HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF SEXUALITY IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND REALITY

This text is the result of nearly 15 years of research by prof. Piotr Lisowski. It is a current look at the problem of sexuality in the Roman Catholic Church. It fills the scientific gap and is a fairly original view of the issue still valid. The article is not in any way critical, but an interdisciplinary study on an important scientific problem rooted for over 1000 years. The author seeks answers to the fundamental question: Why is the Roman Catholic Church having such a serious problem with sexuality in the ranks of the clergy?


Introduction
Man is a psychosomatic unity (Szyszkowska, 1999:19-28). Normal and obvious would be the approval of natural needs and biological conditions (Szyszkowska, 1999:19-28). However, in the Roman Catholic Church, the so-called double morality, that is -according to bourgeois customs -all deviations from what is considered to be unlawful or indecent should be satisfied in hiding (Szyszkowska, 2001:101 and next). Sexual and erotic love is accompanied by a sense of moral evil that inhibits her and a defective belief that it is to be only a means to prolong the species (Szyszkowska, 2001:101 and next). He opposes her -as proper -spiritual love, called Platonic. This is a funny misunderstanding, because those who recommend Platonic love are double ignorant people (Szyszkowska, 2001:101 and next). Naturalism under which man is subject only to the laws of nature, as well as anti-naturalism, claiming that what is human is only of cultural origin, are not continuators in our time (Szyszkowska, 1999:15).

Historical and legal aspects of sexuality in the Roman Catholic Church and reality
My interest in research is not only the history of law and administration, but also Christianity in all its dimensions, also in the sphere of sexuality. This chapter aims to show a certain sociological fiction, which I often encountered in clergy (especially celibate), whom I respect and emphasize that I do not intend to offend anyone. We must remember that science sometimes forces us not only to discuss, but also to put up difficult theses and presumptions. I emphasize: presumptions! I am mainly referring to comparisons of the past and the present, in order to receive a clear judgment about the situation.
The history of the Church can be divided into three periods, not coinciding with historical and general periodization: ancient (until 313), medieval (until Martin Luther's appearance in 1517) and modern (Grodziski, 1998:51). We will be particularly interested in this point of considerations, the second period from the X century when a trend called kluniackim appeared against the dissolution in the Catholic Church. The return to the original Benedictine Rule and 132 the strict discipline of religious life increased the authority of the kluniackiego movement, which included more and more monasteries, moved throughout the clergy, influenced the reform of church discipline, and also to the inhibition of feudal anarchy also in relation to clergy (Grodziski, 1998:56). Hence, it was necessary to introduce celibacy of the clergy not so much practically, formally.
Pope Gregory VII decided that if "... bishops, priests, deacons and subdeacons would enter into a marriage, it will be null and void." (Rola, 1991:40). Then we read "this orderregardless of the incidents that occur -it is valid in the Western Church to this day" (Rola, 1991:40). We are all well aware that if the Church chose only the Augustinian philosophy, the affair of the clergy would be different. According to the Augustinian philosophy -in contrast to the Thomistic -"man is the way of the Church and not the Church by the way of man." In Thomist philosophy, we are dealing with a picture closer to the second part of the operative part, not the first: parishes treated as property, housewives who are actual concubines of priests and always concealed homosexuality.
Let's return to priceless sources. As a legitimate example, the history of Central European sex, namely Kosmas, was chosen (Śliwiński, 1994:11): "Kosmas priest was not only a theoretician in masculine and feminine matters. He was married (grief after the death of his wife was also recorded on the pages of his chronicle), because in the period in which he lived, celibacy through the dignitaries of the Church was just entering the arena of history, encountering the greatest obstacles on the part of ordinary priests. Besides, even when celibacy had already been achieved, these weddings of chastity were often broken. For a long time not to dwell on this matter and stick to the countrymen of Kosmas, it is worth knowing that when in 1379-1382 a special church commission studied around 200 women in the vicinity of Prussia serving the presbyteries, it turned out that 160 of them were concubines of priests . As if that was not enough, 41 gave birth to one of the presbyteries, 20 for two, and 24 for three and more.
Probably Kosmas knew what he was writing about, unlike some of the later monks, from the young years isolated from sex and sex who did not even know ... (Śliwiński, 1994:11) Commenting on this passage, you can say that this was not an Augustinian example understood on the basis of August Tischner. : fides quaerens intellectum. "St. Augustine was, I would say, one of the main inspirers of the Reformation" (Tischner, Żakowski, 1996:41).
And the second fragment: ".. To what comical situations it led the testifies with all seriousness described <miracle>, which was experienced, little known to us, Saint Fechin. Well, the same, as a young man, grazed cattle. The time of fasting has just happened and the future saint started working without breakfast. So he grabbed the first cow from the shore to satisfy the hunger with milk, but even though he pulled and pulled nothing fell. However, having no idea about gender issues, he did not notice that instead of a cow's udder he crushed the birth of a handsome bull. Thus, the lack of effects was recognized by the youth as tantamount to the loss of God's grace, but a few hot prayers were enough to make Fechin -not much of a foster animal -very little, but some <milk> gave. He told Fechim later about the course of the event in the same way that he did to the monks, and they fixed it in writing in the description of the life and <wonders> of the saint. It is no wonder then that the Fechin was said to be able to squeeze honey from stone and rock oil" (Śliwiński, 1994).
The quoted fragments are a deliberate choice. They confirm in a deep conviction that in sexual matter it is not possible to speak about the superiority of what we call a constituted or positive law over natural law. The quoted sources have not lost their relevance. I am speaking this judgment not as a pretext for criticism but for noticing the problem; I am referring to the phenomenon of a certain historical fiction, which I can not agree to, and whose existence I have been observing for many years.
The first thinker who in the twentieth century wanted to talk about all the problems of the Church was the aforementioned priest. prof. Józef Tischner. Ethics poses a clear question: how to live? In this context, we can ask a question: what values have been valid for centuries in the sphere of sexuality? Like the lay faithful. This was probably due to the understanding of man according to the views of Saint. Tomasz, not Jesus of Nazareth! There is no ordinary bishop or superior of the Order, both male and female, who would not have problems in their diocese related to sexuality and its ethical dimension. Even the present pontificate of Benedict XVI is marked by solving such problems. I refer in this matter to the consideration of the eminent and honest Vaticanist John Allen: "... The irony of the policy of Roman Catholicism is that in terms of the division of power, the positions occupied are just the opposite of secular politics in the United States. In America, conservatives are advocates of state laws, and liberals support the strong central government on the basis that they believe that federal officials in Washington more than the local legislators in Mississippi or Oklahoma will uphold their values. In the Catholic Church, however, liberals are in favor of decentralization, and the conservatives support a strong central power because, in general, they place greater faith in the traditionalism of Rome than in bishops' conferences in countries such as Germany or the United States (Allen JR, 2006:194).
This comparison suggests that the problem of sexuality in the Roman Catholic Church should be understood, in the context of the source quotes quoted earlier, but also more broadly, that is in the context of informal concubinage of clergy, homosexuality as a constantly growing process and sexual exploitation with which he had to measure Pope-Senior Benedict XVI.
I visited many parishes and monasteries and met many noble clergy in Poland and Europe. Often, the vicar, parish priest or religious superior confided in me, told me about the "sins of impurity" of his younger or older confrere. I was only interested in the problem of truth and freedom in this sphere. It happened that the first and basic question that I asked myself was: why the hostess in the presbytery or catechist tries to cross verbal boundaries with the pastor, vicar, etc. In most of the parishes that I visited, I got the impression that it is a private company and human problems and the man who is the "way of the Church" is just a slogan. I saw the fiction of celibacy both in relation to women and men. Initially, it aroused my surprise and internal struggle, then I began to understand it. I particularly noticed this problem in monasteries, and so places of confinement and isolation.
Determining your sexuality to a large extent, the given cleric depends on the so-called a system with a supervisor understood in two ways: depending on the material position, and often also sexual orientation.
Homosexuality is also a common phenomenon in the Church. It would be worthwhile to devote separate research to this matter. However, I doubt if he will be brave.
Sexual abuse, especially pedophilia, is a serious problem. The question arises, why only in recent years attention has been paid to this phenomenon, since the problem has been present for centuries? Why is it conspiracy of silence?
Pope John XXIII issued the famous and secret instruction De modo procedendi In causis de crimine sollicitationis of March 16, 1962. In it, we read: "Because the matters referred to here must be treated with great caution, one should deal with them in a way the secret [...] and should be condemned to perpetual silence [...] The oath of secrecy must also be made by the accused and by those witnesses who reveal the priest's behavior [...]. It is important to warn the accusing priest that he is, with all others, threatened with suspending a divinis with the moment and by virtue of the very fact of breaking the oath".
In principle, the apogee of the Church, media and disadvantaged authorities took place in 2002, when the Boston Globe published an article about idle cardinal Bernard Law on accusations of former Boston priest John Geogham for sexual abuse. In the initial phase of this crisis, many Vatican officials expressed skepticism regarding both the real size of the scandal and the motives behind lawyers and journalists, often returning to matters from several decades ago. Although these officials undoubtedly intended to defend the American Church, their public appearances have repeatedly proved to be harmful (Allen JR, 2006:212-214). Initially misled by advisers, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was often mistaken. However, he changed his mind and was the only one who confessed that in the Church priests are also sinners.
According to a study commissioned by American bishops, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, in New York from 1950 to 2002-4.35% of diocesan priests and 2.5% of monks were charged with sexual harassment (Allen JR, 2006:216). It is worth adding that in 2001-2004, two tribunals in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith investigated the issue of harassment. There were as many as 750 cases. In addition, Cardinal J. Ratzinger was sued in the 127 County Court in Harris County in Texas, alleging that he exceeded his powers when in May 2001. he sent a letter to Catholic bishops all over the world, accusing him of using the sexual classification clause and considering it subject to his office. On March 25, 2005, lawyers representing Ratzinger submitted to the federal court documents showing that he acted as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and as such he was entitled to the immunity of the head of state. These documents were received only eight days before J. Ratzinger's election as Pope (Allen JR, 2006:214). Certainly Benedict XVI -the senior is so sensitive on this point and has a complete understanding of the situation. There is no doubt that the phenomenon of sexuality in the Church can become a very serious problem. It can not be silenced and remains valid, especially for the present pontificate of the Holy Father Francis. It would seem that the crimes of the clergy-militants regarding offenses against juveniles are very closely related to each other. Within the Church as well as in the territories of the particular dioceses there is a fairly strong homosexual lobby burdened with certain habits of convenience, selfishness and fastidiousness, eg during meals. This is a group of highly materialized ones, it results from my nearly 15 years of research. I wonder why it is such a big problem in the Roman Catholic Church? The answer is quite simple: convenience and lack of proper verification of candidates for the seminary! Such a formation, where often the superior is also gay and favors the candidate in further pseudo-formation and further promotions, which is incompatible with the teachings of Christ and the ordained priests themselves are invalid by law. Nobody cares about it, it just hides.

Conclusions
I know the case of one auxiliary bishop from Poland who still feels unpunished in molesting clerics and even priests. Not only can I say a lot about it, but also others! Nobody reacts! In fact, only Saint Paul was clear and radical in the history of the Church. He, in the Letter to the Romans, warned: "Similarly, men, having abandoned normal cohabitation with a woman, had each other lusted for themselves, men with men practicing shamelessness and paying for the perversion themselves" (Apostoł Paweł, 2008:1-27). Comfort and laziness is the enemy of the soul as the Saint said Benedykt from Nursia. The church will survive everything because it is the property of Christ, its mystical body. Why do he need so much pain, suffering and despair? It is necessary to talk about human sexuality in seminars! Do not be afraid! Reply to God and the call of study for what is written on the pages of the Holy Bible!