Benedict blames sex-abuse crisis on Sixties
Former pope says the sexual revolution led to a collapse in morality that bedevilled the priesthood
A FORMER pope has blamed sex abuse by Catholic clergy on the effects of the sexual revolution of the Sixties.
Benedict XVI published a rare essay in a Bavarian Catholic journal, saying that the clerical abuse crisis was brought about by a general “collapse” in morality. He also said that paedophilia was a result of an absence of God.
The comments have triggered debate among theologians, with critics accusing the ex-pope of trying to shift blame for abuse away from the Church.
The German-born Benedict, who for 23 years headed the Vatican doctrinal office that has been widely criticised for its handling of sex-abuse cases, argues that the sexual revolution led some to believe that paedophilia and pornography were acceptable. He wrote: “It could be said that in the 20 years from 1960 to 1980, the previously normative standards regarding sexuality collapsed entirely, and a new normalcy arose.”
He offered his evaluations in a long essay in Klerusblatt, a monthly Church magazine, and said that the impetus for the essay, entitled “The Church and the Scandal of Sexual Abuse”, was a summit of senior bishops that the current Pope Francis held in February.
The former pope said that the spread of explicit sex education for schoolchildren and nudity in advertising had contributed to a loosening of moral bearings. He bemoaned how some seminaries had an openly gay culture and thus failed to train priests properly.
According to an English translation published by several Catholic websites, he said: “Among the freedoms that the revolution of 1968 sought to fight for was this all-out sexual freedom, one which no longer conceded any norms. Part of the physiognomy of the revolution was that paedophilia was then also diagnosed as allowed and appropriate.
“For the young people in the Church, but not only for them, this was in many ways a very difficult time. The extensive collapse of the next generation of priests in those years and the very high number of laicisations were a consequence of all these developments.”
The 91-year-old, who in 2013 became the first pope in six centuries to resign, was granted permission to write the article by Pope Francis.
Benedict was head of the doctrinal office before he became Pope in 2005. He was in charge in 2002, when the first wave of abuse cases were exposed.
Responding to the article, Brian Flanagan, professor of theology at Marymount University in Virginia, said: “The idea that ecclesial abuse of children was a result of the 1960s is an embarrassingly wrong explanation for the systemic abuse of children and its cover up.”