Letters to the editor
A ‘Man of God’ Can do More Harm Than an ‘Ordinary’ Layman
Ron MacIsaac, Victoria
Volume 34 Issue 4, 5 & 6 | Posted: July 5, 2020
The Editor:
As a lawyer who has dealt with many sex abuse cases and been on several boards addressing the issues, and in practice 52 years, I would like to comment on the current deluge of articles re the clergy.
Predators seek positions of absolute power, so it is not surprising the pedophiles seek to be in the clergy, the ministry, the Scout movement, Big Brothers – the list is endless. It seems unlikely, though, that celibacy could turn an adult heterosexual or homosexual into an abuser of children.
The absence of women in the priesthood has always created a division of opinion. Most abusers of children in all professions and walks of life are men. It is not unreasonable to think that this position of power might be improved by sharing it with women.
The Editor:
As a lawyer who has dealt with many sex abuse cases and been on several boards addressing the issues, and in practice 52 years, I would like to comment on the current deluge of articles re the clergy.
Predators seek positions of absolute power, so it is not surprising the pedophiles seek to be in the clergy, the ministry, the Scout movement, Big Brothers – the list is endless. It seems unlikely, though, that celibacy could turn an adult heterosexual or homosexual into an abuser of children.
The absence of women in the priesthood has always created a division of opinion. Most abusers of children in all professions and walks of life are men. It is not unreasonable to think that this position of power might be improved by sharing it with women.
All around the globe and all down the pages of history, men have set up patriarchal religions. Look at the young men who dress in bronze gowns and serve as travelling monks in Malaya. Then there are the young boys in the Tibetan monasteries.
In the U.S. young men of the Latter Day Saints spread the word for, like most sects, it is a male-dominated religion. See the religions of Rome and Greece, the Ottoman (Muslim) empire. The religions of India. The abuses by the holders of power are not unique to the Catholic Church, but are found in all male-dominated churches.
The church did not originally refuse to share power with women, or originally require the unnatural obligation of celibacy. I expect that with the next pope the overdue shift to power-sharing will commence. While celibacy does not cause pedophilia, it probably contributes to an interest in attractive youth, in much the same way that an adult lay person finds a teenager attractive.
The priest has had little sexual education, little experience, few alternatives and the flesh can be weak. This does not excuse any overtures, but it could be met were there no bars to marriage.
Further, the shock to the teen when hit on by a lay person is not great, but if the man is a “man of God”, it is devastating.
I think Reform is on the way.
Ron MacIsaac, Victoria