# Yet more Catholic priests are rapists? Oh. Say it ain't so. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 15, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624 "2018-08-15T01:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/161 "2018-08-29T16:57:48Z")
**Crazy Canuck** Your opinion might be that I am being pedantic, however conflating gay with child molester is reinforcing a stereotype that has led to discrimination against gay people with some very nasty consequences - that to me is not being a pedant. Whilst I may well have used a specific term in an inexact manner, my point remains and I expect that most folk with open minds would accept that it is not technical, nor is it trivial, and despite my error I would be surprised if my point was not made and understood - whereas the stereotype is much more insidious because we all can easily slip into acceptance of such labels. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/162 "2018-08-29T18:29:01Z")
> [@andros](#): > > FYI, the current term of art in English is “developmentally disabled” rather than “imbecile.” Sorry, I was thinking in Spanish and translating literally _imbécil_ in its old-fashioned meaning of “anybody considered unable to make their own decisions for whatever reason” (age, dementia, temporary illness, sex, slave status, etc.). I should have said “legally incapable”. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/163 "2018-08-29T18:40:11Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Your opinion might be that I am being pedantic, however conflating gay with child molester is reinforcing a stereotype that has led to discrimination against gay people with some very nasty consequences - that to me is not being a pedant. I think you can still maintain that most gays are not pedophiles and retain the distinction between “homosexual pedophiles” vs. “heterosexual pedophiles” vs. “bisexual pedophiles”. “Homosexual pedophiles” would be those who preferentially attack male children, “heterosexual pedophiles” preferentially attack female children, and “bisexual pedophiles” attack children of either sex. Most pedophiles preferentially attack female children. One reason the distinction might be useful is that pedophiles who attack male children (almost all pedophiles are male, and all Roman Catholic priests are male, so that’s why the distinction comes into play) are considered to be at higher risk to re-offend than those who only attack females. That doesn’t make anything any better or worse, but it does affect how the child molesters should be treated IMO. Another factor is whether or not the victim was a member of the attacker’s family. So a priest who attacked an altar boy would be more likely to re-offend than someone else who molested a niece. Regards, Shodan PS - I suppose I could dig up cites for the above, but not on my work PC. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/164 "2018-08-29T19:18:38Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Sorry, I was thinking in Spanish and translating literally _imbécil_ in its old-fashioned meaning of “anybody considered unable to make their own decisions for whatever reason” (age, dementia, temporary illness, sex, slave status, etc.). I should have said “legally incapable”. I assumed that was the case, translation is always complicated. (I find it interesting mostly because I’m working on increasing my vocabulary to the point where I can actually conduct therapy sessions in Spanish instead of Espanglish. _El idioma/vocabulario de la psicoterapia_ es…well, pretty specific and not the sort of thing I use in my day-to-day Spanish.) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/165 "2018-08-29T21:26:03Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > We can recognize something as a disease without saying people who suffer from that disease are horrible people. That’s all “not stigmatizing” means here. > > And, to emphasize, the difference between being a pedophile and being a child molester is the difference between being a pyromaniac and being an arsonist, or being a kleptomaniac and being a thief: One is obsession, the other is completed action. We must remove those who make it from obsession to action from society by means of the criminal justice system, but we don’t need to do that to people who see their obsession as a disease and seek treatment instead of indulging it. Then perhaps we need to re–define pedophilia as a mental disorder. The problem is, how do we deal with the pro-pedo groups out there? (NAMBLA’s [not](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pedophile_and_pederast_advocacy_organizations) the only one) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/166 "2018-08-29T21:32:38Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Then perhaps we need to re–define pedophilia as a mental disorder. [It is](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia): > [@](#): > > Pedophilia is termed pedophilic disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), and the manual defines it as a paraphilia involving intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about prepubescent children that have either been acted upon or which cause the person with the attraction distress or interpersonal difficulty.[4] The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) defines it as a “sustained, focused, and intense pattern of sexual arousal—as manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, urges, or behaviours—involving pre-pubertal children.”[6] The “problem” is that it isn’t pedophilia to be attracted to a fourteen-year-old under these definitions, assuming they’ve gone through puberty, so people who are attracted to young teens don’t meet the technical qualification. I’m not sure how this actually impacts what therapy they can receive. > [@](#): > > The problem is, how do we deal with the pro-pedo groups out there? (NAMBLA’s [not](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pedophile_and_pederast_advocacy_organizations) the only one) There are pro-anorexia groups, Healthy At Every Size Fat Activism pro-obesity groups, and all kinds of pro-drug groups. We “deal with them” by punishing the members when they actually do something, if they ever do. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/167 "2018-08-29T21:39:55Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Inside a generation the Catholic Church has gone from unquestionably the most or at least 2nd most powerful organisation in Ireland to a minority pursuit and this is largely because of its inability to address sexual and other abuse within its various operations on this island. Do you think that’s really why? Either the claims of the Catholic Church are true, or they are not (i.e either Jesus Christ rose from the dead, or he didn’t). If Jesus Christ rose from the dead, then an entire army of predatory pedophile priests being sic’ed on children by the Pope himself can’t change that. It seems much more likely that people are leaving the Church because they just don’t believe Jesus really rose from the dead. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/168 "2018-08-29T23:06:54Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Do you think that’s really why? Either the claims of the Catholic Church are true, or they are not (i.e either Jesus Christ rose from the dead, or he didn’t). If Jesus Christ rose from the dead, then an entire army of predatory pedophile priests being sic’ed on children by the Pope himself can’t change that. It seems much more likely that people are leaving the Church because they just don’t believe Jesus really rose from the dead. You know you can be a Christian and not be a Catholic, right? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/169 "2018-08-29T23:22:07Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You know you can be a Christian and not be a Catholic, right? To hear some tell it, that’s the _only_ way you can be Christian. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/170 "2018-08-29T23:56:13Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > \*\* Ulfrieda\*\* > > You are mistakenly conflating the word ‘Gay’ with pedophile, if a pedophile prefers children of their own gender then they are pedophiles, not gay. > > I accept that this is an easy mistake to slide into, however I am sure that gay members of these boards would be rightly offended at this association, our gay community suffers enough stereotyping as it is. > > Being gay is not a criminal offense because this involved informed and competent consent, pedophilia is a crime - since it is rape. I most certainly am not. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/171 "2018-08-30T13:34:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You know you can be a Christian and not be a Catholic, right? Of course, but I don’t think these Irish people that have left / are leaving the Catholic Church in droves are joining Protestant sects, or are they? Are Protestant churches booming in Ireland? I somehow doubt it… ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624/172 "2018-09-05T00:03:10Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Do you think that’s really why? Either the claims of the Catholic Church are true, or they are not (i.e either Jesus Christ rose from the dead, or he didn’t). If Jesus Christ rose from the dead, then an entire army of predatory pedophile priests being sic’ed on children by the Pope himself can’t change that. It seems much more likely that people are leaving the Church because they just don’t believe Jesus really rose from the dead. I said it was largely because of abuse. I have no doubt that other factors, including fall off in belief, social pressure to observe etc have played a part. I think if you have ever been embedded in a highly religious community you might realise that part of the reason you do or do not participate is largely down to which is easier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-catholic-priests-are-rapists-oh-say-it-aint-so/819624.md?page=8)