Pope Benedict’s letter on sex abuse is not an attack on Francis (or Vatican II) - from America the Jesuit Review

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I appreciated this article about Pope Benedict’s letter on sex abuse


I actually did read Pope Benedict’s letter in its entirety, and I was baffled that many news outlets would find it to be an attack on Pope Francis.

Some interesting quotes from the article
But I think the intention and nature of his text is what Benedict XVI says it is: a helpful contribution. The recent summit called by Pope Francis in Rome to tackle clerical sexual abuse got him thinking about how he could assist “in this difficult hour,” he writes.“I had to ask myself—even though, as emeritus, I am no longer directly responsible—what I could contribute to a new beginning,” he writes in the article. So he came up with some thoughts, asked Pope Francis if he could publish them and sent the 6,000 words to a Bavarian clergy periodical.
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in his third part I see significant backing for Francis’ approach.
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Benedict blames a collapse in Catholic moral theology that left the church “defenseless” against these changes in wider society. This is not an attack on the theology of the Vatican II.
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That account is arguable, but again it sits well with the the John Jay study’s claim that pre-conciliar formation left clergy ill-prepared to deal with the sudden and open eroticization of relationships around them. Part of that eroticization was, as Benedict says, to destigmatize pedophilia. Again, he is right: It is quite astonishing to look back at 1970s television programs to find candid discussions about the legalization of sex with minors.
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I am wondering if we can ever simply read something in the spirit in which it is offered and not cast a jaundiced (or judging) eye toward those involved?

If we prayed half as much as we moan, groan, gossip, detract and calumniate, the world would be a far better place.
 
I agree the Pope emeritus’ analysis is not an attack on Pope Francis.
Still, I think there is a depth of insight not publicly shared by the current pope or his prominent appointees.

Pope Francis did not cause the problem, but he is not part of the solution.
 
I agree. “Clericalism” seems to be a cop-out by the Vatican to directly confront this issue.

It’s like a fire engine that passes by a house fire to save a cat stuck in a tree.
 
This is why it is so important for a previous leader to be careful about any comments. This is especially true when you have the unprecedented presence of a retired Pope, a man believed to authoritatively interpret the will of God. Especially when he is likely more popular with conservative Catholics.
 
It is interesting to me that Benedict said so little about this subject when he was the Pope. Now that he is Pope in retirement, he chooses to speak out.
 
I’m curious if there is any good documentation of this:
CCHcolonel said:
analysis of the sexual revolution and the 60s is spot on. Few people realize how close they were then to normalizing pedophilia
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This is news to me, and it would be nice to have some primary evidence.
 
jack63 said:
Again, he is right: It is quite astonishing to look back at 1970s television programs to find candid discussions about the legalization of sex with minors.
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Unfortunately, sex with minors, at least post-pubescent minors, was pretty much normalized then, even if it was still illegal. There were many Hollywood celebrities who engaged in it openly and most of them, Roman Polanski aside, have suffered zero consequences for it. One celeb who I won’t name and who is still a household word actually adopted his underage girlfriend so he could take her across state lines. It wasn’t confined to celebs either - if you watch movies about 70s culture like “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Dazed and Confused”, both of them have storylines about adult males having sexual relationships with high school girls. When I was in an all-girls high school, most of the male teachers, including one who was married, were having relationships with students that would be considered inappropriate today. There was also an organization called NAMBLA that promoted sex between men and boys and used to send out a lot of literature, I would find it laying around at my college. The 70s were sort of a time of “anything goes” and “let’s push boundaries” sexually and unfortunately many, many naive or vulnerable young people were exploited and harmed.
 
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Only anecdotal, but I have been reminded a few times recently about the way some print and television ads treated the idea of sexualized children. Creeps me out now, but I was rather young and didn’t really notice then.
 
YourNameHere said:
It is interesting to me that Benedict said so little about this subject when he was the Pope. Now that he is Pope in retirement, he chooses to speak out.
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He started to a little towards the end. Also, many people seem to think he resigned because he felt too old to actual deal with the issues. His successor was supposed to.

Pope Francis has done some good things, especially recently, in the “micro” sense–although his “macro” view of the problem seems misplaced (he focuses on “clericalism” while reverting back to promoting the kind of “conciliar” bishops–to use Benedict’s words–and looser sexual morality that helped create this mess in the first place).
 
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I can easily see how youth were more blatantly sexualized in the 70’s, but that’s still a few steps distant from full on advocacy of pedophilia.

Also, at least here in the US, particularly in more rural areas, it was not unheard-of for girls as young as 13 to be marriageable. Look at Jerry Lee Lewis!
 
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Some people draw a distinction between pedophilia as being directed towards children who are usually pre-pubescent - everybody pretty much thinks that’s gross and wrong - and ephebophilia, which is directed at teens who may be legally still minors but are post-pubescent and in earlier eras would have been considered to be of marriageable age (usually 15 and up but could be a little younger).

I know when I was in high school, it would have been pretty normal for a 16-year-old girl to date a guy in his early 20s if it was being done with her father’s approval and he was known to the family as a responsible, respectable man. Often the idea was that as soon as she was 18 and out of high school she would be marrying this guy who would be in his mid-20s and already established in some kind of career so he could take care of her and any children that would likely come along quickly.
 
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jack63 said:
I actually did read Pope Benedict’s letter in its entirety, and I was baffled that many news outlets would find it to be an attack on Pope Francis.
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It’s a pity then that you did not find another source for Pope Benedict’s letter than the one you chose , one which highlights the supposed “attack” in its headline .

I suggest that the Vatican News article , which I have already posted , would have been a better choice .

 
While I certainly find what you describe to be disgusting and appalling, an adult having a relationship with a teen isn’t pedophilia per se.
 
As I mentioned above, some people draw the distinction between pedophilia and ephebophilia.
Many other people, including many in the “cheap seats” who are not psychologists or lawyers but rather are mothers of 15-year-olds etc., do not draw any distinction and see an adult having an affair with their 15-year-old as just as disgusting as if s/he had been 11 or 12.

In the case of older men who are attracted to teenage girls, a lot of guys will still make the case that that’s a perfectly normal attraction dictated by nature and puberty.
 
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What makes you think he ‘said so little’ when he was actively in the papacy?
 
I also think that many would see a 20 year old dating a 16 year less appalling as opposed to a 30, 40 or 50 year old man seeking a sexual relationship, consensual or not, with a teenager who, in some cases is under their care, such as an altar boy.
 
I’m glad you posted the Vatican article, and I hear what you are saying. However, we are not in a vacuum. I certainly am not. Yesterday I saw well over 10 articles describing this letter as a rift between Pope Benedict and Francis. I actually did not see the one from the Vatican. I think it is important to acknowledge the problems with those other news sources.
 
The 30, 40 or 50 year old guy seeking the relationship did not just begin to do that when he was 30. He probably just stayed stuck on 16-year-olds his entire life despite it getting weirder and weirder.

I’m thinking of that character in Dazed and Confused who happily says he keeps getting older but high school girls always stay the same age. At the age he is in the film, which appears to be mid-20s, he’s considered cool. If he is doing the same schtick at age 35, as it’s highly likely he will be, he will be considered a gross creeper.
 
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