# Did the pedophiliac priests enter the Church to escape their desires?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [December 15, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023 "2004-12-15T20:11:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/1 "2004-12-15T20:11:39Z")
Or was it the other way around - were the desires created by an enforced abstinence?
I guess the question is; why is there such a prevalence of child molesters in the Church?
This is in GD because I don’t know if there is a factual answer. But I am not putting my own answer simply because I really don’t know which it is. I guess it depends on if pedophilia is something that’s learned, in early childhood, perhaps, or something that’s instinctual.
Note: this is in no way about homosexuality. I don’t believe they’re in any way related.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/2 "2004-12-15T20:30:25Z")
Is there, in fact, a greater percentage of pedophile priests than, say, pedophile Little League coaches or pedohile Baptist youth group leaders?
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/3 "2004-12-15T20:37:20Z")
I have no clue, **Bricker**. I am just wondering what, if anything, is the relationship between pedophilia and the priesthood.
Right back at you, then: is there a greater percentage of pedophile priests?
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### Author:  [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/4 "2004-12-15T20:39:24Z")
You are the one that claimed a relationship between priesthood and pedophillia. You prove it.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/5 "2004-12-15T21:03:59Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> I have no clue, **Bricker**. I am just wondering what, if anything, is the relationship between pedophilia and the priesthood.
>
> Right back at you, then: is there a greater percentage of pedophile priests?
I don’t know. But I never claimed there was.
You did. You assumed there was a greater percentage of pedophile priests, and asked “Why?” I’m suggesting your assumption is flawed. It’s for the proponent of a proposition to prove their assertion.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/6 "2004-12-15T21:10:31Z")
> [@treis](#):
>
> You are the one that claimed a relationship between priesthood and pedophillia. You prove it.
No he didn’t. He asked “what _is_ the relationship?” A fair question given all the media attention to the pedophile priest scandals.
Personally, I think that pedophiles are attracted to positions, jobs and circumstances which will give them access to children. The priesthood also entails (or at least used to entail) a perception of moral authority which provides a kind of protection and mask for those who would do harm. It also provides an incidental explanation for a lack of adult sexual relatonships. In short, the priesthood has been an attractive position to those who already have predatory intentions.
The Church hasn’t helped itself by covering things up and moving these guys around instead of purging them and that was another factor in attracting predators. In short, being a priest gave pedophiles access to and moral authority over children, a shield of moral irreproach and an institutional system which made it very hard for them to face criminal consequences.
I don’t think there’s anything about the priesthood (or about vows of chastity, contrary to some opinions I’ve seen in the media) that causes anybody to _become_ a pedophile. I think it’s just the opposite, there have historically been elements in the priesthood that have made pedophiles want to be priests.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/7 "2004-12-15T21:12:10Z")
[This site](http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0211fea2.asp) has an overview of studies on pedophilia in the Catholic Church, other denominations, and the population as a whole which could be further explored. It doesn’t show that there is a higher incidence among Catholic priests (admittedly it is a Catholic website so it would take more exploration into studies to see all the stats). If it were ceilbacy that did it, why do married men (and women) with access to regular adult sex still molest kids?
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/8 "2004-12-15T21:14:44Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> Or was it the other way around - were the desires created by an enforced abstinence?
>
> **I guess the question is; why is there such a prevalence of child molesters in the Church?**
>
> This is in GD because I don’t know if there is a factual answer. But I am not putting my own answer simply because I really don’t know which it is. I guess it depends on if pedophilia is something that’s learned, in early childhood, perhaps, or something that’s instinctual.
>
> Note: this is in no way about homosexuality. I don’t believe they’re in any way related.
**Anaamika** , would you be willing to delete the bolded sentance in your OP? I know you can’t literally, but figuratively, if you forget about that part, we can start a real discussion rather than being all pedantic about it?
Regardless of the numbers or percentages of priests who are pedophillic, there are documented cases of some priests who are pedophiles. Can we agree on that? So, what, if any evidence, case studies or testimonials exists that can give us insight into why these priests have become or have chosen to act on their pedophillic tendancies? Has the culture of celibacy within the church been a factor in these men’s predilictions or actions?
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### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/9 "2004-12-15T21:18:40Z")
According to [religioustolerence.org](http://www.religioustolerance.org/clergy_sex8.htm), despite the impression given by the media attention in the last few years, there are no data concerning the relative number of Catholic priests and other people who abuse children.
> [@](#):
>
> No reliable data exists. Even as media articles in the first few months of 2002 highlighted abuse by priests within the Catholic Church, a former Episcopal priest was convicted of molesting a 14-year-old boy, a Baptist pastor from South Carolina was starting a 60 year prison center for molesting 23 children, another Baptist pastor was dismissed from his church in upstate New York over allegations of abuse, a pastor in DeKalb, GA, was found guilty of 25 charges of molestation of a male teen-aged church member, and an Orthodox rabbi was about to go on trial for groping two teenage girls.
Further complicating the issue is the fact that many of the cases of sexual abuse involving clergy are actually ephebophila or hebephilia, rather than pedeophilia; but news reports are seldom clear on that distinction or use ambigious terms like “child sexual abuse”. As the cite above mentions, estimates place the percentage of abusing priests as 2-6%, which is similar to the adult male population at large.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/10 "2004-12-15T21:25:09Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#):
>
> No he didn’t. He asked “what _is_ the relationship?” A fair question given all the media attention to the pedophile priest scandals.
>
> Personally, I think that pedophiles are attracted to positions, jobs and circumstances which will give them access to children. The priesthood also entails (or at least used to entail) a perception of moral authority which provides a kind of protection and mask for those who would do harm. It also provides an incidental explanation for a lack of adult sexual relatonships. In short, the priesthood has been an attractive position to those who already have predatory intentions.
>
> The Church hasn’t helped itself by covering things up and moving these guys around instead of purging them and that was another factor in attracting predators. In short, being a priest gave pedophiles access to and moral authority over children, a shield of moral irreproach and an institutional system which made it very hard for them to face criminal consequences.
>
> I don’t think there’s anything about the priesthood (or about vows of chastity, contrary to some opinions I’ve seen in the media) that causes anybody to _become_ a pedophile. I think it’s just the opposite, there have historically been elements in the priesthood that have made pedophiles want to be priests.
No.
If there are the same percentage of pedohile priests as there are pedophile barbers, pedohile pilots, and pedophile accountants, then there is nothing to explain. Nothing in particular “attracts” pedophiles to the priesthood.
If there are a higher number of pedophile priests than pedophile barbers, then the question can be explored.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/11 "2004-12-15T21:31:40Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> No.
>
> If there are the same percentage of pedohile priests as there are pedophile barbers, pedohile pilots, and pedophile accountants, then there is nothing to explain. Nothing in particular “attracts” pedophiles to the priesthood.
>
> If there are a higher number of pedophile priests than pedophile barbers, then the question can be explored.
But the original question was “Did the pedophiliac priests enter the Church to escape their desires?” Whether there’s one pedophiliac priest or 10,000, the question can still be addressed.
I don’t know if there’s an answer for it, but it doesn’t need to be summarily dismissed.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/12 "2004-12-15T21:47:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> Nothing in particular “attracts” pedophiles to the priesthood.
Are you kidding me? DtC just outlined 3 MAJOR attractants. Priesthood offers:
1. Access to children
2. Moral or perceived moral superiority and/or authority
3. A system that is likely to ignore or outright cover-up your acts
Those are facts.
Now, just in case you’re being semantic here. You say “pedophiles”. Not all pedophiles ever act on their desires and therefore they are not all criminals. However, criminal pedophiles _are_ strongly attracted to these positions, including Little League coach and Baptist Youth Group Leader, which is why I thought you mentioned those particular positions in the first place. Now that you’ve added pilots, barbers, and accountants to your list, I see that you are indeed (IF talking about _criminal_ pedophiles) clueless.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/13 "2004-12-15T21:49:23Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> But the original question was “Did the pedophiliac priests enter the Church to escape their desires?” Whether there’s one pedophiliac priest or 10,000, the question can still be addressed.
>
> I don’t know if there’s an answer for it, but it doesn’t need to be summarily dismissed.
But if there are no more pedophile priests than pedophile barbers, you can just as well ask, “Did the pedophile barbers become barbers to escape their desires?”
It’s meaningless. Unless there is a variance between the percentage of pedophile priests and the percentage of pedophile men, there is no meaningful “Why do pedophile become priests?” question. The answer is, “For the same reasons others become barbers, accountants, test pilots, reality show producers, and grocers.”
---
### Author:  [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/14 "2004-12-15T21:50:13Z")
I think that a lot of the misperception that the Catholic Church is a haven for pedophiles comes from the fact that, unlike many Protestant denominations, we don’t shoot our wounded. When a Catholic sins, the Church’s goal is to rehabilitate the person, where Protestants, particularly fund’ists, generally want to run the person out of town on a rail, lest the reputation of the congregation be tarnished by scandal. Also, I think that the Church didn’t twig to the idea that pedophiles can’t be “cured” or rehabilitated until long after the psychiatric community at large did.
When the Church heirarchy would receive a report of sexual abuse by a priest, the first reaction would be to try to get psyciatric treatment for the priest, usually hospitilization for a period of time, then when the doctors pronounced him “cured”, send him back out into the field. Of course, the efforts at treatment don’t get reported in the media, only the fact that the priest had been sent to a new parish or diocese. Thus the perception that when the Church receives a report of abuse, it simply ships the priest off to a new parish to reoffend.
In contrast, when a fund’ist Baptist is caught in an offense, the pastor would simply be drummed out of the pulpit. But there would be nothing to stop such a minister from finding a job pastoring a new church, or starting his own congregation. There would be no attempt at rehabilitation, at getting to the root of what was causing him to sin and getting him to the state where he could be returned to his duties.
Personally, I think that if a priest is either convicted of or confesses to sexually abusing a child or children, he should be immediately and publicly defrocked. I think it would be better for the Church to remove such offenders from a position of authority than to be perceived as the world’s biggest child molesting ring.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/15 "2004-12-15T21:51:02Z")
> [@Cisco](#):
>
> Are you kidding me? DtC just outlined 3 MAJOR attractants. Priesthood offers:
>
> 1. Access to children
> 2. Moral or perceived moral superiority and/or authority
> 3. A system that is likely to ignore or outright cover-up your acts
>
> Those are facts.
>
> Now, just in case you’re being semantic here. You say “pedophiles”. Not all pedophiles ever act on their desires and therefore they are not all criminals. However, criminal pedophiles _are_ strongly attracted to these positions, including Little League coach and Baptist Youth Group Leader, which is why I thought you mentioned those particular positions in the first place. Now that you’ve added pilots, barbers, and accountants to your list, I see that you are indeed (IF talking about _criminal_ pedophiles) clueless.
So we can safely conclude, then, that the percentage of criminal pedophile priests is greater than the percentage of criminal pedophile accountants?
---
### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/16 "2004-12-15T22:04:56Z")
I don’t know if there’s a reliable way to find out but if there were such a way I would be willing to bet a bottle of scotch that the % of pedophiles/pederasts/ephebophiles is higher in the priesthood than in the general population, and the same holds true of some other jobs and positions which offer access to children.
That’s not to say that I think it’s _enormously_ higher just moderately. For instance [pulling numbers from ass] I’m guessing that instead of say, 3% it may be 5 or 6%. I’m not saying it’s rampant, just that it stands to reason that it’s a profession which would attract more pedophiles than accounting.
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### Author:  [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/17 "2004-12-15T22:05:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> But if there are no more pedophile priests than pedophile barbers, you can just as well ask, “Did the pedophile barbers become barbers to escape their desires?”
>
> It’s meaningless. Unless there is a variance between the percentage of pedophile priests and the percentage of pedophile men, there is no meaningful “Why do pedophile become priests?” question. The answer is, “For the same reasons others become barbers, accountants, test pilots, reality show producers, and grocers.”
If you have so many problems with the OP, why not just leave the thread and move on witcha life. You certainly aren’t adding much to the discussion.
And how would being a barber let a pedophile escape from their desires?
It’s possible that pedophiles are attracted to the priesthood because it gives them access to children and a large amount of authority over them. Kids are supposed to trust priests. That’s a lot of power. It makes it very easy to take advantage of them.
It’s also possible that they enter the priesthood to escape their desires. They may think that giving in to a “higher calling” will keep them from succuming to temptation.
I think the anwer lies somewhere in between. Some realize that they have a problem and join the priesthood to escape. The more predatory realize that it gives them access and trust, which equals power in this case.
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### Author:  [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/18 "2004-12-15T22:09:51Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> So we can safely conclude, then, that the percentage of criminal pedophile priests is greater than the percentage of criminal pedophile accountants?
I’d say thats still a little iffy. Nursing home employees on the other side…
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### Author:  [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/19 "2004-12-15T22:10:03Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> So we can safely conclude, then, that the percentage of criminal pedophile priests is greater than the percentage of criminal pedophile accountants?
I think that it can safely be said that pedophiles are going to be attracted to jobs that give them increased access to children with a lower chance of interference. Thusly more pedophile priests/day care operators/anything pertaining to children than accountants/lawyers/NASCAR drivers/other occupation that doesn’t really pertain to kids or give a lot of access to them.
Are we done nitpicking here?
---
### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-pedophiliac-priests-enter-the-church-to-escape-their-desires/280023/20 "2004-12-15T22:11:51Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#):
>
> If you have so many problems with the OP, why not just leave the thread and move on witcha life. You certainly aren’t adding much to the discussion.
On the contrary, I’m exposing a logical fallacy of _petitio principii_ in the discussion. Surely that’s the point of a Great DEBATES thread?
> [@](#):
>
> And how would being a barber let a pedophile escape from their desires?
How would a being a priest let a pedophile escape his desires?
> [@](#):
>
> It’s possible that pedophiles are attracted to the priesthood because it gives them access to children and a large amount of authority over them. Kids are supposed to trust priests. That’s a lot of power. It makes it very easy to take advantage of them.
Sure - and if that were true, you’d expect to see a higher percentage of pedophile priests than pedophile accountants - right?
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