I know this might be a sensitive question, but what are your thoughts on priests molesting boys?

Question

I mean, they're priests. The must believe they're going to hell for it. What could make them do such a thing?

Answer 1

i think anyone who molest children deserves to suffer the worst we can deliver. if i believed in god, heaven and hell, i'd say they deserve to burn in the deepest circle of hell for all eternity...

having said that, you won't hear me say "the church should let them marry". marriage has nothing to do with it. this isn't about sex, it's about rape - worse than that, child rape. if we were looking at priests who have "housekeepers" and live in sin, raising children in secrecy, all their lives while preaching against sex outside of marriage (and at least in my country those have always been known to exist and have always been tolerated), it would be a different issue. yes, i believe the church should allow priests to marry. i believe they'll have to soon, or risk not having any priests at all, because how many young men today are willing to commit to a lifetime without sex?
however, marriage doesn't stop molestation. if there is one thing that has long been established is that sexual abuse is about power, not sex.

what needs to be done is far more simple. the church needs to stop being hypocritical about it, dump these priests who are clearly not fit for an office of trust, and let the governments of the world throw the book at them - hard.

Answer 2

Less than 1% have had accusations brought against them. I am angry for the children that have been molested, and for the manyfine priest that have been stigmatized by a few.
I feel they should be defrocked. No doubt about it.
Now, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice did a study and found that most of the abuse cases happened during the 70s and 80s. After Vatican 2, the church opened itself up to many new things, some were not so good. One of the things that I heard priests talking about in the diocese where I live was situation ethics. It had crept into seminary training. It stirred up a lof of heated arguments among priest. Situattion Ethics teaches that right or wrong is determined by the situation you found yourself in. Some of the younger ones were saying there was no sin.
You couple that with after Vatican 2 they no longer tried to screen out men with homosexual orientation. They were suppose to be celibate just like heterosexual priest. However, I am wondering if the combination of ordaining priest with homosexual orientation and the teaching of situation ethics did not lead to a large part of the problem.

Answer 3

Conservative Catholics have been quick to blame the prevalence of homosexuality in the priesthood for the current scandal. Indeed recent estimates put the number of homosexual priests around 20%. For the conservative, the solution is neat, for it suggests that somehow it is not the Church that is at fault but abberant priests who probably have no right to be in the priesthood anyway!
Inviting as the solution seems to be, it seems mistaken. There is no credible research that links the sexual abuse of children with homosexuality. As we can see from the examples above, girls and well as boys were molested. Indeed men who molest little boys are more likely to be heterosexual than homosexual in their adult involvements. Richard Sipe, a psychiatrist, summarized it succinctly, "Child sexual abuse has as much to do with homosexuality as rape has to do with heterosexuality."

Two of the main causes of this widespread systemic problem of child sexual abuse are the Church culture of celibacy and the monolithic authoritarian structure of the church.

Celibacy was originally introduced in the Church during the end of the third century (or the beginning of the fourth). It did not become widely enforced until Pope Callistus II called the First Lateran Council in 1123 where he declared all clerical marriages invalid. However continued reiteration of this rule through later councils showed that the enforcements were by no means fully successful. It was only during the Council of Trent in 1563 that celibacy became an absolute rule.

Note that is is not celibacy per se that causes the sexual abuse of children. It is the celibate culture, one in which sex is renounced, that forms an attraction to people already struggling with sexual issues. True pedophiles tend to develop their inclination early and contrary to what many may believe, many of them feel ashamed of such feelings and fight to contain and, in many cases, to repress it completely. If the person happens to be a Catholic male and religious, the celibacy of the priesthood with its promise of grace from God and the provision of the "gift" of celibacy seems just the antedote for his predeliction.

Answer 4

It's disgusting. Just because they have the title priests, means nothing. They are still human and have a sin nature just like every one else. Forbidding them to marry only makes the situation more intense and leaves their minds to this alternative, Imagine that. They don't believe they are going to hell for it. They believe the Catholic church is the key to heaven and that their other good works will out weigh the bad ones. Shame, Shame.

Answer 5

My thoughts are that any person that molests children has screws loose.

My next thoughts are that....what are people expecting?! You can't expect a man to go without a good relationship and sex his entire life and be sane! I think Catholics need to change the rules and let priests get married.

Answer 6

I think this is horrible of course! God was perfectly clear when he said, "Flee fornication and the wrath to come!" He also warned us that it was a very, very bad idea to do away with marriage, because these temptations are very strong temptations to deal with and marriage is one way to help people be safe from tripping up in all kinds of sexual immorality including this! The bible warns that "In the last days some shall depart from their faith (it reads literally, from their "moral convictions"), and shall give heed to seducing (literally "misleading") spirits and doctrines (or "instructions") from demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry..." (1 Timothy 4:1-3). You are right! That is why God said so carefully, it is better to marry than to burn with passion! (he was speaking to unmarried people and to widows in 1 Corinthians 7:8 and 7:9. Clearly, these priests needed to RUN FOR HELP when they were being tempted! They needed to tell someone, step down, and probably go get married. If the temptation was too strong they needed to get out. Just like in the Old Testament when Potiphar's wife cornered Joseph in his house and tried to offer herself to him - he literally fled the house (Genesis 39:12). As a Christian our moral obligation is ALWAYS to walk away from immoral temptations. And get prayer, get counseling and get away from the temptation. Yes, these ministers stand in danger of hell, and I am sure that they know it, because the laws regarding good and evil are written on the hearts of every person alive. I am sorry to everyone who has ever, ever suffered from something like this.

Answer 7

1 Homosexual acts are banned by the church.
2 Molesting minors in illegal in most places.
3 It's a sin that is forgivable by God.

Answer 8

The Catholic church should allow Priests to marry. Women of course, not little boys.

Answer 9

Today they're a sinner, and got hell's ticket. But, as long as they live, we never knew what's going on in their heart. At least, if they do apologize it, their sins will be forgiven by God. I know, not by humanity, but God love everyones, including them. So, we'll never knew where they'll be going to, hell or heaven.

(So much like yesterday question: Hitler is in heaven?)
Note: If Hitler does, i don't want to be his roommates though. :p

Answer 10

Priest are human They are just as sinful as the next person. Maybe their relationship with God is not strong or maybe there is not one at all.