Catholic priests who become child abusers. Are they paedophiles because they were born that way or?

Question

does extreme sexual repression cause this to happen to men and then they find an easy target for it.

Answer 1

They were born that way.

Answer 2

I think it has been established in other answers that it is not just Priests who become child abusers, its just when a case comes up of a member of the Church committing such and awful, horrifying sin then although it is the worst thing anyone can do by putting a child in that situation it seems so much worse by the fact that these are the people who are supposed to be rols models and lead us from sin.

They were nwither born that way or become abusers through celibacy... how can you possibly crave something you have never known?

I believe all abusers are sick, not just like oh my god thats sick kinda sick I truely believe they are mentally ill, to be able to do something like that, most abusers having a 'normal' life that is to say probably a wife, maybe kids or a family, there has to be something wrong somewhere,
Stay away from labeling certain careers with peadophiles, It isn't fair and could cause you some trouble, sadly it could be anyone...

Answer 3

Why single out catholic priests? Pedophiles as a whole should be addressed here, not just catholic priests. And no, God does not create anyone that way. It is a choice that they make. When people find in themselves a desire that is deemed as being sick or perverted, or just not normal, then instead of admitting that there is something wrong with them and their thinking, they immediately want to believe that God created them that way. It relieves them of having to accept responsibility for their choices or desires. Homosexuals are the worst at doing this. They are the first to say that God created them the way they are. Simply not true. It IS a choice that is made by the individual.

Answer 4

Paedophiles are found everywhere, not only those cases in the Church. They tend to be found in places where they can work or care for children. Scout leaders, teachers, pastors, these are the careers many of them choose. Of course, the vast majority of people in those occupations are not paedophiles. I'm merely trying to demonstrate how they attempt to gain the trust of children.
In answer to your question, no they aren't born that way. Every convicted paedophile should be hung up by their sandra bullocks in warning to the others. I know this seems barbaric, but you wouldn't think so if you had suffered at their evil hands.

Answer 5

This question comes up every now and again. All law enforcement officers and mental heath professionals are in agreement that child molestation is not really about sex, it is an abuse of power. A voluntary vow of celibacy does not turn Priests into child molesters.

Answer 6

At any Catholic Church women are much easier and more accessible victims. Women work at churches every single day while children are not. If celibacy perverts a persons sex drive, does that mean that every day you, billybozobones, go without sex, you are more and more likely to become a pedophile? Should I report you to the authorities?

Answer 7

Pedophilia (the sexual abuse of a prepubescent child) among priests is extremely rare, affecting only 0.3% of the entire population of clergy. This figure, cited in the book Pedophiles and Priests by non-Catholic scholar Philip Jenkins, is from the most comprehensive study to date, which found that only one out of 2,252 priests considered over a 30-year period was afflicted with pedophilia. In the recent Boston scandal, only four of the more than 80 priests labeled by the media as "pedophiles" are actually guilty of molesting young children.

Pedophilia is a particular type of compulsive sexual disorder in which an adult (man or woman) abuses prepubescent children. The vast majority of the clerical sex-abuse scandals now coming to light do not involve pedophilia. Rather, they involve ephebophilia — homosexual attraction to adolescent boys. While the total number of sexual abusers in the priesthood is much higher than those guilty of pedophilia, it still amounts to less than 2 percent — comparable to the rate among married men (Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests).


Celibacy bears no causal relation to any type of deviant sexual addiction including pedophilia. In fact, married men are just as likely as celibate priests to sexually abuse children (Jenkins, Priests and Pedophilia). In the general population, the majority of abusers are regressed heterosexual men who sexually abuse girls. Women are also found to be among those sexual abusers. While it's difficult to obtain accurate statistics on childhood sexual abuse, the characteristic patterns of repeat child sex offenders have been well described. The profiles of child molesters never include normal adults who become erotically attracted to children as a result of abstinence (Fred Berlin, "Compulsive Sexual Behaviors" in Addiction and Compulsion Behaviors [Boston: NCBC, 1998]; Patrick J. Carnes, "Sexual Compulsion: Challenge for Church Leaders" in Addiction and Compulsion; Dale O'Leary, "Homosexuality and Abuse").

Since neither being Catholic nor being celibate predisposes a person to develop pedophilia, a married clergy wouldn't solve the problem ("Doctors call for pedophilia research," The Hartford Currant, March 23). One has only to look at similar crises in other denominations and professions to see this.

The plain fact is, healthy heterosexual men have never been known to develop erotic attractions to children as a result of abstinence.



Schneb, you're wrong.

Answer 8

Sadly, there are many child abusers in this world, it shocking! But when a priest does it, the crime seems so much worse! they should know better, thing is, they are human and it is human nature to be sinful, whoever you are!

Answer 9

You have that backwards. They were pedophiles who became priests. They infiltrated the church to have access to children. Pedophiles come from all walks of life. Hey your neighbor may be one, or your child's school teacher, or soccer coach.

Answer 10

i doubt it happened because of sexual repression because

A: there are plenty of child molesters who are free to have sex with whomever they wish

and B: its a small percent of priests that do these terrible things

and i also doubt they were born that way.

so no.

Answer 11

Paedophilia is disgusting and wrong. Anyone who would want to torture a child like that is just foul. A lot of people that are not catholic priests torture children this way. Torturing children is a choice, and it is wrong. If someone feels like they can't help themselves, they need to find someone to help them adn remove themselves from our precious children.