The Man Gene and Catholic Priests

I’ve written frequently about The Man Gene and its role in causing legal problems in the workplace. I’ve written less frequently about religion (e.g., here and here), trying to draw lessons that could apply to the world of work generally. I will now attempt the death-defying feat of writing about both.

The sex scandal involving the Roman Catholic Church is long-standing and well-known. It has primarily focused on the sexual abuse of children by priests. According to the New York Times, however, the incidences of priests who’ve had sexual relations with adult women are far more common. The Times article details a 26 year relationship between a Franciscan friar and a married woman, as well as her dealings with the Church over the matter.

She dealt directly with the Church (through a Franciscan order), because she and the friar had a child together. She asked for child support and other expenses related to the child. The Church says it’s been generous. The woman says it’s been a running battle. In any event, the child, now grown, has cancer, and the woman is seeking additional financial help from the Church. Because she also has cancer, she’s gone public with her story, even though she’s arguably violating an earlier confidentiality agreement she signed in return for the Church’s assistance.

The Church has known of the Franciscan friar’s relationship with the woman for many years. Nonetheless, the Church permitted the friar to continue his priestly work until it was learned that he’d also been in a long-standing sexual relationship with another woman since the woman was in high school. At that point, the Franciscans sent the friar to a treatment center for priests with sexual disorders and substance addictions.

The Times article is another reminder of The Man Gene’s force. It doesn’t distinguish between priests and regular guys. It doesn’t distinguish between heterosexual and homosexual males. It takes possession of a Franciscan friar just like it does David Letterman and Roman Polanski. 

Catholic priests arent’ the only men of the cloth who’ve been led astray by The Man Gene. Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker come to mind, as well as other big-time televangelists. There are undoubtedly examples in mainline churches as well, though they aren’t as well-known because they aren’t on national TV.

The fall from grace by a member of the clergy as a result of sexual misconduct disturbs us a bit more than when it happens to politicians, athletes, lawyers, doctors, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers, because preachers and priests who succumb to The Man Gene are hypocrites, perhaps Catholic priests particularly so in light of the celibacy of unmarried priests being an article of faith for the Church. The nature of The Man Gene is to play no favorites, however.

I will occasionally get a comment to a Man Gene post accusing me of making excuses for unfaithful, cheating male reprobates. The Man Gene, indeed, you say. Let’s not give men another excuse for the failure to exercise control of themselves.

Some people still make a similar criticism about alcoholics and people with a variety of mental illnesses. Despite considerable proof that genetics play a major role in alcoholism and mental illness, naysayers contend that these people just aren’t trying hard enough. Playing the gene card on their behalf gives them an easy way out in their attempt to avoid personal responsibility for harmful behavior. Self-control is the real answer.

And so it is with The Man Gene, some will argue. It’s a subject so stupid that it’s not worth consideration. Until we are willing to address this phenomenon, however, workplace sexual issues will create disruption and litigation, and when allowed to spiral out of control, as with the Catholic Church, all hell will break loose. Of course, this is a matter that goes well beyond sexual harassment at work. Rape and other sexual violence against women occur when The Man Gene mutates, much like a gene that moves one from depression to schizophrenia.

But this is a subject that’s hard to talk about — at work, church, school, anywhere. So, we don’t talk about it — not in a substantive way (which must include a discussion of The Man Gene) — and we shake our heads when another victim of The Man Gene bites the dust.

I can only hope that, one day, public opinion will come to embrace my theory about The Man Gene. How can something so obvious be dismissed out of hand? Besides, you can trust me. I’m a Doctor of Jurisprudence.

1. 

   E. says:

   October 29, 2009 at 3:58 pm

   And then throw this into the mix:

   http://www.amazon.com/Porn-Work-Exposing-Offices-Addiction/dp/0802481299/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1ISZPXRKOSL5X&colid=18FTJODQUM7H2

   E.
2. 

   Miguel says:

   November 7, 2009 at 5:23 pm

   Small correction of facts: priestly celibacy is a cherished *discipline* of the Latin Rite Catholic Church, but it is not an “article of faith” as this article states. To explain it another way, it is a practice with a long standing history and good reasons for it, but it is something that could be changed if church leaders so desired. This is different from things held as “articles of faith,” which are considered timeless truths and therefore unchangeable (like the Trinity).
3. 

   John Phillips says:

   November 7, 2009 at 7:04 pm

   Miguel,

   Thanks for the clarification.

   John