If Catholic priests were allowed to marry, do you think their would be less cases of molestation?

Answer 1

Yes-- it's already been proven that celibacy causes many mental problems and that sex is very healthy and helps you live a longer, happier life. These priests only attack people because they are allowed no sexual outlet.

Answer 2

Possibly..there maybe a reduced rate of priests molesting girls..but the boys statistics would probably be the same. I think that some people are just bad people..whether they are Catholic or non-Catholic Christians. Child molestation is common in every aspect of humans...married, single..etc. I think a pervert is a pervert regardless of their marital status, or sexual orientation.

I do think there would be some priests that would be much happier should canon law allow them to be married..it is after all a fundamental right.

Answer 3

Not really cuz if you like molesting boys then you might not like women and even if you do and are married you could still easily have a major thing for boys and want to act on it. being married wouldn't stop those men from molesting minors in private at the church.

many of those men stated the reason they wanted to be a priest is to have exclusive access to minors in private like they do especially with the role of a superior god-like official who plays the role of coming between you and God, you tend to be very compliant to their wishes and mental and emotional manipulations that lead to it in the first place.

So NO

I cannot believe the number of people who think that a child molester acts because he doesn't have sex with a woman. If a priest can't have sex then his only choice is to attack children!!?? How stupid. He could have non-church-approved sex with ADULTS of either sex on the sly just as easily as committing the HEINOUS crime of violating CHILDREN.

Access to a woman will cancel out a predator?????? Has anyone seen Dateline's To Catch a Predator???? Those people were all normal guys WITH NO RESTRICTION TO WOMEN

Answer 4

No. One is compelled to molest a child because of a sexaully disordered inclination called pedophilia.

Abstinence is not known to cause disordered sexual inclinations in people.

Therefore, any priest who has molested a child, did so because he is a pedophile. That has nothing to do with his practicing celibacy.

In spite of sexual inclination, disordered or not, the priest is still obligated to be celibate. Mroe vigilence on the part of the priests, as far as abstinence is concerned, would result in fewer cases of molestation.

Answer 5

Yes, and the only reason they aren't aloud to marry, is because of some law that was passed throughout kingdoms to wan the power of the church, and it was over land sometime in the 16th century. Had something to do with the church being too powerful, and the priests were the ones who owned the land, but the kings wanted more power, so they didn't let them marry or have any relations, and here we are today.

Answer 6

Just thought I'd add if anyone didn't know:

Lebanese Catholic Priests of the Maronite rite are allowed to be married, as long as it's before they get ordained.

Answer 7

if catholic priests were seen as regular PEOPLE there would be less molestation. it doesn't happen only because the priests are sexually repressed, but because children and parents think they can do no wrong and will always be entirely pure and good since they are so "close to God".

so yeah, maybe marriage would help on both sides of it. it's hard to see someone as infalliable when their wife is telling you about how he forgets to do the dishes.

Answer 8

No. I think they are pedophiles. Marriage doesn't dictate your sexual attraction. I don't think that most pedophiles molest children because of a lack of acceptable sex.

edit- I find it more likely that their pedophilia caused their priesthoods and not the other way around. In other words, pedophiles tend to go into careers where they will have the opportunity to molest.

Answer 9

No, because being married doesn't "cure" the urge to molest children. Most molesters are actually fathers/stepfathers -- the guys who are married to the victim's mothers. Having access to sex with an adult woman doesn't "fix" those men and it wouldn't "fix" a man who was using any role (clergy, teacher, coach, scout leader) to gain private access to their victims.

Answer 10

It would remove one more excuse from abusive priests anyway, but paedophiles want to control and dominate children so I still think there will be those who would go anywhere they can get access to children ...unfortunately the priesthood seems to provide this access to children too easily.