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Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000 Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse

Hardback ISBN: 9781566252652
Author(s): Thomas P. Doyle, A.W.Richard Sipe, Patrick J. Wall Publisher: Volt Press

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by Catholic clergy burst onto the American scene in 1984. Revelations about such abuse since then have confirmed that this tragedy is not limited to the U.S. Catholic Church, nor is it a new phenomenon that grew out of so-called secularizing trends of the late twentieth century. The Doyle-Sipe-Wall report clearly demonstrates a deep-seated problem that spans the Church's history. This collection of documents from official and unofficial sources begins its survey in 60 CE and concludes with the contemporary scandal. It reveals an institution that has tried to come to grips with this devastating internal problem from its earliest years. At times circumspect and at other times open and direct, Church leaders tried a variety of means to rein in the various violations of clerical celibacy. The sexual abuse crisis is not isolated from the questions of the celibate practice of all Catholic clergy and the moral questions that involve marriage and all human sexual behaviors. These are the main, yet unspoken, reasons why sexual abuse has been such an inflammatory and dangerous issue for the hierarchy. The Church abuse scandal of the contemporary era, rather than seen as a new challenge, is actually the catalyst for a complex process that is forcing the official Church to redefine its ideology of sexuality, its responsibility to its members and its role in society. The three distinguished authors have served as experts and consultants in over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, and have collectively spent over 70 years of official service within the church.
 

 

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The Serpent and the Dove: Celibacy in Literature and Life

Hardback ISBN: 9780313347252
Author(s): A.W. Richard Sipe Publisher: Greenwood Press

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Richard Sipe, himself a former monk and priest, has made a lifelong venture of determining the reality and meaning of religious celibacy. Even an adequate operational definition of religious celibacy, he says, has been avoided by Catholic hierarchy and scholars to preserve the celibate myth. Having spent 25 years conducting a study of celibacy and sexual behavior in Roman Catholic priests, Sipe concluded that at any one time no more than 50 percent of priests were practicing celibacy. To more fully understand what celibacy is, how it is practiced, the affect it has on the humanness of men of women, and the social effects it presents, Sipe says we can use the approach presented in this book. Specifically, we can analyze historic men who presented themselves or were perceived as living examples of celibacy and also focus on the most profound truths of celibacy found in literary accounts.

Psychology, religion, and literary criticism interface and are woven together in this book with minimal jargon. The Serpent and the Dove was written in the hope of exciting honest analysis of the essence of religious celibacy and to foster a recrudescence of authentic sexual vigor with all of its evolutionary potential. Human sexuality is not going away; nor is it irrelevant to the wellbeing, progress and happiness of the human community, says Sipe. And the practice of genuine celibacy is not going to disappear either. No question, the Catholic Church needs profound reformation. "But in all my work I have chosen not to throw any babies out with the horrendously dirty 'holy water' the church continues to treasure and disseminate. Here, as in all my work, I try to foster dialogue between religion and science, such as literary criticism. The Catholic Church (and religion) is at a Copernican Moment when it has to cede to science the nature of sexuality." The Serpent and the Dove is one more work among Sipe's many books and articles making the need for that clear.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A.W. Richard Sipe is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor who earlier spent 18 years as a Benedictine monk and priest, he was trained as a clinical counselor to deal with the mental health problems of priests. During that training and therapy he conducted a 25-year ethnographic study of the celibate/sexual behavior of the clergy population. His study, published in 1990, is now considered a classic. Internationally known, Sipe has participated in 12 documentaries on celibacy and priest sexual abuse aired by HBO, BBC, and other networks in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. He has been widely interviewed by media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CNBC, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, People magazine, Newsweek and USA Today.
 

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Living the Celibate Life: A Search for Models and Ministry

Paperback ISBN: 9780764810985
Author(s): A.W. Richard Sipe Publisher: Liguori Publications

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Addressing a core concern raised by the recent sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, Richard Sipe explores the confusion, conflicts, and imprecision surrounding our current understanding of the meaning of celibacy. As the twenty-first century begins and as the words celibate and celibacy are bandied about from Rome to Dublin to Boston, careful definitions and distinctions need to be drawn in order to deal with the issues involved. Never before has it been so important to analyze the meaning of these words; even at the highest levels of the Church, an adequate vocabulary for discourse is lacking. Living the Celibate Life counters this confusion and imprecision by offering a vocabulary derived from a realistic context: a lived experience. This examination gives the tools and inspiration for a more rational and productive discussion, as well as paving the way for a more effective re-dedication to the chosen celibate life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A.W. Richard Sipe is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor who earlier spent 18 years as a Benedictine monk and priest, he was trained as a clinical counselor to deal with the mental health problems of priests. During that training and therapy he conducted a 25-year ethnographic study of the celibate/sexual behavior of the clergy population. His study, published in 1990, is now considered a classic. Internationally known, Sipe has participated in 12 documentaries on celibacy and priest sexual abuse aired by HBO, BBC, and other networks in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. He has been widely interviewed by media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CNBC, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, People magazine, Newsweek and USA Today.
 

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Celibacy in Crisis: A Secret World Revisited

Paperback ISBN: 9780415944731
Author(s): A.W. Richard Sipe Publisher: Brunner-Routledge

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
In Celibacy in Crisis: A Secret World Revisited, therapist and former priest, A. W. Richard Sipe takes to task the Catholic Church's policy of mandatory celibacy as well as its overall doctrine on human sexuality. Based on his extensive knowledge and background in the field, Sipe removes the cloak of secrecy surrounding celibacy, providing a fascinating exploration of the practice in church history, along with frank and realistic suggestions to clergy and laity for the reformation of the Church's policies on sexuality. This revolutionary text is a completely updated and revised follow-up to the controversial and highly regarded A Secret World: Sexuality and the Search for Celibacy. With great candor and aplomb, Sipe presents compelling case histories, thorough research, and a clear definition of celibacy and its values, along with topical information on pedophilia by clergy. Based on his 25 years of confidential, in-depth interviews with over 1500 priests, sexual partners, and victims, Sipe reveals the shocking and sobering results of his thorough and objective landmark study on priestly celibacy and his conclusion that the seminary system is incapable of instilling life-long sexual altruism in the priest population. In the midst of the worst crisis the Catholic Church has seen in almost 500 years, this book challenges Catholic authorities to renew, rethink, or remove the long-standing institution of celibacy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Part 1: Background and Content. Why Study Celibacy? Sex/Celibacy: Breaking the Taboo. The Broader Context. The Study: What it is and What it is not. Reasons for Study. What is it? Factors of the Crisis. The Meanings of Celibacy. Abstinence. Law and the Ideal. Christ the Ideal. Love. Definition of Celibacy. How do those who Profess Celibacy Practice it? Levels of Observation. Numerical Summary. Estimates of Sexual Behavior. Narratives;
Part 2: Practice Versus Profession. The Masturbations. Nature. Pathology. Maturity and Immaturity. Nocturnal Emissions. Fasting. Spontaneous Emissions. Vice and Virtue. Guilt. Priests and Women. The Heterosexual Presumption. Splitting and Secrecy. Heterosexual Relationships. Heterosexual Behaviours. Patterns of Association. When Priests Become Fathers. Births. Abortions. The Homosexualities. Homosexualities and the Clergy. Denial of the Homosocial Structure. The Male Matrix. The System of Secrecy. Developmental Questions and Variations. Alcoholism. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Homosexuality and Mental Health. Sexual Compromises. What is Normal? The Place of Women. Fear of Women. What is Pornography? Exhibitionistic Behavior. Transvestitism. Priests and Animals. Suffering and Sexual Violence;
Part 3: The Heart of the Crisis. Priests and Minors. What is Paedophilia? Frequency of Occurence. Social Ramifications of Abuse. Causes. Avenues of Access. Behaviors. Victims — the Aftermath. Treatment. Awareness of the Problem. The Future. Who Abuses. Psychological Profile. Categories of Vulnerability. Four Case Studies. Can Clergy Sexual Abuse be Prevented? Screening. Denial. Ecclesiogenic Factors. Systemic Elements. Mandatory Celibacy. Ethical Code. Impediments to Ethical Definitions. Elements of a Code of Sexual Ethics; Part 4: Process and Attainment. Living with Celibacy. What is the Process of Celibacy? Developmental Relationships. Internalisation. Temporal Stages. The Achievement of Celibacy. Essential Elements of Celibate Achievement. Who Will Follow? The Crisis of Abuse.
Epilogue: The Dimensions of the Crisis. The Seven Pillars of the Crisis; References.

REVIEW:
"Now that the celibate cat is out of the bag, so to speak, there is a deep and pressing need for the kind of professional expertise and wisdom that Richard Sipe can provide—expertise and wisdom born not only of study and reflection, but also of years of experience as a priest and psychotherapist. Because of the efforts of persons like himself, there is hope that the 'secret world' of clerical celibacy and sexuality will eventually be transformed into what he calls a 'better world'." ...from the foreword by Richard P. McBrien

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A.W. Richard Sipe is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor who earlier spent 18 years as a Benedictine monk and priest, he was trained as a clinical counselor to deal with the mental health problems of priests. During that training and therapy he conducted a 25-year ethnographic study of the celibate/sexual behavior of the clergy population. His study, published in 1990, is now considered a classic. Internationally known, Sipe has participated in 12 documentaries on celibacy and priest sexual abuse aired by HBO, BBC, and other networks in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. He has been widely interviewed by media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CNBC, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, People magazine, Newsweek and USA Today.