Perversion of Power: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

6. Celibate Sexuality and Sexually Active “Celibates”

87 Chapter 6 Celibate Sexuality and Sexually Active “Celibates” Many commentators on the scandal focused on mandatory celibacy as a cause of the crisis. Some felt that required celibacy contributed to the sexual abuse of minors by narrowing the field of candidates for the priesthood to an already unusual slice of men—those willing at least to try to refrain from sex for a lifetime.1 Others insisted that it was not celibacy itself but, rather, lapses of celibacy, tolerated by superiors and fellow priests, that supported the sexual abuse of minors.2 What became evident is that some number of clergy worldwide live active sexual lives while other priests and prelates—some of them sexually active as well—turn a blind eye to the chasm between celibacy as mandated and celibacy as lived.3 It is the secrecy and hypocrisy about celibacy that supported other sexual secrets like the abuse of minors by priests. History of Celibacy Rev. Thomas Doyle defines celibacy as proscribing “not only marriage but also any kind of romantic or sexual relationship or sexual contact with any other person in any degree.”4 Despite its centrality in official views of the priesthood, mandatory celibacy is a relative newcomer to Catholic discipline .5 The Apostles were married, including Peter, and priests and bishops continued to marry throughout the first millennium of Christianity. St. Paul even emphasized that it was an apostolic prerogative for Christ’s disciples to marry, and he refused to impose celibacy on priests, even though he thought it preferable to marriage.6 In fact, it was not until the Second Lateran Council in 1139 that celibacy was declared mandatory for Catholic priests.7 This twelfth-century decision symbolized the culmination of strong sociopolitical concerns within the Church involving perceptions 88 Perversion of Power of priestly spirituality and, according to Richard Sipe, progeny, property, and power.8 As Christianity developed over its first thousand years, substantial numbers of men and women experienced themselves as called to a freely chosen life of perpetual chastity. These were the early ascetics who were revered by many Christians for their perceived spiritual wisdom and healing powers.9 Further, the assumed correlation between virginity and spiritual power was common in the pagan society surrounding Christianity, where sex, women, and the material body were devalued as impurities interfering with an individual’s spiritual enhancement.10 By the fourth century, the height of the ascetics’ popularity, purity rituals were imposed on the priesthood in part to render it more spiritually powerful in the minds of the Christian populace—to bring the priesthood into closer alliance with the ascetics.11 Priests, for example, were instructed to abstain from sex for at least twenty-four hours before consecrating the Eucharist so that they would be free from the contamination connected with sexual relations with a woman.12 As celebration of the Eucharist became more frequent in Christian communities, priests were required to refrain from sex for longer periods of time.13 Eventually, they were directed to abstain entirely, even if they were married. The purity impositions were unpopular and many priests failed to comply with them. Up until the twelfth century, in fact, popes, bishops, and priests married and/or produced offspring who, in some cases, inherited their fathers’ offices. For example, Pope Anastasius I (399–401) was succeeded by his son, Pope Innocent I (407–417), and Pope Hormisdas (514–523) was followed in the papacy by his son Pope Silverius (536–537).14 Pope Sergius III (904–911) bore an illegitimate son who became Pope John XI.15 Inherited priesthood or bishoprics left the Church vulnerable to the corruption or incompetence of heirs. Further, children required support, depleting the potential coffers of the Church and offering additional opportunities for financial mismanagement. Mandatory celibacy promised childless bachelors whose offices remained in the hands of the Church. Closely related to progeny was the issue of property. Married men might own property that was passed on to widows and children rather than to the Church when a priest or bishop died. Obligatory celibacy ensured that property was retained in perpetuity by the Church. This focus on property did not simply represent a lust for additional wealth but also solidified the continuity of parishes, monasteries, and abbeys. Property ownership provided the Church at least a modicum of protection from Celibate Sexuality and Sexually Active “Celibates” 89 the vagaries of history, politics, and the...