At 6a.m on this Sunday morning, I will no doubt have been awoken by the tolling bells of my local Catholic church. But it is funereal bells that are tolling for the Catholic Church itself. It seems like almost every day, in another country around the world, there are fresh child abuse allegations against Catholic priests. They are normally followed by accusations of "cover ups" directed at senior clergy, who are intent on stopping the abuse from becoming public knowledge. Regretfully, protecting the church comes well before protecting the children on too many a religious priority list. Accusations of cover-ups have even been laid at the door of Pope Benedict himself.

Whatever happened to Luke 18:16 ("But Jesus called the children to him and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'")?

One does not need a PhD in rocket science, or indeed much of an IQ at all, to work out why the Catholic Church is being troubled by so many child abuse allegations. Sexual desire and sexual fulfillment are standard human traits. So what happens when the rules of Catholicism require its priests to remain celibate (i.e. never have sex)? The answer is that for a certain percentage of them, their sexual desires become so repressed and distorted that they are unleashed on children, mainly boy children at that.

I have not heard any allegations of child abuse against Ugandan Catholic priests. But, then again, if the experience of other countries is anything to go by, we the laity would likely be the last to know.

Two other factors may explain this absence of allegations.
First, there is what I have always found as a rather suffocating part of Ugandan culture i.e. ebyomunju tebitotolwa (whatever happens in the house should never be told to outsiders).

Secondly, what percentage of Ugandan Catholic priests are actually celibate? The pressure in wider Ugandan culture and society to "produce" children is so huge that I wonder how many of its Catholic priests have children "in the village".
The Catholic Church's wretched backward teachings on contraception have accelerated the spread of HIV/Aids and brought many unwanted children into this world. So, I for one would not mourn at its funeral but celebrate.

And as the child abuse scandal continues to echo around the world, I say to the Catholic Church, "Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."

kevin@imul.com