Joe......"While I don't think celibacy causes child molestation, it eliminates a lot of sexually normal people from the "gene pool" that provides candidates for priesthood. That makes the proportion of sexually abnormal people higher, and creates a situation that is more comfortable for sexual deviates."

Isn't that exactly what I have been saying?
Where we seem to disagree, is in the definition of the abuse which has been perpetrated.

While I agree that there has been paedophilia practiced by a very small number of deviant priests, the rates of paedophelia in the church seems to be almost equal to paedophelia rates in society at large.

The vast amount of sexual abuse in the Church has been perpetrated by homosexuals, against teenage boys and young adult males.
This is an accepted fact....accepted by all except our resident religion bashers, who see this scandal as a handy stick to beatup the church with.

The church has many faults and the self serving cover up was disgraceful, but for members here to ignore the evidence and contend that the cover up was the worst crime, is disingenuous in the extreme.

If the whole hierarchy of the Catholic church were to resign tomorrow and leave the make up of the priesthood as it is....the abuse would continue unabated.

I say, the important thing is to ensure the rates of abuse fall, that is the only way children can be protected.

I cite the celibacy rule as a weakness; by that I dont mean that "celibacy causes sexual abuse".....that is a ridiculous statement, if someone decides to become celibate and live a celibate life, then that is a personal choice and of course it does not "cause" sexual abuse.
The difference is that to be a priest, celibacy is mandatory, and as such attracts, as you say, "abnormal people into the gene pool"


I agree 100%!!   get married men with families into the priesthood, men who understand about real life and about children, people who respect our young folk, many of whom are deprived and disadvantaged,
men who do not just think of boys and youths as sex objects.
It is reckoned that at least 25% of priests have homosexual orientation.

As I have said on other threads, homosexuals do not have the constraints to their sexual behaviour that generally come with producing and rearing a family ....I say again they have thrown away the rule book.
Time for the church to take a lead in these matters, not be led by the nose like the rest of society......into "something very much worse than religion" as Mr Dawkins contends.....Ake