Journalist for Life Michael Coren
In early October, a former Roman Catholic bishop, Raymond Lahey, was charged with the possession and distribution of child pornography. Whether he is guilty or not is yet to be decided, but the case does look extremely bad.
Beyond what he is accused of having had on his laptop computer recently, it is also alleged that he was seen in the 1980s looking at pictures of aroused teenage boys. The reason this issue is so bitingly relevant to the pro-life community, apart from the obvious, is that it is already – predictably – being used to discredit not only Catholics, but all who speak up for the unborn and for sexual fidelity, marriage and life. Which is why we need to know the facts about what clergy abuse is and what this subject is all about.
The media routinely describe this vile phenomenon as being pedophilia. It’s more a spasm than a considered reaction and description. Pedophilia is an unnatural, perverse sexual attraction of an adult to a child. The victim in such a case is characterized not by appearing older than he or she is, but by looking particularly young. As repugnant as it will be to many readers, we need to know that child pornography often involves babies and the tiniest of children. I have interviewed tough, worldly police officers who work in this field who tell me they require periodic counselling because of what they have to see as evidence.
So the old stereotype of, for example, a young woman posing in a school uniform has absolutely nothing to do with child pornography. Nor is this about a 16-year-old girl pretending to be 18 or a normal person confused or ill-informed. In fact, it’s not usually about girls at all. Let me explain.
The most extensive and objective study of the Roman Catholic clergy abuse scandal was undertaken by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. It concluded that 80 per cent of the abuse victims in North America in the past 50 years were males aged between 11 and 17; most of them, older than 14. Not girls, not pre-pubescent boys. The same appears to be the case with the current horror allegedly involving former bishop Lahey. He is said to have looked not at girls or small boys, but at 15- and 16-year old males. This is standard, typical and common, when the cases are analyzed honestly and objectively.
This is not strictly pedophilia at all, but homosexual abuse and an obsession with the catamite, a boy who has a sexual relationship with a man. The North American Man-Boy Love Association has marched in gay pride parades and advertised in the mainstream homosexual media. Many homosexuals condemn this, but the debate over so-called “inter-generational sex and love” is an active one in the gay community. Hardly the case in general society, where such repulsive behaviour is considered immoral and is certainly illegal.
Whether it is pedophilia or homosexual abuse, it is, of course, wrong. But it is also different. No society or ideology has ever argued that it is acceptable or admirable for adults to have a sexual relationship with a child. Several societies and ideologies, however – pagan ancient Greece, certain periods of pre-Christian Rome, the 19th-century decadents – have argued that men should form romantic, physical partnerships with boys so as to liberate and educate them. This same philosophy is alive and well today in contemporary Canada.
The rate of abuse among Roman Catholic clergy, vile as it may be, is precisely the same as the rate in any other area. It is just that the media give so much attention to sexual crimes within the Catholic church. The greater point, though, is that it is strangely comforting for commentators to speak of the pedophilia crisis faced by Catholicism, when the reality is that the church, in fact, faced and, to a degree, still faces a homosexual crisis. Unless we know this, we cannot properly respond to the issue and to critics. Nor is this a uniquely Catholic problem at all, but a human problem, a moral problem, a modernist problem.
On the one hand, social liberals accuse supporters of life and orthodox morality as being homophobic when we question the underpinnings of the gay lifestyle, but simultaneously argue that Catholics and other Christians do not do enough to protect children. This entire episode must be handled with moderation, love and compassion, but also with intelligence, information and a steely determination. There are few as vulnerable as a teenage boy and, tragically, all sorts of people are intent on taking advantage of that vulnerability.
Michael Coren can be booked for public speaking at www.michaelcoren.com. He is the author of numerous books, including, most recently, As I See It, a collection of his columns.
