Celibacy could have contributed to the instances of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church, a report by the church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council in Australia has found.
The report, released on Friday as a response to the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, said “obligatory celibacy” for Catholic priests “may … have contributed to abuse in some circumstances”, and recommended priests undergo “psycho-sexual development” training.
Council CEO Francis Sullivan told Guardian Australia that priests needed to undergo “education” to develop emotional and sexual awareness, “like what you and I do as adults”.
“Because they are in an environment, in a service, that’s very intimate and close with people, they need to be quite clear about the boundaries, and what is and isn’t appropriate,” he said.
Sullivan said the group was not suggesting abolishing the vow of celibacy, but rather addressing how priests can “keep the integrity of their vows”.
“It’s about learning the risks of blurring the boundaries. Knowing the risks that intimacy can bring,” he said. “We are not talking about lifting the vow of celibacy.”
Sullivan said the issue of celibacy had been raised numerous times in royal commission hearings, and said it was clear the commission would spend more time on it.
“When you have got a major inquiry into the sex abuse culture in the Catholic church, you can’t just put your head in the sand. It’s very clear that in some cases there have been inadequate professional cross-boundaries in their service of their parishioners,” he said.
The report said the church’s response to child sex abuse had been shaped by its culture and “clericalism”, which it defined as an “ordained ministry geared to power over others, not service to others”.
“Church institutions and their leaders, over many decades, seemed to turn a blind eye, either instinctively or deliberately, to the abuse happening within their diocese or religious order, protecting the institution rather than caring for the child,” the report said.
It said the selection process for priests may have contributed to a culture that ignored abuse.
The report also said the council would support a national statutory compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse above providing compensation directly to victims.
“The church should no longer investigate itself. It does not have the trust of victims,” Sullivan said.
The council was formed by Australian Catholic church leaders in 2013 in response to the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.
In its first 12 months it received evidence that abuse had occurred at 703 Catholic institutions, including schools, in Australia. Catholic institutions made up 40% of all institutions subject to complaint.
Almost 30% of the child sexual abuse survivors who gave evidence to the royal commission in its first 12 months were abused by a member of the clergy, of all denominations.
The commission was extended this year and is expected to deliver its final report in 2017.
