BishopAccountability.org
	Seminary, SNAP Wrong about Homosexual Molestation By Matt C. Abbott Renew America [United States] September 29, 2005 Not surprisingly, there are still some priests and laypersons who assert that homosexuality was and is not a factor in the clergy sex abuse scandal. I don't know whether to blame political correctness or just plain denial for this misguided notion. In a recent news story, Father Charles Bouchard, president of Aquinas Institute of Theology, is quoted as saying: Some people do feel homosexuality would disqualify a student. I hope we can provide evidence that should not be the case. We don't want to make it look like it's just a question if someone is gay or straight. But whether they have the ability to live celibate and be effective ministers. I think it might be relevant in as much as that it answers some people's question that possibly there is a link between homosexuality and pedophilea [sic]. I don't think that link exists, so I'm not afraid of that question. Barbara Dorris of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is quoted as saying: They are mixing apples and oranges. A homosexual is not a pedophile. To make this a homosexual issue is just wrong. A homosexual is no more likely to abuse a child than a heterosexual. This is a smokescreen, a diversion of blame. A way to change the subject. This is not about homosexuality. Instead of beating down straw men arguments, Bouchard and Dorris would do well to look at the facts, which are well documented in the following essay: http://www.hli.org/homosexuality_not_molestation.pdf If you do not have PDF capabilities, the same essay can be found here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1399042/posts I've plugged the aforementioned essay in a past column, but I feel the need to do so again. So there.
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