Sex abuse in Catholic institutions: key questions for the royal commission

There is said to be a kind of Catholic version of "Don't ask, don't tell" in relation to rates of homosexuality amongst Catholic clerics, and celibate occupations provide an unsuspicious closet. The Church distinguishes between "homosexual attractions", which are not considered sinful, and "homosexual acts", which are. Gay men who are closeted and chaste (abstain from sexual activity) are accepted within the priesthood, though men with "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" or who are sexually active are not supposed to be ordained. Pope Benedict's Vatican (in particular) was notably hostile to gay priests.

The John Jay Report into sexual abuse by Catholic Priests in the US did not link sex abuse of minors with homosexuality. It instead found that "individuals who molest children may be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual with regard to victim selection". It did report that "available figures for homosexual priests in the United States range from 15 to 58 per cent". Wikipedia further notes that studies find it difficult to quantify specific percentages of Roman Catholic priests who identify as gay.

The Second John Jay Report released in 2011 had a similar tone to the first. It concluded that the vast majority of clerical sex offenders are not paedophiles at all but were "situational generalists" violating whoever they had access to. The researchers controversially concluded that there is no causative relationship between either celibacy or homosexuality, and the sexual victimisation of children in the Church. The first part of this finding (in many people's minds) undermined the credibility of the second.

It will be interesting to see what the Royal Commission has to say. An analysis of any links between homosexuality and abuse of boys might be more easily done in relation to non-Catholic institutions, where celibacy is not such a complicating issue.

Overall the public can mainly look to the Royal Commission to provide a historical analysis. The problem of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church (and indeed within other churches and institutions) peaked decades ago. It was mainly solved by changing attitudes, whereby child sex abuse became more easily spoken about and reported. Institutions (including churches) responded to being found out instead of acting on their own volition.