The Commentary

The Roman Catholic church has recently found itself embroiled in controversy involving child sexual abuse.

The Pope appears to see the scandal as a conspiracy stirred up by the secular media (e.g. aren’t there paedophiles among secular youth works too?) and said that the Roman Catholic church will ‘not be intimidated’ or bow to ‘petty gossip’. The crisis has arisen as accusations of paedophile abuse by some priests have emerged in many countries. The Pope apologised in a seven-page letter to Irish victims in March. He himself has been accused of covering up at least one such case in Germany while he was a cardinal.

An insistence upon Catholic priests being celibate came about as the culmination of papal edicts during the 11th and 12th centuries. Celibacy is now looked upon as morally superior by many Catholics. Some see this unscriptural (see 1 Corinthians 7.1-9; 9.5) insistence upon no marriage and therefore no sex for clergy as being at the root of the problem. They say that this must inevitably lead to trouble, including deviant behaviour.

But, very sadly, of course, there are examples of child sex abuse in other denominations, even among those who claim to be evangelicals, where celibacy of church leaders is not a requirement. So celibacy is not the full explanation.

Church structures

It was interesting to speak to an ex-Catholic friend about this issue. He pointed to the whole culture of Catholicism. He said that the Catholic church is a hierarchy based on significant power held by a few individuals. Priests are seen as having power to forgive; the power of life and death. They are often idolised as God’s chosen representatives. To criticise them is almost to criticise God himself. The culture of Catholicism is also one of mystery. There are the secrets of the confessional which must be kept. With no birth control there are always plenty of children. It is a male dominated church which frequently suffers from absence of feminine insight, warmth and motherliness. The Catholic church has money to build institutions like schools and children’s homes. It often views itself as above the law of the land and things like child protection policies have been slow to be implemented. The need for good public relations to maintain the loyalty of the flock brings a tendency to cover up the truth. Also, in such a complicated institution, accountability of priests can be very convoluted and therefore tend to become unworkable.

Putting all these factors together makes for an environment very conducive to abuse. My friend said that he felt that, for any paedophile looking at his list of options for pursuing child abuse, the Catholic church must inevitably come very high on his preferred career list.

Look to ourselves

If there is any mileage in these thoughts it must make us all think through our church structures. A pyramid of power with built-in secrecy is not exclusive to Catholicism. Jehovah’s Witnesses, heavy-shepherding charismatic fellowships and, indeed, any church with an over authoritarian and elitist leadership would provide the same opportunities for paedophiles.

A church with biblical requirements for membership and a congregational form of government is likely to have better accountability and so more protection from such dreadful things happening. But, of course, ultimately it is not the way we organise ourselves, but only individual Christian holiness which will keep a church from scandal.

Church child abuse

Church structures

Look to ourselves

John Benton

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