Is There a Link Between Priestly Celibacy and Sexual Abuse?
To say that clerical celibacy can lead to sex abuse is “much too
simplistic,” because most abuse happens in the family, where the
majority of the perpetrators are married men or other family members, a
psychiatrist member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of
Minors said. In an interview with the Register Feb. 16, Baroness Sheila Hollins
said any link between priestly celibacy and sex abuse is “complicated,
and I think it would be much too simplistic to say celibacy is the cause
of it, because in fact 80% of abuse happens in the family, where
perpetrators are mostly going to be married men, but sometimes, of
course, they may be other family members.”
