Post by Administration on Apr 16, 2010 19:53:46 GMT
Knowledge of Sexual Activity and Abuse
Within the Clerical System
of The Roman Catholic Church - A Declaration
Richard Sipe
February 1, 2004
1. The unique character of the clerical system:
2. Although Roman Catholics form the largest Christian denomination in the United States (63 million), the clerics who rule it form a relatively small group, in 2004, fewer than 45,000 priests and bishops (29,715 diocesan & 14,772 religious priests, i.e., those who belong to Orders such as Jesuits, Benedictines, Dominicans, etc.).
3. The Catholic Church is a hierarchical system, with a monarchical structure.
4. The Pope in Rome ultimately controls the structure and religious discipline of the organization. The Pope also appoints every bishop. But each bishop has autonomous control within his territory called a diocese. This ecclesiastical authority extends over Catholic priests, religious institutions, and lay people in his territory.
5. The clerical system of the Catholic Church is homosocial. Only celibate males can qualify for any ecclesiastical position of authority within the system.
6. All priests and bishops are required to be celibate: that is not married (1) and promised to "perfect and perpetual chastity." In practice this means no sexual activity with self or others.
7. The responsibility of the bishop is clear in regard to the celibacy of his clergy. Because celibacy is essential for ordination and priesthood a priest who is ordained or assigned to any parish or ministry in a diocese is de facto by a bishop's sponsorship certified sexually safe to the parishioners and the public.
8. Every priest is educated in a system that follows the same standardized required curriculum.
9. Every priest is required to take the same doctrinal oath.
10. There is no comparable system, religious or secular, whose hierarchical and homogeneous character is so closely bound with sex and power. This is a long-standing structural reality traceable in Church documents to 309 CE.
II. The Church's General Knowledge of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy
11. Awareness of the problem of priests' and bishops' sexual activity is not a recent phenomenon. Historical church documents are consistent in their acknowledgement of the existence and extent of violations of celibacy and clerics that have sex with minors. It is clear that abuse has been a perennial problem and neither restricted to ancient history nor of recent origin. (Cf. Documents and regulations written and promulgated by the Vatican in 1662, 1714, 1890, 1962, & 2002)
12. Clearly, sexual abuse by clergy is neither simply a current aberration nor a passing phenomenon, but has deep systemic roots.
13. Every bishop, without exception, has known that sexual activity of a priest with a minor is a violation of the requirement of clerical celibacy.
14. A great deal is known within the clerical system about the sexual activity of other clerics. In 1976 I already had enough experience and evidence to estimate that 6% of Catholic priests involved themselves sexually with minors.
Read more:
www.richardsipe.com/Articles/Knowledge%20of%20sexual%20activity.html
Within the Clerical System
of The Roman Catholic Church - A Declaration
Richard Sipe
February 1, 2004
1. The unique character of the clerical system:
2. Although Roman Catholics form the largest Christian denomination in the United States (63 million), the clerics who rule it form a relatively small group, in 2004, fewer than 45,000 priests and bishops (29,715 diocesan & 14,772 religious priests, i.e., those who belong to Orders such as Jesuits, Benedictines, Dominicans, etc.).
3. The Catholic Church is a hierarchical system, with a monarchical structure.
4. The Pope in Rome ultimately controls the structure and religious discipline of the organization. The Pope also appoints every bishop. But each bishop has autonomous control within his territory called a diocese. This ecclesiastical authority extends over Catholic priests, religious institutions, and lay people in his territory.
5. The clerical system of the Catholic Church is homosocial. Only celibate males can qualify for any ecclesiastical position of authority within the system.
6. All priests and bishops are required to be celibate: that is not married (1) and promised to "perfect and perpetual chastity." In practice this means no sexual activity with self or others.
7. The responsibility of the bishop is clear in regard to the celibacy of his clergy. Because celibacy is essential for ordination and priesthood a priest who is ordained or assigned to any parish or ministry in a diocese is de facto by a bishop's sponsorship certified sexually safe to the parishioners and the public.
8. Every priest is educated in a system that follows the same standardized required curriculum.
9. Every priest is required to take the same doctrinal oath.
10. There is no comparable system, religious or secular, whose hierarchical and homogeneous character is so closely bound with sex and power. This is a long-standing structural reality traceable in Church documents to 309 CE.
II. The Church's General Knowledge of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy
11. Awareness of the problem of priests' and bishops' sexual activity is not a recent phenomenon. Historical church documents are consistent in their acknowledgement of the existence and extent of violations of celibacy and clerics that have sex with minors. It is clear that abuse has been a perennial problem and neither restricted to ancient history nor of recent origin. (Cf. Documents and regulations written and promulgated by the Vatican in 1662, 1714, 1890, 1962, & 2002)
12. Clearly, sexual abuse by clergy is neither simply a current aberration nor a passing phenomenon, but has deep systemic roots.
13. Every bishop, without exception, has known that sexual activity of a priest with a minor is a violation of the requirement of clerical celibacy.
14. A great deal is known within the clerical system about the sexual activity of other clerics. In 1976 I already had enough experience and evidence to estimate that 6% of Catholic priests involved themselves sexually with minors.
Read more:
www.richardsipe.com/Articles/Knowledge%20of%20sexual%20activity.html