Viewpoint
Church needs study of human sexuality
By JOSEPH KRAMER
The foundation of the current crisis
in the church has to do with a distressing lack of understanding of human
sexuality. Even the most educated of Catholics don’t understand the
concept of healthy sexuality. Bishops have claimed they transferred abusive
priests from parish to parish due to their own ignorance about pedophilia.
Clergy have alleged that their seminary education arrested their sexual
development, making them into priests who acted like adolescents. Some victims
of sexual abuse have voiced concern that receiving cash payments from the
church or seeing their abusers in police custody hasn’t provided the
healing they were expecting.
Still, many Catholics believe that human sexuality doesn’t
merit study. Jesuit Fr. James Gill, director of the Christian Institute for the
Study of Human Sexuality, laments, “People who are involved in formation
work in seminaries, religious communities and other educational institutions
serving young Catholics do not take advantage of the opportunity we offer to
deepen their understanding of sexuality. They inevitably say that they
don’t feel a need for more knowledge.”
Although Catholic universities have traditionally avoided all but
a perfunctory study of human sexuality, Boston College has commenced two years
of scholarly investigation into all aspects of the current crisis. So many
Boston Catholics showed up for the first evening of this program “to
revitalize the church,” that the event had to be moved from a lecture hall
to the hockey rink.
Jesuit Fr. William P. Leahy, Boston College president, told the
4,000 assembled faithful, “The current situation calls for healing, and
healing requires not only work of the heart, but also work of the
mind.”
While I laud Leahy’s intentions, I would go further in
seeking to dispel the monumental ignorance about human sexuality tragically
affecting the Catholic church worldwide. I propose that the church commit to
the study of sexuality and spirituality by establishing an educational
superstructure. This institution would allow academics, mystics and those with
practical wisdom to gather for months at a time to collectively research and
explore topics crucial for the 21st century. Much of the learning process as
well as the results of this research would immediately be made available to the
whole church through the Internet.
Certainly Catholics would prefer to contribute to sexual education
than to priestly abuse settlements. This whole interdisciplinary program would
cost less than the athletic budget of Boston College or Notre Dame.
The educational superstructure I suggest as a model is the
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. In the early 1980s, I worked at the
University of California at Berkeley in what was undoubtedly the best
mathematics department in the world. Many of the professors I interacted with
daily felt that the field of mathematics would be best served by a structure
beyond the traditional university department. Under the auspices of the
National Academy of Sciences, a research institute was formed in 1982, which
allowed scientists the opportunity to come together to explore major research
topics with peers from around the world.
For the last five years, all of the researchers’ formal
presentations have been made available over the Internet using video streaming.
Over a thousand past presentations can be viewed for free at the
institute’s Web site (www.msri.org). This democratization of
information invites immediate worldwide discussion and functions as an
invaluable resource. The wisdom of these gatherings, made available to all
interested persons through the Internet, has changed the entire world of
mathematics.
A Catholic sexual and spiritual research institute that brings
together researchers, both academic and practical, is one strategy to enable
wisdom to flow throughout the church. The researchers invited to investigate
specific topics need not be Catholic, but should demonstrate a commitment to
spirituality and sexuality.
Three of my choices for researchers would be Bill Moyers for his
ability to listen, then question; Episcopalian Fr. Matthew Fox for his genius
in creating new paradigms; and Sr. Wendy Beckett for her ability to teach with
passion and humor.
Open access to the research and formal presentations would allow
all of us a better understanding of the lived sexual dimensions of being an
embodied Christian.
Investigations, even into issues such as healthy celibacy for
priests and homosexuals, or how comfortable Jesus was with desire, would be
approached with openness and respect for differing positions. Topics I suggest
for study would be: determining sexual health by assessing degrees of
embodiment and mindfulness; and how young people can develop committed
relationships that are about love-making, justice-doing and pleasure.
The creation of this institute would provide all of us with access
to wisdom about sexuality and spirituality. Such truth telling always results
in the profound understanding of sex as blessing, as a gift of God.
Joseph Kramer is an assistant professor at the Institute for
Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco.
National Catholic Reporter, November 01,
2002
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