Those are many good points, Abbysinnia. I think at the time (1970s-1980s) sexual disorders (including pedophilia) were treated as if they were addictions. I haven’t studied the literature, but the poor response rate to treatment would suggest that pedophilia does not have the same psychologic pathology that addictions do. A few friends of mine who work in the mental health field say that there is some suggestion that it falls more in the personality disorder spectrum. That was unknown at the time of most of the incidents.
Since psychology, psychiatry, and the neurosciences are (like other branches of sciences) evolving, the bishops could hardly be faulted for following what was then believed to be state of the art treatment. What I think is blameworthy and short-sighted is to knowingly reinstate a priest to active ministry where he would be in contact with children or adolescents. If the model at the time was addiction, that would be the equivalent of giving a recovering alcoholic a job in a liquor store!
Even with the priest shortage that has been growing since the 1970’s, these men could fill other roles, such as weekend assistant in a parish (no youth groups, nothing like that, just say a couple of Masses and hear confessions in “the box,”) diocesan advisory boards, and so forth, where they would not be endangering children. Of course, hindsight is 20-20, and generally speaking, one doesn’t see the speeding bus before being mowed down by it.
I think it’s really important to note, however, that there are quite a few priests who get brought up on charges, which later turn out to be unfounded. In any sort of position where someone is dealing with counseling people who might be disturbed, that happens occasionally. It actually happened to a psychiatrist friend of mine, who was placed on administrative leave when a patient accused her of physical abuse. The patient was angry at the psychiatrist because the doctor would not give her a weekend pass, based on her behavior that week.
Complaints, however, have to be investigated. One priest friend of mine in the downtown parish where I frequently attend weekday Mass tells me that there is a whole coterie of psychiatrically disturbed people who hang out at the church, and when he sees a particularly flamboyant female go into the church (I’ll call her “Diva Mary,”) he makes sure that at least there is a sacristan or cleaning person in the church before he enters the building. Apparently, “Diva Mary” once launched herself at Father, clung to his feet, and tried to wipe his feet with her hair a la Mary Magdalene! Father was pretty shocked and set off balance (literally as well as figuratively,) but after disentangling himself, and enlisting one of the women in church to help him get Diva outside, realized that she could have taken that as a rejection and filed a complaint of “abuse” with the authorities.
Things can get that whacky.
