Sister Angela Ryan, who heads the Australian Bishops' Committee for Professional Standards, has stressed that it's up to professional psychologists to determine whether church sexual abuse is caused by homosexuality, celibacy, or other factors. In a news conference in Chile this week, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said homosexuality rather than celibacy is to blame for sexual abuse in the Church?
Sister Angela told the ABC Radio's AM program yesterday that it's unlikely homosexuality is the main cause.
"I think it's very difficult to say exactly what is the cause of that at any stage and I don't think you could totally ascribe it to homosexuality," she said.
"You'd need to talk with psychologists to be working that through. Clergy aren't in a position and I'm not in a position, I'm not a psychologist. So it's very difficult to make statements about things where you're not qualified."
Other Catholic leaders were not available to speak to the program, but commentator and former priest Paul Collins suggested that homosexuality as the cause is now a non-issue since Cardinal Bertone was subsequently 'reprimandeded' in a statement from Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.
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