In the first chapter of my reflections on the Church in the U.S. since Vatican II I wrote:
“…. the moral crisis facing the Church, … is not
“pedophilia” but stems from an inordinate amount of active homosexuals as
ordained priests and some inattentive bishops who have run interference for
them, all the consequences of a failure to uphold and live the Church’s sexual
moral teaching”.
George Weigel in a piece for National Review has noted this recently, and if one doubts, try
and obtain a copy of Fr. Rueda’s The Homosexual Network. It is fascinating reading and will leave the reader flabbergasted. Phillip Jenkins corroborates here.
As Fr. Z has summarized in relating Weigel:
Most clerical
abusers were not pedophiles, that is, men with a
chronic and strong sexual attraction to pre-pubescent
children. Most of
those abused (51 percent) were aged
eleven to fourteen and 27 percent of victims were fifteen to seventeen; [78% over 11] 16 percent were eight to ten and 6 percent were younger than
seven. Males between eleven
and fourteen account for more than 40 percent of all victims. Clerical ephebophilia (a
sexual attraction to adolescents, often boys) was clearly a serious problem. But
to label this a “pedophilia crisis” is ignorant, sloppy, or malicious. [We sometimes use
terms in loose ways, as a kind of shorthand. However, when the context is
more technical, it is necessary to use more accurate terms. I think some
people, by avoiding some of the technical terms, are actually applying
misdirection.]
So Cardinal; Archbishop Dolan is to be applauded for his recent ruminations, of which, more later.
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