Can we put to rest the idea that it's the celibacy of priests that causes the sexual abuse of young people? I don't particularly care about defending priests, but if that's at the bottom of the abuse then there shouldn't be any victims among those living in homes of married folk.

As a contact person for a group dealing with sexual abuse issues, I can say there's no common denominator. Sexual abuse was experienced from fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and in so-called "Christian" homes. Its effects cut through all socio-economic levels, from the classiest-seeming persons to the not-so-classy persons. From the nicest neighborhoods to the not so nice. An often heard comment was "my abuser was seen as a pillar of the community." Imagine that!

The tragic thing is that it has gone on everywhere, and nobody has cared much to take a look at it to give it much attention until it was uncovered in the church.

C. B. Rader, Churchville