Reader Bob Reagan writes:
“Should one be surprised that for centuries the church has taken a family’s favorite son, dressed him in a dress with lace frill, told him he cannot be intimate with a woman, called him father, and wonders why he has an unnatural sex life?”
I don’t want criticism of Cardinal Roger Mahony or the Roman Catholic Church to descend into mockery. But Reagan has a point. The church’s mishandling of celibacy lies at the root of its molestation scandal. Top put it bluntly, the Church was clueless about sex. I quoted an expert once saying — I’m paraphrasing from memory — “The church thinks being innocent an ignorant about sex makes them smart. It doesn’t. It makes them stupid.”
The Catholic sex scandals show celibacy requires intelligent sexuality, not the pretense of no sexuality.
