secrecy has uses.

The Pope and the Pedophilia Scandal

In the Catholic religion, a priest takes a vow of celibacy so that he may devote all his time and energy to the faith. He is "married" to the church. It is a sacrifice he makes, as do the sisters (nuns) and brothers, such as in the Franciscan order. However, this sublimation of normal sexual feelings was not mandatory in the Catholic Church until around 1200 a.d. The apostle Peter himself, hand-picked by Jesus to be the founder of the Church was MARRIED. Celibacy was NOT required by Christ. Paul had a lot to say about the virtues of celibacy, but then, he thought the world was about to end, and sex was getting in the way of constant devotion to Christ. My point? Perhaps it is finally time to let go of this archaic notion that the only good priest is a celibate one. I have no way of knowing how many pedophiles intentionally set out to become priests, but perhaps some priests like Father Murphy become pedophiles when they realize the perfect situation they are in for easy gratification. And who can say how many (otherwise perfectly natural) homosexual relations are going on behind closed doors in the Catholic church? Since those would be between consenting adults, they would never reach the press and certainly never come to the desk of a Vatican official. They might fall on the ear of a priest during confession, but a few words of absolution, and all would be forgiven. Of course, it would be a mortal sin and perhaps the perpertrator might have to be "reassigned."