Punish the bishops

Banning gay men from seminaries will not solve the problem of sexually abusive priests. It is magical thinking.

Psychologists who have studied the problem report that many priests who molested little boys did so because they had access to boys. If they had had access to girls, girls would have been among the victims.

It is true that priests who sexually assault teen-age boys are probably repressed homosexuals, but the problem here is not homosexuality itself but the difficulty of obeying the rule of celibacy, and the criminal behavior that may result when the rule is broken. A far better way to reduce sexual abuse by priests than banning gay men from the seminary would be punishing bishops who cover up sexual crimes.

Peg Cruikshank

Corea