Plea that abuse not be used as ‘political football’

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Ahead of an unprecedented summit on abuse opening in the Vatican this morning (Thursday), Archbishop Eamon Martin has rejected the idea that the abuse scandals can be attributed to priests who are gay. Speaking exclusively to The Irish Catholic, Dr Martin also insisted that the Church has to do a lot more research on the impact of an unhealthy approach to celibacy by some priests and religious.

Archbishop Eamon expressed the view that the “danger is that the issue – the horrendous chapter of abuse in the Church – becomes some sort of ecclesiastical political football, which is batted about between different wings within the Church”.

Abuse, he said, “is like a virus that destroys and infects everything that it touches”.

On the issue of homosexuality in the priesthood, Archbishop Eamon asks in meeting “with young women, or women who were abused as young girls, what do we tell them? Do we tell them it was heterosexuality? It was the very same dynamics of deviance, of deceit, of cover-up, they all happened”.

He warns against looking for simplistic answers or scapegoating. “Let’s be cautious about thinking that we can explain away the horrendous breach of trust and breach of vocation that is abuse by a priest, or a religious. By all means, with the help of proper expert research, let’s look at all the issues,” he said.

Turning to the issue of mandatory celibacy, Archbishop Eamon insists that the Church needs to “reflect on why did this happen, what are the tendencies, what was it about who we were as a Church that led to this?

“There’s been very little theology of the priesthood done, or reflection done on the whole area of sexual integration for priests, religious, those who take vows of celibacy or chastity. What does that do to their sexuality, what does that do to the way they live their lives?” he asked.

The archbishop went on to explain that “you can have an unintegrated sexuality as a celibate person, or indeed as a married person. And very sadly, we know from society that a large amount of abuse can take place within a home.

“And the earth-shattering impact of abuse in the family or families that is the Church, mirrors the catastrophic impact of abuse inside a family home with all the same tendencies towards cover-up, denial, anger, traumatic breakdown and separation, and then guilt and shame. All of those same things.

Celibacy

“When we’re looking at the issue of an un-integrated sexuality, that can indeed happen with the priesthood, within religious life. When somebody who has chosen a life of celibacy, has not been able to integrate that into their lives in a healthy and fruitful way.

“Sometimes priests and religious have to learn that through a very bitter experience, should they fall in love for example.

“But the un-integration of sexuality that leads to abuse, in my view, is a deviance of sexuality which can exist within the clerical and religious world, but equally within married life or single life.

“It knows no bounds, and perhaps it would be simplistic of us to try to explain it away.”