Nowadays, the Catholic Church is mostly known for its eerie tendency to molest children. This is a very sad fact, and it raises some questions, which I will attempt to address here.

That priests have molested children is a fact we cannot ignore, nor can we ignore that they seem to be legion amongst the Church. (And yes, I chose my words intentionally, for those of you who remember the Gospel.) So what is it about the Catholic Church and pedophilia?

One theory I regularly hear is that priests become pedophiles through sexual frustration due to their mandatory celibate. I can speak on that count, personally, because I have gone through over 14 years of intense sexual frustration, and I have not become the least bit of a pedophile for so much. Therefore, I don't think this would be the explanation. You never know, though, but that's not the first thing I think of when it comes to explaining this problem.

Here's my take on it. Suppose you are a pedophile, and you intend to molest children. How will you go about it? My guess is that you would try to secure a position where people trust you, and one where you can be with children. A priest obviously has high respect because of the religious nature of the job, and you are in contact with children. Besides, if you're a pedophile and don't feel attracted to women or other adults, being a priest will “explain” why you never date and never have a partner. People will think you're a good priest, when in fact, you just don't lust after adults. No one will ask you nosey questions about your personal life because everyone will assume you don't have a relationship of any kind, and that if you had, being a priest, you'd not talk of it. Thus, the position of a priest seems ideal for a pedophile.

Now we need to address something. Often, people have a very sympathising view of the pedophile. They think of him or her as a poor person who deserves pity and understanding. The truth is that, simply, most of these pedophiles who molest children just want to fuck kids. And they don't care. Most of you didn't have the sinister opportunity to talk with pedophiles who molest children, but the fact is there: they just want to fuck children and enjoy it. No concern for the child. None whatsoever. And let's be honest, if they had any concern for the child, they'd not molest kids, simple as that. I don't doubt that there are pedophiles out there who never molest anyone and never would. I'm addressing those who do. They know what they're doing, they just don't care about their victims. They want sexual gratification and pleasure, and nothing else matters. Don't be fooled by our age's tendency to explain everything away with psychology and other rationalisations: these people know what they are doing, they're not insane.

All pedophiles intending to molest children will attempt to find a job which brings them close to them, that's only logical, and it's backed up by statistics. That is the reason why you find so many of them in the Catholic Church. I don't think priestly life turns anyone into a pedophile, it just attracts pedophiles.

As to the Catholic Church, it erred when it decided to deal with those things on its own terms, and not disclose it to the police of any of the countries in which these horrors happened. For this, the Catholic Church should be held responsible. Here is what typically happens: a priest is caught in the act, the Church sends him away to some monastery or else where he no longer is in contact with children (in the best of cases), but no police is called, nothing happens. That's the problem, the Church isn't outside the laws of the country in which its members live.

Thanks to the infamy of those scandals, I don't think any parent will tranquilly let their child alone with a priest any more. For those who weren't so lucky, we can only wish them the best (and perhaps sue the Church and get something for their pain).

I don't blame Catholicism for these evil people, but it's absolutely certain that this is a massive blow to our trust (for those of us who had any to begin with, that is) and after all those horrors, it's understandable that we cannot easily look upon a priest and not wonder. I wouldn't blame anyone for that.

Nicolas