Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

According to the Linacre Institute, the major cause of the sex-abuse scandal in The Church goes beyond isolated incidents and poor judgment of disturbed individuals. The problem of today can actually be traced back to the 1950s, when the basic religious purpose and intellectual formation of many priests began to mutate into what is commonly referred to today as a progressive Catholic. Catholic World News highlights an in-depth analysis from a book called After Ascetism: Sex, Prayer, and Deviant Priests which explains why the sexual problems of some go well beyond pedophilia or pederasty, and more importantly outlines the key elements which provide a solution. These solutions can empower the Church to break free from some of the failures of psychology specialists who have never had an interest or comprehension of religious devotion, chastity, prayer, ascetical discipline, in other words, an adequate understanding of the whole human person.

The Linacre Institute, which was founded within the Catholic Medical Association to develop position papers on various bioethical issues, has taken a special interest in the role that the sciences and professions have in shaping judgment and opinion on sexual ethics, and the treatment of disturbed priests, and has supported efforts to advance Catholic social teaching in these areas. With After Asceticism the Institute has made an important contribution to a discussion– long overdue– about the collapse of clerical discipline that allowed the sex-abuse crisis to develop.

The core change over the course of the twentieth century was one of purpose or allegiance– leaving behind ascetical discipline, having disdain for religious tradition, and adopting the therapeutic mentality, a popular belief that fulfillment of the human person springs from emotional desire in a quest for self-definition, or self-actualization, without regard to an objective philosophical, religious or moral truth. Further, the therapeutic mentality views sin as a social concern and discourages loyalty to religious authority; it is profoundly anti-ascetical.

As society becomes more deeply immersed in pagan sexuality, the Catholic Church will remain mired in sexual crisis absent a return to its ascetical tradition.