There was fresh controversy today
over child sex abuse and the Catholic church when an
archbishop's aide claimed the majority of paedophilia
was being perpetrated by gay men.
Father John Owen, the
communications officer for the archdiocese of
His remarks concerned last Wednesday's publication of the
Ryan Inquiry, a 2,565-page report detailing the abuse and rape of children in
Ireland's Catholic institutions, and came days after the newly-appointed archbishop of Westminster, the Most
Rev Vincent Nichols, angered charities by saying it took courage for religious
orders and clergy to confront the past.
Asked by the show's presenter,
Nicky Campbell, whether the church cared more about its own reputation than the
welfare of children, Owen replied: "These matters are so ghastly that
people don't want to look at them, they can't believe these things are taking
place within the orbit of a Christian church, perversion of Christianity.
"Let me tell you of course
before you go too far, most of the offences are being committed by
homosexuals."
Despite condemnation from the
other panellists, two of whom were sexually abused,
the churchman insisted he was stating the facts and told them to "be
silent".
He said the "vast
majority" of abuse cases in the
A statement from the archdiocese
distanced itself from Owen, saying "his comments seeming to link abuse and
homosexuality" did not reflect the "consistent views" of the
archdiocese of
Colm O'Gorman, author of Beyond Belief, a book
about his own experience of clerical sexual abuse, and who was on the programme, described Owen's
comments as "ill-informed, ignorant, corrupt and dishonest". He said:
"The church has created a link between homosexual sex and priests who rape
and sodomise children. It scapegoats someone else and
creates a side issue. It removes the criminal aspect and the rape becomes some
sort of consensual adult behaviour."
O'Gorman also expressed concern
about the church's understanding of the significance of the issue, saying:
"A child
protection policy is only as good as the people implementing it."