When the seemingly endless series of child molesting incidents by priests began to be exposed a number of years ago, a friend of mine predicted that the Roman Catholic Church, ever the expert on strategy and survival, would find a way to turn the blame away from themselves and onto the “intrinsic evil” (the official words of the Vatican) of homosexuality.
(Since there have been a fair number of girls molested by priests, one wonders why the same condemnation should not fall upon heterosexuality, but I digress).
One excellent example is found in commments made by Spanish Bishop Bernardo Alvarez, who found a way to scapegoat not only gays, but also those little 13-year-old sluts who apparently bring it upon themselves.
For the full article on the good Bishop’s comments see this article, but here are a few choice excerpts from his interview, given over the holidays.
*". . . in ‘La Opinión’, he said that some victims of child abuse consent to sex, and if the abuser was not careful, he could be provoked by the child.
Asked about the many cases of child abuse by Catholic priests in other countries over recent years, Bishop álvarez had said: “There could be minors who consent (to sexual abuse), and in fact, there are. There are 13-year-old minors who are perfectly in agreement, and moreover, desirous (of sex). They would even provoke unless care was taken….
The bishop, despite having drawn a link between homosexuality and the abuse of minors, said there was a clear difference, but then asked rhetorically: “Why is the abuser of minors sick and not the homosexual?”
The Church afterwards did its best to make light of his comments, insisting that the bishop was in no way trying to justify an “absolutely unacceptable phenomenon.” *
Late last year, the RCC New York Archdiocese turned out a colouring book warning children about molestation. You can see it here.
Now although such an effort to help children may seem praiseworthy, note a couple of subtle messages in this colouring book. While statistics consistently show that incestuous sexual abuse of girls (such as father-to-daughter or older-brother-to-sister) are one of the most common forms of child abuse, this is not even mentioned. And while there is ONE example of male-to-female sexual abuse (the internet picture) most of the molesters are apparently single males (no wives or girlfriends implied) who are basically creepy men looking to abuse **male children **. The message is subtle but it is clear.
As the New York Post noted in its article of December 4
Although priests are never explicitly the villains of “Being Friends, Being Safe, Being Catholic,” the female guardian angel who narrates the morality tale warns on one page that an altar boy should never remain alone in a room with any adult unless the door is open.
In fact, while the “creepy men” on the other pages are shown with evil grins actively engaged in attempted child molesting, the picture of the altar boy shows a man who may be a priest, but who is in any event standing respectfully in the open door with his back turned, waving and smiling in a friendly manner to the altar boy who is putting on a robe, safely protected by two smiling angels who are blissfully aware that the good Father (if such he is) would NEVER molest an altar boy. It is those creepy male strangers (gays?) going after little boys that are the danger.
The attempt to shift the blame to gays and homosexuality is subtle, but it is ongoing. Catholic seminaries are watching for signs of homosexuality in their priests. Booklets and comments by Bishops like Alvarez keep bringing home the message. The “intrinsic evil of homosexuality” is to blame. Both homosexuality and child molesting are instrinsically evil.
Gays are beginning to fight back. As noted in an article in Fab, the Toronto gay magazine: ". . . we prefer the original draft title (of the colouring book) Hey Monsignor! Keep it in your pants! 
