Sex, Priests, And Power: Anatomy Of A Crisis

A. W. Richard Sipe

Psychology Press, Apr 1, 1995 - 220 pages

From every corner of this country and from countires around the world, reports of sexual abuse, exploitation, and ongoing sexual misconduct by Catholic priests have appeared in every major newspaper, magazine, and TV and Radio talk show. What was first denied by church officials finally turned into a deluge of overwhelming evidence played out in legal settlements and courtrooms.
Richard Sipe startled the world in 1990 with his controversial book, "A Secret World: Sexuality and the Search for Celibacy," which presented evidence of sexual activity by almost 50% of the Roman Catholic priesthood.
In this book, Richard Sipe examines the continuing sexual crisis facing the Catholicm Church today. Has the storm of publicity and controvery caused the church to acknowledge any of the accusations? Will the church accept statistical evidence or alter the way in which it trains its clergy? How has it come to grips with reforming or retraining abusers? Has it acknowledged the spread of AIDS among its ranks? Why does the church oppress women and react with hostility and fear towards them? "Sex, Priests, and" "Power: Anatomy of a Crisis" addresses these and other questions.
The book substantiates its conclusions with many vivid and chilling stories of sexual abuse by clergy against children, women, and members of its own ranks...
* Father James Porter victimized 200 children between 1960-1972 while an active parish priest.
* A 52-year-old priest, under the guise of family friend and tutor, sexually abused two sisters for two years. They were ages six and eight at the start of the abuse.
* A priest who teaches high school seeks out a sophomore student for a homosexual liaison. After two years he ends the relationship in favor of a new sophomore love interest. The priest has honed this continuing pattern of sexual exploitation to perfection.
Not simply satisified with exposing the epic crisis, Richard Sipe analyzes the structure underlying the church's celibate/sexual system and poiints out unsolved problems with the current teachings. He calls for an honest, open discussion of sexuality and celibacy within the church and offers a refined description of the practice.
"Sex, Priests, and Power" is an invitation to exorcise the demons that threaten to engulf a mighty institution. Richard Sipe argues convincingly for an honest examination of the power structure of the Catholic Church and a thorough search for the factors that diminish and distort religion.

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Review: Sex, Priests and Power: Anatomy of a Crisis

User Review  - Mary Johnson - Goodreads

AW Richard Sipe has spent most of his adult life studying priestly celibacy, and he brings deep insight to this scholarly volume. Highly recommended reading for anyone who wants to understand how ...

Contents

• Priests and Children: 3
• Crime Sin and Sickness: 24
• the sexual: 44
• Need for Discourse Intuitive Perception: 57
• Patterns of Celibate: 63
• Those Who Profess or Pmctice Celibacy: 72
• Function Dysfunction: 83
• The Celibate Difference? The Physiology: 89
• Priests and Women: 112
• Myths About Priests and Women Code: 129
• Homosexualities and the Clergy Psychological: 135
• Male Matrix The System of Secrecy: 142
• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AIDS: 155
• The Structure Beneath the Crisis: 161
• Priests Who Suffer: 181
• The Christian Experience: 187
• Bibliography: 195
• Name Index: 211

About the author

A.W. RICHARD SIPE is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor who earlier spent 18 years as a Benedictine monk and priest. He was trained specifically to deal with the mental health problems of Roman Catholic Priests. In the process of training and therapy, he conducted a 25-year ethnographic study of the celibate/sexual behavior of that population. His study, published in 1990, is now considered a classic. Sipe is known internationally and has participated in 12 documentaries on celibacy and priest sexual abuse aired by HBO, BBC, and other networks in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. He has been widely interviewed by media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CNBC, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, People magazine, Newsweek and USA Today.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Sex, Priests, And Power: Anatomy Of A Crisis
• Author: A. W. Richard Sipe
• Publisher: Psychology Press, 1995
• ISBN: 0876307691, 9780876307694
• Length: 220 pages
• Subjects: Catholic Church - Clergy - Sexual behavior; Celibacy; Celibacy - Catholic Church; Celibacy/ Catholic Church; Psychology / General; Psychology / Human Sexuality; Religion / Christian Life / Love & Marriage; Religion / Christian Ministry / Pastoral Resources; Religion / Clergy; Religion / General; Religion / Sexuality & Gender Studies; Sex; Sex - Religious aspects - Catholic Church; Sex/ Religious aspects/ Catholic Church