Silly me, I guess.

priests and nuns have to be celibate?

That said, I have always thought that it would be healthier if they had married clergy. Or, they could limit the amount of time one could be a priest or nun. Maybe, if they have to be celibate, they could serve for a period of 7-10 years, then go on to another type of work. Maybe they would work for a religious organization, maybe not.

one gives one's life to god. It isn't a part-time job from which you can retire. I wonder if the cruelty towards these children wasn't left over from medieval times when cruel punishment of children was believed to be the only way to drive the Devil out of young minds. The concept of Original Sin means that we are born in sin. That's also the root of the requirement for celibacy, because sexual intercourse is considered inherently sinful. The Second Council of Orange in 529 confirmed the general principles of Augustine's teaching within Western Christianity, including the concept of Original Sin which held that sexual pleasure is evil and is passed down to children because the act which produced them was sinful. Before that decision, there were conflicting views within the church regarding the meaning of the Adam and Eve story, and whether sexual desire is sinful.

the way one could join the Peace Corps or the military. Those do not have to be lifetime commitments.

I understand the rest of what you are saying. I was raised Missouri Synod Lutheran and attended Lutheran schools on and off. I minored in theology.

Abusers seek access, and the cycle is perpetuated.

The abusers are agnostic when it comes to religious beliefs.

They are just looking for a weak link and access to a position of power over vulnerable people.

Look at the perverted abusers who ran UN aid organizations in Haiti, for example. They had a mass child sex slavery ring going.

It can be any religion, any organization, any group, any cause.

Church.

I reply when asked about abusive clericks. Usually I'm the only catholic school survivor in the room and usually the question is asked by a slightly anti-catholic bigot. I don't like defending the faith but I've got to be honest.

I'm 61years old, attended Catholic schools for 12 years. Recently I've been re-united with classmates and other school mates. I've had conversations where some of the toughest thug guys I've know broke down in tears talking about what Sr. so and so did to the. I've had similar experience with female class mates. Mostly stuff designed to strip the victim of any sense of self worth. I haven't heard of anysexual abuse yet.

My parents laid down strict limits for their children's interaction with nuns and priests. The most important was "never be in a room alone with our kids". I suppose since both of them had gone to Catholic Schools they knew a thing or two.

Trying to make him right-handed.

Didn’t work and he’s no longer Catholic.

I realize it doesn’t rise to the level of this article, but it does show how corporal punishment was common and very accepted in the community.

The left hand was associated with all that was evil, as in the left hand was the hand of the Devil. I had friends whose knuckles were black and blue from the bruises by the steel ruler that the nuns kept up their sleeves.

with caring for them is hard to stomach.