bishops, but you’ll find men and women like that in every field of human endeavor.
In the end, we find out what this is all about:
The book also examines the moral questions related to the celibate practice of all Catholic clergy, and how it relates to why sexual abuse has been such an inflammatory issue for the hierarchy-now forcing the Church to re-examine itself in terms of its ideology of sexuality, its responsibility to its members, and its role in today’s society.
Ah yes, celibacy is a perversion that warps your very soul!. If only priests could have sex with their wives, then there would be no abuse. Never mind that most of the abuse in the Scandal was of a homosexual nature. Never mind that in the vast majority of cases of sexual abuse of children in society as a whole, married men are the culprits.
In their efforts to attack the Church’s teaching on chastity, celibacy, and single-hearted dedication of the priestly vocation, Doyle, Sipe, and Wall are willing to drag the entire Church down into the mud and soil her completely. Anything for their agenda.
(Incidentally, if celibacy only started in the past 1,000 years, how to explain all that child abuse in the previous 1,000? Hmmm?)
[Thanks to Dragon and Phoenix for the link.]Technorati Tags: Catholic, celibacy, history, priesthood, sex-abuse
