A priest died in Antwerp on the night of Thursday to Friday after a chemsex evening with another priest. But what percentage of priests actually respect abstinence?
During the night from Thursday to Friday, a priest died in Antwerp after a chemsex evening in the company of another priest, Father Bernard. However, he was described by his followers as an exemplary man. While undoubtedly waiting for the Pope’s visit, the two men had chosen to party in an Antwerp presbytery, mixing, in particular, the consumption of ecstasy and sexual relations.
While the precise cause of Priest Andrew’s death has yet to be determined, Father Bernard will appear before the council chambers tomorrow on charges of drug dealing resulting in death. As for the Bishop of Antwerp, we are amazed.
Does this type of act between loans happen frequently? We wanted to know what percentage of priests admit to having already had sexual relations.
In our research, we found several figures, the first of which is surprising: only 10% of priests respect abstinence.
It was a professor of sociology at the University of Bergamo in Italy who reached this conclusion after hearing from priests and former priests throughout his country.
Another figure comes from Richard Sipe, a retired Johns Hopkins University professor and noted researcher on Catholic clergy and celibacy. He spent 37 years studying the sex lives of clergy. Based on his research, Sipe estimates that only half of priests remain celibate.
According to this American professor, the struggle – between normal physical needs and religious devotion – is at the root of the greatest crisis in the Catholic Church.
50% of abstinent priests is also what the French association Plein Jour suggests.
Certainly, there are priests who are fulfilled in their celibacy, but for others, the problem would be the obligatory nature of chastity. When it is imposed in this way by the church, it is doomed to failure, according to the Italian sociologist.
What is needed, and several voices are in this direction, is for it to be a personal and autonomous choice and not an institutional one.
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