tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123940721170852595.post7076257564621746546..comments2023-10-31T13:24:55.640+00:00Comments on Fr Paul Johnson: Child Abuse and the head of the CDF's response - OutstandingFr Paul Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08107161894913745109noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123940721170852595.post-86762444053094541662010-04-06T21:14:04.167+01:002010-04-06T21:14:04.167+01:00John, sorry it's taken a while to respond. It...John, sorry it's taken a while to respond. It's been a busy weekend. I'm sure you understand. <br />Celibacy in no way prevents a man from engaging fully with the community which he serves. In the same way that single people are able to engage fully in the life of the Church. For a celibate priest, and especially for a priest, they have chosen to forsake a human family for the Kingdom of God. When a priest sexually abuses a child, then the Kingdom of God is damaged, as you say the whole Body is weakened. This is why it is such a heinous crime and worse than the vast majority of heterosexual married men who sexually abuse children.Fr Paul Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107161894913745109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123940721170852595.post-76170270652861066892010-04-03T20:59:31.496+01:002010-04-03T20:59:31.496+01:00Sir, I am not a Catholic, but a believer and proba...Sir, I am not a Catholic, but a believer and probably more deeply nonconformist than a Roman Catholic might be comfortable with. It seems to me that if men who are of a caring disposition, with possibly homosexual tendencies - the two tend to go together in certain personality types - hence are drawn to a life of service in the Body of Christ - are provided a framework of dispensational authority which some perceive almost beyond ( I won't say "above") a moral law, The Church has only herself to blame for the consequences. Why, in God's name, cannot your Church throw off the outmoded, irrelevant and unnecessary cloak of celibacy, allow priests to fully engage with the communities they serve and have wives and children. How many married Anglicans are there who are convicted paedophiles? The whole Body is weakened and dismayed - not just the adherents to Rome.John Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11647833154827132967noreply@blogger.com