The Irish Priests

The first thousand years of Christianity were marked by arguments about the place of sex in the church. Augustine thought intercourse was “disgusting” and Jerome thought sex was “unclean”. The Christian church struggled with these ideas for many years and the Church of Rome finally concluded that priests must be celibate. But it was still being debated at the Lateran Council in 1215 and the Nordic churches, to their credit, delayed approving celibacy for a further two centuries.

We must ask whether there is a link between this forced celibacy and the sexual abuse of children by priests that is tearing Ireland apart at the moment. The church in Rome has firmly closed any discussion on this matter. Pope John Paul II told the Irish priests that there are “profound theological and anthropological reasons for preserving celibacy”. But to many of us they are so profound that we cannot see them.

Yes, there can be merit in voluntary celibacy in helping the focus the mind on other things. But compulsory celibacy is hard to justify in the modern church.

Ron O´Grady är en av grundarna till det internationella ECPAT-nätverket. Han var under många år ordförande för ECPAT International och aktiv i ECPAT New Zeeland.