For non-Catholics to latch on to the priest-child abuse scandal is so logical that even a Catholic can see it. Many Catholics would do the same in a situation where they perceived another group as an adversary. In fact we Catholics have done this a bit, once we learned of the insurance data that revealed more insurance claims paid out in lawsuits, about such abuse, in Protestant churches than in the Catholic Church. The Catholic scandal seems to be more focused on the priests, whereas the issues in Protestant churches seemed to involve more levels, youth directors, youth ministers, etc. Does celibacy cause this sort of behavior or some people just pedophiles? The experts seem to say that celibacy is not the issue; however, we know that forced celibacy in situations like prisons can lead to rape.
Our goal here is not to address causes as we have neither the expertise nor the data. We wish only to address the Christian view as we see it. Three points are paramount in such bad behavior by religious administrators now and for all time. First, all people are flawed. It is the basic premise of our Faith. Secondly, God seems to make a point of using ordinary people for his operatives, thus setting him and us up for some level of disappointment in our Christian heroes. Thirdly, although the Church has been perceived through history as very strict, it actually gives great leeway to its religious (priests, nuns, monks, friars). Perhaps since first impressions are the most lasting, the fact that the Church was very strict (not in its earliest days) in earlier times, has just stuck with people.
The first point needs no discussion. We Christians differ with secularist in that some (perhaps most) of them believe mankind inherently good. We, of course believe in original sin. With respect to the second point, even when God works with kings (assumed to be the top tier of society) they are flawed. David and Solomon are legendary examples, and David of course is the iconic Israeli king, ancestor of Jesus and the king to whom Christ is the heir. Moses, the iconic figure of Old Testament times broke the first tablets of the Ten Commandments in his anger at his people. He ultimately was not allowed to reach the Promise land. It seems as one reads the Bible that every hero (male or female) has at least some little flaw. Christ himself, the perfect being, God himself broken into the world of man, has the moment of doubt: "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Priest, nuns and all religious are human, and all humans make mistakes and even sin. Some of them are going to sin severely.
Once a person enters the Catholic Faith they quickly realize that it is as diverse as society and more diverse than many, if not most, Protestant churches. We are not referencing racial and ethnic diversity here, though it is that too. Here we are talking about expression of the Faith, philosophical stances and the like. Conservative Catholics grumble that the Church doesn't discipline powerful lay Catholics who openly claim the Faith as theirs but make real life decisions affecting others that are immoral in the view of the Church. The obvious reference here is to Catholic politicians who support things like abortion. They could be "disciplined" (though not employees of the church) by refusal of communion or excommunication. Liberal Catholics, and even moderate or "normal" Catholics, marvel at the Church's patience with extreme conservatives in the Church who insist that a mass is not a legal service if it is not said in Latin. There are those on the extreme conservative end of the Catholic spectrum who believe that no pope since Vatican II in the mid 1960s is a valid pope. This is because they do not accept any of the changes that came out of that conference. Vatican II was widely misunderstood. It actually was a positive move for the Church. It opened Catholicism up to more people, with such new practices as masses in the vernacular language of a country rather than requiring Latin all of the time. With the new practices, the old ones were not outlawed, though many thought that was the case. Vatican II (especially its misapplication) together with the social rebellions of the 60s did result in a negative liberalization of the Church. Perhaps that historical fact explains the Vatican's current leniency toward the conservative critics within its midst.
The main point about this final fact about Catholics, that they are very diverse in their Christian philosophy and everyday thinking, is that the Church is as diverse as society in general. Therefore, you will find the same percentages of both good and bad behavior among the people it employees. They are "religious," but they are people first, just like Protestants and secular society's members (whose behavioral statistics match those of Catholicism pretty well).
Our goal here is not to address causes as we have neither the expertise nor the data. We wish only to address the Christian view as we see it. Three points are paramount in such bad behavior by religious administrators now and for all time. First, all people are flawed. It is the basic premise of our Faith. Secondly, God seems to make a point of using ordinary people for his operatives, thus setting him and us up for some level of disappointment in our Christian heroes. Thirdly, although the Church has been perceived through history as very strict, it actually gives great leeway to its religious (priests, nuns, monks, friars). Perhaps since first impressions are the most lasting, the fact that the Church was very strict (not in its earliest days) in earlier times, has just stuck with people.
The first point needs no discussion. We Christians differ with secularist in that some (perhaps most) of them believe mankind inherently good. We, of course believe in original sin. With respect to the second point, even when God works with kings (assumed to be the top tier of society) they are flawed. David and Solomon are legendary examples, and David of course is the iconic Israeli king, ancestor of Jesus and the king to whom Christ is the heir. Moses, the iconic figure of Old Testament times broke the first tablets of the Ten Commandments in his anger at his people. He ultimately was not allowed to reach the Promise land. It seems as one reads the Bible that every hero (male or female) has at least some little flaw. Christ himself, the perfect being, God himself broken into the world of man, has the moment of doubt: "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Priest, nuns and all religious are human, and all humans make mistakes and even sin. Some of them are going to sin severely.
Once a person enters the Catholic Faith they quickly realize that it is as diverse as society and more diverse than many, if not most, Protestant churches. We are not referencing racial and ethnic diversity here, though it is that too. Here we are talking about expression of the Faith, philosophical stances and the like. Conservative Catholics grumble that the Church doesn't discipline powerful lay Catholics who openly claim the Faith as theirs but make real life decisions affecting others that are immoral in the view of the Church. The obvious reference here is to Catholic politicians who support things like abortion. They could be "disciplined" (though not employees of the church) by refusal of communion or excommunication. Liberal Catholics, and even moderate or "normal" Catholics, marvel at the Church's patience with extreme conservatives in the Church who insist that a mass is not a legal service if it is not said in Latin. There are those on the extreme conservative end of the Catholic spectrum who believe that no pope since Vatican II in the mid 1960s is a valid pope. This is because they do not accept any of the changes that came out of that conference. Vatican II was widely misunderstood. It actually was a positive move for the Church. It opened Catholicism up to more people, with such new practices as masses in the vernacular language of a country rather than requiring Latin all of the time. With the new practices, the old ones were not outlawed, though many thought that was the case. Vatican II (especially its misapplication) together with the social rebellions of the 60s did result in a negative liberalization of the Church. Perhaps that historical fact explains the Vatican's current leniency toward the conservative critics within its midst.
The main point about this final fact about Catholics, that they are very diverse in their Christian philosophy and everyday thinking, is that the Church is as diverse as society in general. Therefore, you will find the same percentages of both good and bad behavior among the people it employees. They are "religious," but they are people first, just like Protestants and secular society's members (whose behavioral statistics match those of Catholicism pretty well).