Last year, Benedict wrote a letter about “the Church and the scandal of sexual abuse” that gave a history of moral decay in the priesthood. He wrote:
One bishop, who had previously been seminary rector, had arranged for the seminarians to be shown pornographic films, allegedly with the intention of thus making them resistant to behavior contrary to the faith.
I am not sure, but this appears to be about an incident in Michigan when Kenneth Untener became a bishop. As rector of the seminary in Detroit he had authorized a sexuality workshop that included talks by psychologists and other outside experts and films aimed at helping seminarians relate to their own sexuality. During the two weeks before his consecration as bishop, Untener made two trips to the Vatican to defend himself, the second time accompanied by Cardinal Dearden of Detroit. Reassured of Untener’s integrity, the Vatican allowed his consecration.
It may be that this was not the incident that Benedict was talking about. If it is, Ratzinger is referring to “films aimed at helping seminarians relate to their own sexuality” as
pornography. (Seminarians means men in their 20s preparing to be priests, not adolescents or pre-adolescents in the old minor seminary system.) In context, as an example of the moral decay that led to the sexual abuse crisis, this is an affirmation of keeping priests ignorant about their own sexuality by shaming them for watching, in a guided session, material about themselves.
I offer this only because you asked. I do not have much desire to discuss it, though it may have some bearing on the topic. I would have sent it privately if that had been an option. It is an example of people having differing views on events and how deeply they are entrenched in our thinking.
