husker wrote:I'd have to look I posted from another article there are around 44,000 priests, I do not recall how that is qualified but 44,000 divided by 4,450 claims - that's a terrible number!!!
Those are the number of claims not the number of priests accused. Many of them are repeat offenders.
The percentage of pedophile priests is usually put at around 2% with some saying that it is as high as 3%. I can't see how the Church would effectively prevent those few people from becoming priests. If every man in American had the unsupervised access to children and respect that these priests had, I would imagine that the rate of pedophilia among the general population would be around 2%.
The most important step, IMO, is to prevent repeat offenses. That's the most obvious and effective measure. There have been steps taken towards that goal since the scandal broke.
Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People Revised Edition
They are now required to report cases of sexual abuse, past or present, to the civil authorities. Internally, there is now a one strike and you're out rule.
I'm all for married clergy but not because it would prevent sexual abuse. It won't. I don't think pedophilia is something you can identify in a candidate for the priesthood.
And yes, there are married priests. Celibacy is a law of the Roman Catholic Church, not a divine law. So Eastern Catholic Rite priests can be married (they are not bound by the canon laws of the Roman Church) and the vow of celibacy for married Protestant ministers who convert are regularly waved. Past popes have been married. The law is of a practical nature, not a theological one. Though the Catholic Church is richer than any other religious organization in the world, that's only because of its size. On the local parish level, they rake in less money than comparable Protestant churches because Catholics are not required to tithe but contribute any amount they wish. So the salaries of priests are around the poverty line and very often significantly below. You need a lot more money to support a wife and kids. Also priests with families have less time and are less able to move around.
I think with some planning, celibacy, can be phased out over time. I think it has to be done eventually anyway. The number of priests are rapidly dwindling.
Also, there is a great deal of good that priests do with children. Many of these priests, because they can't have children of their own, care for the children of their parish like they were their own kids. The kids see their priests as a father figure, or at least an uncle. I don't think that's a bad thing and I don't think it needs to. One of the effects of this scandal has been that people are now more likely to speak out against sexual abuse. The laity can still trust their priests as long as they are also willing to speak out if there is misconduct.
