Institute for Marital Healing

Resources for Clergy

“It is important that the priest should mould his human personality in such a way that he becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of humanity," John Paul II, 1992, Pastores Dabo Vobis.

"Priests are the greatest benefactors of humanity," Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Prefect for the Congregation of Clergy, January 8, 2008.

This chapter addresses a number of important issues in priestly life including, ministry to those with pornography conflicts, loneliness, false accusations against priests, conflicts in priestly relationships, ministry to those with sexual conflicts, the crisis in the Church and affective maturity in seminarians.

Ministry to those with pornography conflicts

Priests are reporting a marked increase in ministry to those with internet pornography conflicts.  Dr. Peter Kleponis gave two conferences on pornography to 1,800 priests in the Archdiocese of New York in June 2010.  Two webinars with Dr. Rick Fitzgibbons from those conferencesis are available on this website at www.maritalhealing.com/pornographywebinar.php.

Also, we recommend the new DVD/CD, Blessed Are the Pure of Heart, which discusses Bishop Robert Finn's excellent pastoral letter on pornography.  Our associate, Dr. Peter Kleponis, also comments on the emotional and character conflicts which influence pornography addiction. It can be ordered at www.familyland.org/FLStore/SearchResults.aspx?txtSearch+1036-07. A preview of this DVD is available at YouTube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9tQ4n9PLzI. Also, the chapter on the addicted spouse/relative on this site addresses the pornography conflict in married life.

Dr. Kleponis gave two Zenit interviews on the healing of pornography conflicts in June 2010,

www.zenit.org/article-29697?l=english www.zenit.org/article-29706?l=english.

Compulsive sexual behavior

Compulsive sexual behavior appears to begin early in life, to have a male preponderance, and to run a chronic or episodic course. It is also commonly associated with psychiatric comorbidity, typically mood, anxiety, substance use, and personality disorders. Further research is needed to better our understanding of the disorder and improve our ability to develop specific interventions. Kuzma, JM, Black DW. Epidemiology, prevalence, and natural history of compulsive sexual behavior. Psychiatr Clin N. A. 2008 Dec;31(4):603-11.

Origins of compulsive pornography use

In our clinical experience the most common emotional and character conflicts which influence this difficulty are:

  • Selfishness
  • Loneliness and sadness
  • Marital conflicts with a controlling, angry, critical, selfish, emotionally distant or negative spouse
  • Confidence weaknesses
  • Excessive sense of responsibility with lack of balance in life
  • Poor body image
  • Social isolation
  • Mistrust and anxiety in relationships
  • Excessive anger
  • Lack of self-giving to others
  • Difficulty in receiving love
  • Disordered priorities
  • Excessive sense of independence
  • Boredom with contraceptive sex
  • Lack of acceptance by peers, particularly in adolescents and in the adolescent stage of development
  • Lack of sense of fulfillment

Chapters on this site which address sadness, selfishness, anxiety, marital love and sexuality, marital anger and controlling conflicts can be helpful to those with this serious difficulty. In our clinical experience these conflicts can be resolved and, subsequently, the compulsive use of pornography healed. 

Harm to marriage from pornography

Pornography harms marriages and families in numerous ways including:

  • a belief that fantasy is better than authentic love
  • growth in selfishness - the major enemy of marital love
  • failure to understand and appreciate the beauty and sacredness of marital love
  • lack of refinement in self-giving to the romantic aspect of marriage, to the marital friendship and to the intimate relationship
  • severe sadness, anger, mistrust and insecurity in the victim spouse
  • harm to marital intimacy
  • disordered view of beauty, goodness and sexuality
  • increased vulnerability to adultery
  • increased risk for marital separation and divorce
  • weakened spiritual life.

Damage to young men from pornography

  • involvement in a fantasy world that undermines the ability to relate to young women in a healthy way
  • interferes with the development of a healthy personality
  • harms the ability to understand and want to make a loving commitment in marriage
  • fosters the hook-up culture
  • results in sexual obesity
  • can lead to severe loneliness, depression, weak confidence and social anxiety.

Damage to young women

According to the American Psychological Association, the culture can be infused with sexualized representations of girls and women, suggesting that such sexualization is good and normal. This leads to girls and women feeling bad about themselves: there is evidence that sexualization contributed to impaired cognitive performance in college-aged women, and related research suggests that viewing material that is sexually objectifying can contribute to body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, low self-esteem, depressive affect, and even physical health problems in high-school-aged girls and in young women

In addition to leading to feelings of shame and anxiety, sexualizing treatment and self- objectification can generate feelings of disgust toward one’s physical self. Girls may feel they are ugly and gross.   APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (2007) www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx 

Damage to spiritual life

"This plague stalks the souls of men, women and children, ravages the bonds of marriage and victimizes the most innocent among us. It obscures and destroys people’s ability to see one another as unique and beautiful expressions of God’s creation, instead darkening their vision, causing them to view others as objects to be used and manipulated. Those who engage in such activity deprive themselves of sanctifying grace and destroy the life of Christ in their souls.”  Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s pastoral Letter on pornography,  Bought with a Price: Pornography and the Attack on the Living Temple of God, 2006,

www.arlingtondiocese.org/bishop/about_boughtprice.php .

Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants, since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2354

Warning signs of pornography use in marriage

  • neglect of the marital friendship
  • neglect of the romantic aspect of the marriage
  • loss of interest in the intimate relationship
  • increased tendency to isolate
  • increased irritability
  • decrease in positive, loving communication
  • increased viewing of pornography in the home

Internet pornography healing

The six point recovery plan we have found to be effective includes:

  • self-knowledge
  • growth in virtues
  • friendships/peer support
  • protection of the home
  • 12 step group for those with addictions
  • spiritual plan

We will soon post a pornography webinar that presents in depth this six point plan in addition to clinical information in the addiction chapter on this website.

Parents have attempted to protect their children in high school and college from pornography by placing a program on their laptops such as Covenant Eyes which sends a weekly report to the parents of the web sites visited. Some college students have been warned that if regular pornography use is found that they will lose their financial support. Those struggling with internet pornography have been helped by having the weekly report from this program sent to a good friend.  Also, problematic sites can be blocked by the use of www.netnanny.com.

For Catholics working with a confessor/spiritual director is important in the treatment plan.  Spiritual directors can assist individuals to grow in trusting the Lord has plan to protect them from loneliness and to strengthen their male confidence.

We have found that teleconferences for men with internet pornography addiction in which anonymity is maintained by using first names are very effective in the treatment process.  In these teleconferences the emotional causes of the conflict are addressed and the twelve steps are employed.  A number of articles that demonstrate the benefits of telepsychiatry are available at Medline, the web site of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed .

Priests can help in addressing the pornography epidemic by communicating the beauty and sacredness of sexuality in the sacrament of marriage, by warning of the dangers of pornography and compulsive masturbation, by strengthening Catholic fatherhood, by considering developing support groups for parishoners with this conflict that could be based on a teleconference and by criticizing permissive parenting and the contraceptive mentality.

Books that are helpful with this conflict include The Social Costs of Pornography, Clean of Heart, Every Young Man's Battle Guide, Theology of the Body for Teens, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality and Theology of the Body for Beginners , The Courage to be Chaste and the websibes, www.pornharms.com.  We also recommend The Weight of Smut, Mary Eberstadt, First Things, June-July, 2010, Not Your Father's Pornography. Jason Byasse, First Things, 2008. the addiction chapter and the marital infidelity chapter on this website.

A John Paul II Institute for Studies in Marriage and Family, Patrick Williams, wrote in an excellent paper on this topic, “When beauty is recovered as purity and goodness, the person rejects pornography because there is no longer an attraction to it.  The force of true beauty is great and can, even if slowly and imperfectly, replace the corrupt understanding of beauty.  This requires openness to the saving power of God to transform the heart.  The realization of a true understanding of beauty restores the sight of man to overcome his concupiscence, to overcome his use of the other as a mere body.  John Paul II knew this well when he quoted Dostoyevsky, ‘beauty will save the world.’”Pornography and Beauty:  The Understanding of Psychology and the Thought of Wojtlya/John Paul II, 2007,   Pornography and Beauty,

John Paul II's wisdom from Letter to Artists, no.16 is helpful in the struggle against the pornography epidemic, He wrote,“Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savour life and to dream of the future. That is why the beauty of created things can never fully satisfy. It stirs that hidden nostalgia for God which a lover of beauty like Saint Augustine could express in incomparable terms: ‘Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you!’”. John Paul II, Letter to Artists, n. 16 (1999)  A true appreciation for love and beauty can contribute to healing the present pornography epidemic.

Parishioners who view homosexual pornography on the internet can be helped by reading about the origins and healing of same sex attractions (PDF format), as well as a statement by a scientific committee on homosexuality and scientific research.  Also, the You tube interview of Dr. Robert Spitzer of Columbia University on the possibility of healing same sex attractions can be informative www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBhW2q11qu8&feature=related. He comments on his research study of 200 adults who were out of the lifestyle for at least five years which was published in a major peer reviewed journal. Dr. Spitzer led the task force that removed homosexuality from psychiatric diagnostic manual in 1973.

The benefits from Courage participation

A research study of those with same sex attraction (SSA) who participate in Courage vs. a control group revealed that:

  • those with SSA had more psychopathology than the control group;
  • an increased rate of chastity is negatively correlated with psychopathology;
  • an increased rate of chastity is positively correlated with happiness;
  • greater religious participation is positively correlated to happiness;
  • the time in courage is positively correlated with a history of of increased religious participation;
  • extended participation in Courage is positively correlated with chastity,

Dr. Steve Harris' doctoral dissertation, 2009, Mental Health, Chastity and Religious Participation in a Population of Same-Sex Attracted Men.

Loneliness in priestly ministry

Loneliness in priestly ministry is a major influence on vulnerability to conflicts with pornography.  This article on the identification and resolution of loneliness in priestly life has been helpful to many priests and has been well received in conference to priests (article in Adobe PDF format).  Times of particular vulnerability are Sunday afternoons, the day off and evenings.  A commitment to self-giving in priestly and other friendships and to the Lord is essential in this struggle.  Also, the article referenced above describes methods of resolving loneliness in parental relationships and in male friendships at each life stage that may influence unconsciously present struggles.  Many priests are surprised and pleased by the greater freedom they experience in living chaste, holy lives as their wounds of loneliness are uncovered and resolved.

False Accusations Against Priests

False accusations against authority figures, coworkers, members of the clergy, and even spouses have been increasing.  The false accusations against priests have been caused primarily by excessive anger and hope for financial gain.  At times, reputations have been ruined, family relationships destroyed, and both  professional and religious lives have been shattered.  Often, the rush to judgment is immediate and the direction of the investigation involves only the accused.  Justice demands that an evaluation against an individual should include a study of the person(s) making the accusation as well.  Such a step is frequently omitted or the evaluation is superficial and fails to explore anger in the accuser when members of the clergy are claimed to have been involved in inappropriate conduct. 

Accused clergy should be allowed to review and respond to the accusations against them before being asked to undergo psychological testing. 

Completed psychological studies at times conclude that the accusations that were made were justified.

When gathering data concerning the accused person, it is important to discover  any possible uncovered motives  that the accuser brought to the incident such as significant anger, control difficulties or desire for financial gain.  Actual case histories have revealed some of the following conflicts in the accuser:

  • significant anger against male authority figures or other important males which is misdirected at a priest

  • a compulsive need to control with intense anger toward the priest because of an inability to control him

  • intense jealousy of the priest

  • profound lack of confidence with a need to feel superior to the priest and to punish him

  • depression and mental instability

  • substance abuse

  • desire for publicity

  • hatred of the Catholic Church

  • sexual conflicts

  • prejudice

  • desire for financial gain

  • blind zeal for a cause

  • anger against the fullness of the Church’s teaching on sexual morality and the liturgy and the faithfulness in the priest in these areas

  • narcissism

  • lack of faith

  • sociopathic personality traits.

Mental health professionals who are called upon to evaluate priests should report more fully on the background of the accuser and should document how they have determined that the specific accusation against the priest is not a false accusation. The need for such an evaluation process is clear given the extent of the false accusations made in our culture today. 

Conflicts in Priestly Relationships

Conferences also are offered for priests on identifying and resolving conflicts in priestly relationships. Here is an article on this topic from THE PRIEST from 1985.  In our professional experience the primary origins of these conflicts have changed from being the result primarily of weaknesses in emotional self-giving to being the result of contrasting views of the Church and Her role as teacher, especially as regards sexual morality, marriage and the liturgy. Dr. Paul Vitz's article on narcissism in the liturgy, published in Homiletic and Pastoral Review in the November 2007, http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/civilization/cc0254.htm, is helpful in understanding the influence of this character weakness and its associated anger in the priesthood.

Younger priests who are faithful to Magesterium on issues of sexual morality and contraception, the liturgy and marriage can experience criticism, anger and rejection from older pastors who may even unfairly accuse them of being pastorally insensitive, rigid and conservative.  Such anger is also expressed in passive-aggressive ways in which the pastor enables the director of religious education, the music director, school principal and others on the parish staff to mistreat, attempt to control and, even, limit the ministry of the faithful priest. Such mistreatment, especially early in a priest's ministry, can have seriously harmful effects upon the emotional and the spiritual lives of these priests who can experience isolation and severe loneliness in such rectories and religious communities.

On the fortieth anniversary of the release of Humanae Vitae, July 25, 2008, Cardinal James Francis Stafford has written that dissenters to this important papal document involved a level of infidelity which divided the ranks of clergy to such an extent that they have still not recovered.  He wrote, "In 1968 something terrible happened in the Church. Within the ministerial priesthood ruptures developed everywhere among friends which never healed. And the wounds continue to affect the whole Church. The dissent, together with the leaders' manipulation of the anger they fomented, became a supreme test. It changed fundamental relationships within the Church." 

He wrote, "Conversations among the clergy where they existed, became contaminated with fear.  Suspicions among priests were chronic. ...The Archdiocesan priesthood lost something of the fraternal whole which these priests had known for generations."

In regard to his own personal struggles Cardinal Stafford wrote that at as an auxiliary Bishop in 1968 at a priestly meeting to discuss Humane Vitae in August 1968 he was verbally abused and his integrity was derided for being the only priest at the meeting to support the Papal document.  Furthermore, he was warned that he was risking his ecclesiastical future by his support of Humanae Vitae,

www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource.php?n=675.

The trust in priestly relationships has also been damaged by conflicts over the celebration of the Eucharist.  Pastors who take liberties with the liturgy are often angry toward younger priests who do not engage in such liturgical irregularities.  Some pastors have pressured associate priests to leave parishes because in the pastor's opinion their "liturgical style" did not fit in with the pastor's vision for the parish.

St. Augustine's words to his priests about the importance of priestly friendships are relevant today.  He wrote: "Preserve, my sons, that friendship which you have begun with your brethren, for nothing in the world is more beautiful than that. It is a comfort to have a faithful man by your side." As in the sacrament of marriage, healthy friendships require a daily commitment to grow in numerous virtues, particularly patience, forgiveness, forbearance and trust.

Evidence Based Medicine and Moral Issues

The Philadelphia Medical Association has made available on its web site, www.cathmedphila.org/resources/evidence_based_ethics.htm power point presentations which demonstrate that medical and psychological science support the teaching of the Church in regard to the use of hormonal contraceptives, same sex unions and adoptions, stem cell research, and abortion. 

The EWTN television show, The Homosexuality Reality, in which Melinda Selmys, the author of Sexual Authenticity: An Intimate Reflection on Homosexuality and Catholicism, describes her previous homosexual lifestyle, reasons for leaving the lifestyle, conversion, marriage and present motherhood of five children is available at http://www.lhla.org/tv-shows/14476-the-homosexual-reality.html.

Gender Identity (Sexual) Disorder, Cross-dressing and Transsexual Conflicts

This site has a chapter on gender (sexual) identity disorder which explains the psychological reasons which lead children to identify primarily with the opposite sex and to desire to cross dress.  GID is the most common childhood precursor to transsexual issues.  The primary emotional conflict in these children is the failure of the child to identify with and accept the goodness of one's masculinity or femininity.  Drs. Zucker and Bradley in their textbook on GID report that 80% of children with this disorder experience a resolution of their symptoms.  Zucker and Bradley's research also demonstrates serious emotional conflicts in the majority of the mothers of these children.

The Catholic Medical Association has information available on understanding children who have difficulty embracing the goodness of their masculinity or femininity and the desire for cross dressing at www.narth.com/docs/CMApressrelease.pdf. Also, a recent article describes the controversy surrounding the treatment of children with hormones in preparation for trans gender surgery.

Several articles on the transsexual issues, the desire for sex change surgery (www.narth.com/docs/desiresch.html, www.mercatornet.com/articles/vile_bodies_and_quack_remedies, www.mercatornet.com/articles/is_changing_gender_as_simple_as_changing_clothes) can be helpful in ministry to families with these conflict.  Dr. Paul Mc Hugh, the former chair person of psychiatry at John Hopkins, has written an excellent article on his study of transsexual surgery there on how he worked to bring to an end this surgery at Hopkins. 

Based on his research findings as result of studying these patients before and after surgery Dr. Paul Mc Hugh stated: “I concluded that Hopkins was fundamentally cooperating with a mental illness. We psychiatrists, I thought, would do better to concentrate on trying to fix their minds and not their genitalia." He added, “As for the adults who came to us claiming to have discovered their "true" sexual identity and to have heard about sex-change operations, we psychiatrists have been distracted from studying the causes and natures of their mental misdirections by preparing them for surgery and for a life in the other sex. We have wasted scientific and technical resources and damaged our professional credibility by collaborating with madness rather than trying to study, cure, and ultimately prevent it.”

An article in the National Catholic Bio ethics Quarterly, Spring 2009, assesses the medical, psychological and ethical appropriateness of sexual reassignment surgery.  Sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) violates basic medical and ethical principles and is therefore not ethically or medically appropriate. (1) SRS mutilates a healthy, non-diseased body. To perform surgery on a healthy body involves unnecessary risks; therefore, SRS violates the principle primum non nocere, "first, do no harm." (2) Candidates for SRS may believe that they are trapped in the bodies of the wrong sex and therefore desire or, more accurately, demand SRS; however, this belief is generated by a disordered perception of self. Such a fixed, irrational belief is appropriately described as a delusion. SRS, therefore, is a "category mistake"?Xit offers a surgical solution for psychological problems such as a failure to accept the goodness of one's masculinity or femininity, lack of secure attachment relationships in childhood with same-sex peers or a parent, self-rejection, untreated gender identity disorder, addiction to masturbation and fantasy, poor body image, excessive anger, and severe psychopathology in a parent. (3) SRS does not accomplish what it claims to accomplish. It does not change a person's sex; therefore, it provides no true benefit. (4) SRS is a "permanent," effectively unchangeable, and often unsatisfying surgical attempt to change what may be only a temporary (i.e., psychotherapeutically changeable) psychological/psychiatric condition, www.ncbcenter.metapress.com.

At the very least, health professionals who deal with these individuals and their families should evaluate the part of strong anger with oneself and others, self-pity, childhood trauma, addiction to masturbation and fantasy, envy play and parental emotional conflicts in the development of these conflicts.  These persons also should be evaluated for both borderline or narcissistic personality disorders. 

In December 2008 Pope Benedict expressed his views about gender, “That which is often expressed and understood by the term Gender, results finally in the self-emancipation of man from creation and from the Creator. Man wishes to act alone and to dispose ever and exclusively of that alone which concerns him. But in this way he is living contrary to the truth, he is living contrary to the Spirit Creator.  The tropical forests are deserving, yes, of our protection, but man merits no less than the creature, in which there is written a message which does not mean a contradiction of our liberty, but its condition,” Pope Benedict, December 22, 2008.

Crisis in the Church

When Pope John Paul II met the U.S. Cardinals and Bishops on April 23, 2002 to discuss the sex-abuse scandals in the United States he stated, "The abuse of the young is a grave symptom of a crisis affecting not only the Church, but society as a whole. It is a deeply seated crisis of sexual morality even of human relationships, and its prime victims are the family and the young. In addressing the problem of abuse with clarity and determination, the Church will help society to understand and deal with the crisis in its midst."

John Paul II also said, "They (the Catholic faithful) must know that bishops and priests are totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual morality, a truth as essential to the renewal of the priesthood and the episcopate as it is to the renewal of marriage and family life."

Priest Programs

The John Jay College research on the crisis revealed that 81percent of the victims of clerical sexual abuse were male, 51 percent of whom were age 11-14, 27 percent were aged 15-17, 16 percent between 8-10, and 6 percent were under 7 years of age.  Dr. Paul Mc Hugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital and member of the initial National Review Board stated, “I'm astonished that this fundamental bombshell of the homosexual predation of American adolescent males has not been the subject of greater interest and discussion.  I'm astonished that people throughout America are not wondering what mechanisms set this alight” (National Catholic Register,  11/13 2005).

Cardinal Bertone's 2010 comments linking the sexual crisis to homosexuality and not celibacy are accurate,

www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal_bertone_correct_in_linking_clerical_sex_abuse_and_homosexuality_says_psychiatrist/

The post crisis conferences for priests regularly focus on the issue of "boundaries." However, many priests have criticized these programs for failing to address the crisis in sexual morality and the emotional, character and spiritual conflicts that result in the sexual predation of adolescent males, the primary victims of the crisis.

In our clinical experience most of the priests involved in the crisis had painful childhood and adolescent experiences of significant loneliness and sadness and insecurity in their masculinity, often associated with a poor body image. Under severe stress they experienced strong emotional and sexual attraction to adolescent males. Every priest we have treated who became involved with adolescents or children had previously engaged in homosexual acts with those his own age either in his adolescence or in his adult life.  

Narcissism has been another important factor in the abuse of minors. This epidemic personality weakness in the west predisposes individuals to use others as sexual objects and to excessive anger, the worship of self, rebelliousness against the Church's teaching on sexual morality.

Our experience over 30 years has convinced us of the direct link between rebellion and anger against the Church's teaching, and sexually promiscuous behaviors. This appears to be a two-way street: Those who are sexually active dissent from the Church's teaching on sexuality to justify their own actions, while those who adopt rebellious ideas on sexual morality are more vulnerable to become sexually active, because they have little to no defense against sexual temptations.  Growth in forgiveness and humility are essential in the treatment of such priests.

Crisis programs are still needed for priests and religious that explain why adult males are attracted to adolescent males and how these conflicts can be resolved. In addition the role of narcissism in the use of others as sexual objects should also be identified and discussed.  Hopefully, European Bishops will employ such educational efforts in response to the crisis there that follows a similar pattern of abuse of adolescent males.

Priests and seminarians with same sex attractions have a solemn responsibility to understand and work to resolve such conflicts in order to protect the Church from further shame and sorrow.

We have observed many priests grow in holiness and in happiness in their ministry as a result of the healing of their childhood and adolescent male insecurity, loneliness, sadness, poor body image, anger, narcissism and, subsequently, their same-sex attractions.

The pamphlet of the Catholic Medical Association, "Homosexuality and Hope", which presents the medical and psychological science on the origins, nature, morbidity and treatment of homosexuality can be valuable in post crisis programs. Also, Dr. Fitzgibbons’ article from Homiletic and Pastoral Review on the crisis in the Church, and Zenit interviews on the John Jay Report and on same sex unions and adoption are available at www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=52897 and at www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=74506 and can be helpful to priests.   The newly edited version of Homosexuality and Hope is also helpful in understanding same sex attractions, www.cathmed.org/assets/files/H&H%20Selection.pdf .

In addition, an article in Homiletic and Pastoral Review presents studies from the medical and psychiatric literature which demonstrate a correlation between homosexuality and the abuse of adolescent males.

The seriousness of the damage caused by the homosexual behaviors of priests with adolescent males is highlighted by the recent judicial decision placing at risk the assets from parish churches and schools in one Archdiocese in order to pay at least $500 million to victims.

Adolescent Males - The Primary Victims of the Crisis

The John Jay College study on the crisis revealed that 81% of the victims were males and 76% were adolescent males.   Catholic adolescent males deserve to have specific crisis programs so that they can know the fullness of the truth about sexual morality and about homosexuality in order to protect themselves from sexual predators. To date no such programs exist for the primary victims of the crisis.

Dr. Paul Mc Hugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and a member of the national review board that, "I'm astonished that people throughout America are not talking about it, thinking about it, and wondering about what the mechanisms were that set this alight ."

The emotional conflicts that can led adult males in the Church to sexually abuse adolescent males are:

  • weak male confidence

  • narcissism

  • loneliness and sadness

  • lack of peer acceptance in childhood and adolescence

  • poor body image

  • excessive anger and rebelliousness

  • sexual abuse in childhood

  • pornography addiction

  • acceptance of the sexual utilitarian philosophy

  • deeply rooted homosexuality

  • lack of faith and a personal relationship with Jesus.

Child Programs

Many parents, educators and Catholic mental health professionals have raised concerns about the post crisis sexual abuse prevention programs for children. These include failure to protect the innocence and emotional health of children, particularly the development of their trust. Other reported weaknesses are that they impose premature sex information on children that can damage them.

In response to these concerns raised by parents and bishops the Catholic Medical Association has done a study of the post crisis sexual abuse prevention programs for children, To Protect and To Prevent (www.cathmed.org). The conclusions sent to the Bishops were that many studies demonstrate that “the child-empowerment programs have been analyzed and have been found to be both inconsistent with the science of the emotional, cognitive, neurobiological and moral development of the child. They are also found to be ineffective at preventing the sexual abuse of children. These programs are also inconsistent with the Church’s teaching on the education of children in matters pertaining to sexuality and faith.”

The Catholic Medical Association's task force report on the crisis child program, To Protect and To Prevent: The Sexual Abuse of Children and  Its Prevention, www.cathmed.org/bookstore/index.htm, recommends that, “the present sexual abuse prevention programs be rescinded because they are ineffective and potentially damaging. We recommend that programs be developed for parents to assist them in the development and protection of their children.”   The outstanding document from the Pontifical Council for the Family, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, could be the basis for parental programs for child protection.

Adult Programs

The adult programs have been criticized for failing to identity the crisis in sexual morality as the primary cause of the crisis in the Church as stated several years ago by Pope John Paul II. These programs also do not address the role of homosexuality in the sexual predation of adolescent males. In fact, in one program for teachers and other adults four myths related to the crisis are identified with the third "myth" being that homosexuality has played a role in the crisis. All the post crisis programs should address the role of narcissism in the crisis because it is the major personality conflict which leads one to use another person as a sexual object.

Finally, Pope Benedict's comments on Judas in Jesus, The Apostles, and the Early Church, can motivate each of us in our response to the crisis.   He wrote, “While there is no lack of unworthy and traitorous Christians in the Church, it is up to each of us to counterbalance the evil done by them with our clear witness to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,”Jesus, The Apostles, and the Early Church (2007) Ignatius Press, p. 108.

Growth in Affective Maturity in Seminarians

Pope John Paul II in Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 43, wrote: “Affective maturity, which is the result of an education in true and responsible love, is a significant and decisive factor in the formation of candidates for the priesthood.”

Dr. Fitzgibbons has given conferences on growth in affective maturity to seminarians, to the spiritual formation teams of one eastern and two midwest seminaries and to the spiritual directors of American seminaries at the 2003 annual meeting at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary.

Dr. Fitzgibbons also has extensive experience in the evaluation of candidates for the priesthood and religious life. Measures are used to evaluate the most prevalent emotional conflicts of anxiety, anger, sadness and confidence weaknesses (Kessler R.C., 2005). In depth interviews compliment the testing in identifying strengths and emotional weaknesses. Then, when indicated, we recommend that the candidate try to grow in certain virtues, which can help in the resolution of emotional pain and character weaknesses (see Character Strengths and Virtues). We also suggest that they address them with a spiritual director.

The most common emotional conflicts which lead young men to consider leaving seminary are selfishness, the fear of loneliness in the future, weaknesses in male confidence. Programs which address these specific issues could resolve these conflicts and strengthen the emotional health of seminarians.  An article on the identification and resolution of loneliness can be helpful to these young men in regard to their fear of loneliness (article in Adobe PDF format).

Finally, the 2006 Vatican document on candidates for the seminary should be helpful in protecting the Church also.  Dr. Fitzgibbons’ Zenit interview on this document are available at

www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=81164  

www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=81225.  

Ongoing Educational Conferences

Dr. Fitzgibbons has given many ongoing educational programs for priests in a number of dioceses and religious communities. Three DVDs are available for priests from 2004 clergy conferences on priestly ministry to parishioners with the most prevalent emotional conflicts of anxiety and mistrust, depression /loneliness, anger and confidence weaknesses.  He has also given conferences to priests on their addressing conflicts which interfere with marital self-giving and happiness.

An article on the identification and resolution of loneliness in priestly life has been helpful to many priests in their ministry. (article in Adobe PDF format).