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EmotionalAd5920 t1_ivglh2s wrote

Reply to comment by webesy in Cardinal Ricard among 11 French bishops accused of abuse by motayba

to me it seems the sexual repression causes them to act out, and their easiest victims are children who wont fight back. more opportunist’s than monsters.

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PeterP211 t1_ivgtk9t wrote

If you mean repression caused by celibacy - and not some sort of cultural repression - then no. Pedophilia is a deep seated psychosexual deviancy, not something that gets turned on like a light switch.

And two other issues with this logic:

  1. No one forced these guys into the clergy nor is priestly celibacy some sort of surprise.

  2. If someone is willing to break their celibacy (due to it being repressive) to prey in kids, wouldn’t they be just as or more likely to break it to sleep with an adult, if the celibacy was such an issue for them?

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supercyberlurker t1_ivgopkc wrote

I've heard it phrased as "Positions of power don't create abusers, but they are magnets drawing them in."

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MoonageDayscream t1_ivgrhc3 wrote

It's well known that offenders in the Church are protected. Not so much the secular institutions that offer similar access and those certainly don't have the global reach to shelter them, the social control to force silence or "forgiveness", or the deep pockets to harass or pay off victims and their families.

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