Celibacy and the clerical sexual abuse crisis

One argument that is sometimes heard regarding the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church regards the requirement that most priests in the Latin Rite must be celibate.  The argument goes like this, "if only priests could get married, there wouldn't be this problem." Such an argument overlooks the fact that sexual abuse scandals like those in the Catholic Church are sadly common in religious traditions that have a married clergy, as well as in secular professions (like elementary and middle school teaching).

Fr. James Martin, S.J., has a very good refutation, published over at the Huffington Post, of the idea that clerical sexual abuse and celibacy are linked: It's Not About Celibacy: Blaming the Wrong Thing for the Sexual Abuse Crisis.  Fr. Martin effectively and systematically addresses the objections to celibacy in light of the sexual abuse problems in the Catholic Church. He also provides a very powerful and beautiful explanation of the charism of celibacy in the priesthood and religious life. Well worth a read.