Sublimating Desire: Refl ections on the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy

Abstract

Sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy has grievously wounded the 21st century Church. These abuses are usually manifest in two forms: pedophilia (where the minor is a child) and ephebophiles (where the minor is an adolescent). Since the mid 1990s, millions of dollars that could have enhanced her primary mission of reaching out to the needy have been rolled out by the church as recompense to the victims of the sex scandals by the clergy. Of course, no amount of compensation would be enough to heal the psychological and spiritual wounds suffered by these victims and the wounds of shame and ridicule suffered by the Church herself. Although these abuses have often been associated with the Church in the West, this article accentuates the fact that pedophilia (just like homosexuality) and ephebophiles are not uniquely American or European problems; they exist in Africa too. Furthermore, it dispels as myth the claim that celibacy is causally linked to pedophilia and ephebophiles. Nonetheless, that the Church needs to reconsider her teaching about human sexuality, especially as it pertains to the clergy, is inevitable according to the author of this article. The understanding of celibacy as a rejection of sensuality, tenderness and mutuality is essentially Manichaean; it needs to be seriously reexamined. Sublimation of, rather than flight from, sexual desires is envisaged as the way forward for celibate priests and religious. Towards the end, the article proposes a possible approach towards the fixated pedophiles and ephebophiles in the clergy in the African situation.