One of the things that is attributed to abuse within the catholic church is an unhealthy sexual attitude. This is a complicated argument. On the one side abuse is largely about power, it is also an acting out of fantasies. Most of the roles within the catholic church are amongst other things, based on a system of repressed sexual desires. With repression come fantasization, and all too often it manifests itself as abuse.
Repression
The other side of the coin is the recurring sexual attitude in many Christian teachings that sex is bad, dirty, etc. A lot of this goes back to some of the early traditions of repressing pagan traditions which embraced sexuality. Condemning sex was also a way of controlling the role of women within the early church. Sex became something that was not spoken in the positive sense.
Put these two together and you end up with a system which facilitates abuse, that is then not spoken of. This allows it to continue as a vicious cycle. Removing celibacy as part of the priest/nun tradition would help promote healthier attitudes about sex. But abuse is ultimately about power, so it might help certain aspects, but it wouldn’t fix the overall problem. Better attitudes about sex, and open discussion about sex, and specifically open discussion about sexual abuse is what we need.
Let us know if we can help you dealing with your family’s sexual abuse situation. For ideas to get started please check out our book on what to do during the early days after disclosure.
