"Some Catholics are terrified, absolutely terrified of the opposite sex."
In Catholic countries like Ireland the Church made sex a necessary evil; outside marriage it was forbidden totally, inside marriage it was for the procreation of children.
The crossroads dances, open-air dances that were one of the major forms of recreation in rural areas, were systematically broken up by clergymen who would go in smashing instruments and beating the participants - the reason given was that it was encouraging sin for young people of the opposite sex to meet unsupervised.
Anyone persitantly caught at a dance would be humiliated by having their names read out at mass on Sunday mornings.
One elderly lady we know had her eardrum burst by a priest for attending one.
Jim Carroll