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Catholic church sex abuse 'caused by homosexuals, not paedophiles'

Man, everything is our fault! Pssft! This guy is really splitting hairs. - DG

Catholic church sex abuse 'caused by homosexuals, not paedophiles'

A Vatican official has said that the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church was caused by gay men preying on teenage boys, rather than paedophilia.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's permanent observer to the UN, read out a statement after a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva.

He said: "Of all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90 per cent belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17."

Tomasi added that it would be "more correct" to refer to ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males, than paedophilia.

The statement also attacked other religions, with Tomasi saying that most US churches embroiled in abuse scandals were Protestant, adding that the problem was also common in Jewish communities.

More here.

Tags: Catholic Church, Christianity, Vatican, ephebophilia, homosexuals, hypocrisy, pedophelia, sexual abuse

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Erin K. Clark on October 4, 2009 at 7:35am

Huh - I can just see this round table discussion taking place somewhere nice:

"Darn! Another abuse scandal! What excuse will the public buy this time?"
"Satan?"
"Already blame everything else on him ... anyone else?"
"Ooh! Porn!"
"Can't, we already blame porn for masturbation."
"Well ... I suppose there's always ... gays?"
"Gays?"
"Totally. It's been a while since we pinned the collapse of traditional marriage values on 'em, let's tag this and see what happens."
"Excellent idea, your Holiness."
"Goddidit."

Permalink Reply by Nate on October 4, 2009 at 8:22am

Sounds like Tomasi's suffering from Catholic guilt about his own ephebophilia. He's right about clerics from other faiths being equally guilty of abuse of the children entrusted to them as "men of God". It just seems that the close contact between priests and young boys, unique to Catholicism, has given the Church greater exposure to the potential for abuse. I wonder if the abuse arises from the situation or if some actually enter the priesthood because of this nasty little "perk"- access to obedient children that view them with awe. Probably a little bit of both. When there are constraints placed upon mature sexual activity- be they external(vow of celibacy, rigid artificial morality, etc.) or internal(insecurity about maintaining relationships with self-aware adults, personal hang-ups, history of childhood abuse, etc.)- many will then direct their sexual power at those most accessible to them.

Any mediocre psychologist knows that there's no more a relationship between homosexuality and pedophilia/ephebophilia than there is between heterosexuality and pedophilia/ephebophilia. It's common sense.

Permalink Reply by Barb on October 5, 2009 at 1:26pm

I'm scratching my head over Archbishop S T's categorizing 11 year old boys as adolescent. Last I looked 11 year old's were little kids!

The most disgusting thing is, the catholic church covered this thing up and thus perpetuated it. Pointing fingers at a sexual orientation that has nothing to do with paedophilia is just another straw on an already broken camel's back.

Permalink Reply by Mary O'Grady on October 9, 2009 at 2:14pm

Archbishop, did no one ever tell you: When you're in a deep and fetid hole up to your eyebrows, stop digging.

Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on October 5, 2009 at 3:43pm

It's called "scapegoating".

"the word "scapegoat" has come to mean a person, often innocent, who is blamed and punished for the sins, crimes, or sufferings of others, generally as a way of distracting attention from the real causes."

Permalink Reply by Barb on October 6, 2009 at 8:16am

American catholics left the church, shaking the dust from their shoes on the way out (many were "lukewarm" anyway) or, they are convinced the devil did it, and the time of the second coming is at hand! Catholics don't talk about things like that, but, some think it.

The church has had over 1500 years to perfect their brainwashing strategies, although they have changed some of them recently, some are still in place and as strong as ever.

I also believe those who are still catholic are probably too ashamed to protest. I would be. Who would want outside people to see that they are too stupid to see this religion for what it is after this bull****.

Permalink Reply by Mary O'Grady on October 9, 2009 at 2:11pm

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's permanent observer to the UN = self-loathing closet case.
Or do I just belabor the obvious?