Paedophilia

The archbishop of Durban, South Africa, Wilfrid Fox Napier, has stated that there are some cases of child abuse which should not be punished, because it was not necessarily their fault, since they may have been abused as children themselves. In such cases it should be treated as a “psychological illness, and not a criminal condition”.

I have to be honest here, and say this statement does not sit well with me. That does not mean to say that I have no sympathy with anyone who has suffered at the evil hands of an abuser, at a young age. God is able to forgive, but to find a reason, or make an excuse for their behaviour, leaves me cold. Everything in life has a consequence. Every action we make or decision we take, has a consequence, either a good one, or a bad one. If we do this for paedophiles, then it can be argued that the same principle could apply to other heinous and grievous sins?

The Roman Catholic church has been rocked by many cases of paedophilia and other sexual abuses recently in the UK and the USA, and it struck me that it is no coincidence that the Cardinal spoke this way, and at this particular time. Is he leaving the door open to suggest that these sinning priests were not fully responsible for their actions against minors? Maybe the best people to ask are those who suffered at their hands many years before, and have lived with the scars ever since. The evil of this sin is not an exclusive possession of the Roman Catholic church. Other churches have suffered similar unwanted publicity, although I have to admit not on the same scale. Cardinal Napier was one of those who had been mentioned as a possibility for the new Pope. Let me put it this way, I am glad the new pontiff is Pope Francis I. The apostle Luke was a medical doctor in his day, and perhaps was familiar with the suffering caused by this kind of sin, so his words are all the more significant when he records:

Jesus said to his disciples: Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied round their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves. Luke 17:1-3 NIV