# Priests molesting boys
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 28, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826 "2015-09-28T11:45:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/41 "2015-09-30T01:28:57Z")
Most of this sexual abuse happened in the 1960s and '70s, right? How unusual was the Catholic Church’s response to sexual abuse at the time? It’s my understanding, and I could be wrong, but the whole “the molester is obviously psychologically disturbed. Lets not turn him in, lets send him for counseling and fix him” attitude wasn’t really all that uncommon at the time throughout society. Am I wrong in that?
---
### Author:  [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/42 "2015-09-30T03:09:34Z")
> [@stosh](#):
>
> The pope is back in Rome and I heard on the news that he is going to address the problem of Priests molesting boys.
> I have this question. When this happened, the priests were, sometimes, shuffled off to another diocese and the problem covered up.( sometimes, they did it again.)
> Did they think that God did not know what they were doing ?
> Did they just think that they had sinned and would be forgiven ?
> What about the victims, sure they got money, but their lives were kinda ruined.
It’s a religion, everything is forgiven. Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to keep such a large membership and continue to recruit others.
---
### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/43 "2015-09-30T03:16:55Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#):
>
> Most of this sexual abuse happened in the 1960s and '70s, right?..
Why do you think that? I’m sure there are kids getting raped by a priest right now as I type this. If there has been a decrease in incidents I’d bet it’s because most parents now know not to leave their kid alone with a priest. [Catholic Church sexual abuse cases - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sexual_abuse_cases)
---
### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/44 "2015-09-30T03:28:59Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#):
>
> Most of this sexual abuse happened in the 1960s and '70s, right? How unusual was the Catholic Church’s response to sexual abuse at the time? It’s my understanding, and I could be wrong, but the whole “the molester is obviously psychologically disturbed. Lets not turn him in, lets send him for counseling and fix him” attitude wasn’t really all that uncommon at the time throughout society. Am I wrong in that?
No, you’re right.
---
### Author:  [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/45 "2015-09-30T12:24:16Z")
There was a documentary made about this called Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. Look it up.
It was and still is a HUGE problem. The Catholic Church is still doing damage control. They are hoping this problem just goes away and that people will forget.
---
### Author:  [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/46 "2015-09-30T14:57:58Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#):
>
> There was a documentary made about this called Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. Look it up.
>
> It was and still is a HUGE problem. The Catholic Church is still doing damage control. They are hoping this problem just goes away and that people will forget.
That documentary is chilling. Very good. But chilling. It’s hard to watch.
---
### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/47 "2015-09-30T18:02:10Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> Maybe if they dropped the insistence on priestly celibacy (which was a later addition to Christianity anyway) they might get healthier clerical candidates, less repressed and screwed-up sexually.
But there are happily married people with regular sexual outlets who molest children anyway. Do you mean that a certain number of people willing to enter a celibate lifestyle can more easily see doing so because they aren’t interested in sex with adults? (similar to md2000’s point)
---
### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/48 "2015-09-30T18:26:16Z")
> [@gigi](#):
>
> But there are happily married people with regular sexual outlets who molest children anyway. Do you mean that a certain number of people willing to enter a celibate lifestyle can more easily see doing so because they aren’t interested in sex with adults? (similar to md2000’s point)
AFAIK the rate of molesters among priests isn’t any higher than it is among teachers, and teachers aren’t required to be celibate.
> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> Why do you think that? I’m sure there are kids getting raped by a priest right now as I type this. If there has been a decrease in incidents I’d bet it’s because most parents now know not to leave their kid alone with a priest. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath...al\_abuse\_cases](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath...al_abuse_cases)
I’m sure it still happens, but your own cite says -
> [@](#):
>
> …the prevalence of abuse by priests had fallen sharply in the last twenty to thirty years.[10] After the implementation of self-imposed transparency in abuse matters by Pope Benedict XVI, accusations of a sexual nature against Roman Catholic priests in the US numbered eight in 2010.[17]
So it’s not like they’re doing nothing.
Regards,
Shodan
---
### Author:  [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826/49 "2015-10-01T18:23:57Z")
> [@gigi](#):
>
> But there are happily married people with regular sexual outlets who molest children anyway. Do you mean that a certain number of people willing to enter a celibate lifestyle can more easily see doing so because they aren’t interested in sex with adults? (similar to md2000’s point)
Yes, my point was that in the absence of sex ed and absence of discussions about alternate lifestyles, as was common until the last few decades; and in highly religious communities like Italian or Irish immigrants or French Canadians - perhaps young men who did not feel the same urges and fascination with locker-room level talk about girls may have interpreted this as a sign that they were called to be priests; particularly with being bombarded at home and school with the suggestion that god did call some men to be priests. (Of course there were plenty of other motivations - sincere religious belief, the prestige of the job until the last few decades, it was like the army a lifestyle where everything was decided and taken care of for you, and so on…)
As for 'happily married people molest children" - if a person has alternative urges and a need to hide them, they are most likely to pretend to be normal. Some men may be excited by different things, but most I assume have no difficulty rising to the occasion in a basic heterosexual setting, even if they are maybe not as enthusiastic as those who like adult women.
Again, I doubt anyone joined the priesthood thinking it was a good way to get close to children. There were (are) far better opportunities that don’t involve the constrictive lifestyle imposed by the clergy. It’s just that some who found themselves in there with urges took advantage of them. The major benefit was that until recently, like many other organizations - boy scouts, Penn State, etc. - the problem was swept under the rug instead of being prosecuted.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-molesting-boys/732826.md?page=2)