The Church’s Celibacy: Myth or Reality?

That is an oxymoron. Thousands of historical child sex abuse suggest sex has always been available to the Clergy. It’s whether they’re caught or not that makes the difference.

There are three important things to remark about the Church and its relationship to celibacy: 1) There’s been an abuse of power to obtain sex from the most vulnerable; 2) Cover-ups were made to conceal offenders; 3) Celibacy is an action that’s not practised.

Today, I will comment on issue number three and let the Governments, Police, and other departments deal with the other two, for I feel my issue lies at the root of a long-standing and continuing problem.

The Church is definitely NOT celibate and, most likely, never has been. A plethora of sexual abuse cases indicate the latter is true and has occurred for a long time, extending right back to the period when the Church invented celibacy — a time when Popes, Priests, and all Clergy could marry. Sex was okay for every adult, married or not.

Say what?

Oh yes, in earlier times, abstinence wasn’t practised. In fact, Clergy could have sex. Thirty-nine successive Popes were married men (women were Priests, too) and could bonk themselves silly anytime. For many hundreds of years, everything moved this way. No one thought of bringing celibacy into Christian teachings.

And then one anti-social, asexual Pope came along and decreed, “Enough! Save yourself for God and your Christian Marriage!”

It simultaneously turned abstinence into doctrine and a lie. Men and women in the Clergy said one thing but did another. They sneaked around to get some me-time. This change may not have turned into an atrocity-sized issue at the start, but successive generations of Clergy distorted the meaning of sex. Nature was replaced with shame and guilt, and it attracted the oddballs. The Church became a beacon for those who struggled with sex and socializing — a perfect scene set to nourish a flourishing range of confused men (women, too) to govern themselves inside what they see as a more comfortable sexual ethos.

Children. Why not? Easy targets. No one will believe a child’s word over one from a man of God, right?

Let’s get it straight. That’s not celibacy. It’s not legal, and it’s definitely not celibacy.

The Catholic Church (and others) simply like the idea of telling people to be celibate, reciting a written rule originating from an old decree to keep the revenue source in-house. But what they say and do are two different things. They have sex. I know of a Priest who hires hookers. He takes his desires to an adult woman in the community, and he gets his action through her.

This is not celibacy, either.

I’m not anti-Church. I’m anti-celibacy. I like sex. It’s been (mostly) kind to me. I applaud the hooker-hiring Priest for doing the right and natural thing. What’s wrong is having to hide it and lie about being celibate. It gives the impression celibacy matters and is being practised faithfully.

It isn’t.

It’s wrong to force something unnatural on a human being and then use guilt and shame to manipulate them. Celibacy is an unreasonable vow. It’s verging on another form of sexual abuse. Any form of abuse can easily turn the abused into an abuser, right?

The largest Church groups in Australia are now confronted with the reality of what this part of their doctrine has done to the people in their charge. No longer does the community excuse the Church’s behaviour or its cover-ups to hide their pedophiles. No one is safe. Perpetrators will be found and rooted out.

The National Redress Scheme deals with the Church’s past and puts a price on the damage it caused… but what about the Church’s sexual future? Will it continue to practice these outdated sexual practices and keep attracting the dysfunctional ones into their fold?

Redress for now, but remove this absurd celibacy law to improve the Church’s future. Get rid of it today. It won’t stop the pedophiles, but it will thin them out, knocking apart the secret boy’s club that has protected the sexual misfits inside it.

In my novel SEETHINGS, I examine how much the celibacy rule has negatively affected modern marriage — the Church’s tendrils extending into the bedrooms of good, well-meaning Christians.

-M

‘Forman’s writing style is artful, with the protagonist Mitchell’s warped thought processes masterfully exposed. The author has a powerful and vivid command of language and his word pictures are stark and disturbingly real.’

Linda J Bettenay, author of ‘Secrets Mothers Keep’ and ‘Wishes For Starlight’