OUR LATEST ISSUE
SITE SEARCH
Catholic priest claims gay men mainly responsible for child abuse
By: Nigel Robinson
The comments were made on The Bog Questiions
The comments were made on The Bog Questiions
A Catholic priest claims gay men commit most acts of paedophilia
The comments were made by Father John Owen, the press officer of the Archdiocese of Cardiff and a chaplain at Cardiff University.
His remarks were made on BBC1’s The Big Questions programme, during a discussion of the recently published report of the Ryan Inquiry on child abuse in Ireland’s Catholic institutions.
Asked by presenter Nicky Campbell whether the Church cared less for the abuse of children and more for its own reputation, Owen said:
“These matters are so ghastly that people don't want to look at them, they can't believe - obviously – these things are taking place within the orbit of a Christian church. - It’s a perversion of Christianity.
"Let me tell you, of course before you go too far, most of the offences are being committed by homosexuals."
Owen argued that the majority of pedophilia cases in the UK and US involved teenage boys. “Now what does that tell you?” he asked.
Colm O’Gorman who has written Beyond Belief, about his own experience of being abused by priests and who was also on the panel, 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."
The Archdiocese of Cardiff has disassociated itself from Father Owens’s comments.
Father Owens’s comments can be seen on BBC iPlayer for the next five days, at 10 minutes 45 seconds in.
