It should be noted that a footnote to Lysander Spooner's 1875 essay "Vices Are Not Crimes" decried Massachusetts policy because, while ten years was the age a girl could consent to having sex, nobody of any age was allowed to drink alcohol. Pedophilia is a definition, and whether it's right or wrong depends on what year it is and how loud is the Puritan echo. The perversity most central to the American heritage comes directly from the Puritans.
About pedophilia? Of course not. People were banging ten year-old girls. About sex? That's a longer issue.
erm - you got a source on that "really took off" after the sixties ? The general info I run into has no evidence that it has ever "taken off". Pedophilia in priests has been a common ground for jokes and such as far back as history goes. As far as hetero unchastitiy - maybe I just read too much into the accounts of Popes and other high officials in the Priesthood being criticised for having too many illegitimate children and the like, or the accounts of nuns and the dreams they had about the priest in charge, or the common layouts of Medieval towns with a brothel on the outskirts nearest any local monastery. But it seems to me that when celibacy became chastity, in real demand, the priesthood was not well served.
You do realise that the pope isnt bound to the chasity vouw its only priests that are. Of corse at the moment the pope IS a priest but that doesnt have to be so. There have been female popes and married popes in the past. Not sure that it will ever happen again but thats not to say that it couldnt Edit to add: nither chasity NOR celbacy work well for priests. They are at the front line of human shit and they dont get a partner to surport them. Its stupid really seeing as the first "priests" were most likly married with kids going around to all the local christan communities and telling them about the life of Christ. Coninstine has a lot to answer for
SHIT that may take a few days, may have to call mum to find out (she studied the history of the catholic church not me)
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1453197&page=4 Pope Joan, ok it may not be true but my point was that popes dont have to be priests, lay people HAVE been made popes in the past wether male or female is irralivant
