Humanae Vitae reference the clergy sexual scandals

     If we want to address the problem  of sexual abuse by clergy, we need to go back to the teachings of  "Humanae Vitae", says a Dutch Catholic psychotherapist. This is the opening sentence of the interview of Genevieve Pollock with Gerard van den Aardweg in Haarlem, Netherlands on April 28, 2010.  Mr. Gerard van den Aardweg has worked as a therapist for fifty years specializing in cases of homosexuality and marital problems. He has taught worldwide and written extensively on homosexuality and pedophilia, as well as the relation of these issues to other topics: same sex attraction in the priesthood, "Humanae Vitae", and the effects of gay parenting. The interview continues as follows.

     "Homosexuality is more than a sexual problem.

     It is part of a rather specific variant of personality immaturity, and among its most frequent symptoms are a lack of character strength, inner loneliness, difficulties in forming mature bonds of friendship, anxiety and depression. Thus stress in all its forms, can weaken the man's resistance to surrendering to his desires.

     Other important factors that lower the threshold are the absence of much needed personal support and regular spiritual guidance; laxity in interior, spiritual life; neglect of regular confession; the bad example of other priests in the environment who lead a double life; and being exposed to permissive moral theories on sexuality in general and on the normality of homosexuality.

     In this regard, the critical attitude of many theologians and prominent priests toward celibacy and above all toward "Humanae Vitae" has been an efficient factor in underrmining the resistance of many priests to sexual acting out, assuredly in the case of  many with homosexual desires.

     As Pope Paul VI himself expected in this encyclical, dissociating sexuality from propagation in the relationship between man and woman would entail the approval of other sterile forms of sex such as homosexuality.

     Many sex scandals that finally ignited the publicity wave in the United States, which is being continued in Europe, and which provides such abundant material for anti-Catholic propaganda, are a logical consequence of decades of openly rejecting and tacitly ignoring "Humanae Vitae" and the Christian view of sexuality behind it by prominent priests, moral theologians and bishops".

      Further comments on this subject will be forthcoming at a later time.