Sex, Priests, And Power: Anatomy Of A Crisis
For more than 30 years, psychotherapist Sipe has been engaged in research on the institution and practice of priestly celibacy. He has reported and interpreted that research before, but this book takes it as background for a more thorough examination of the entanglement of sexuality and power in the historical development of the Roman Catholic Church. Given the pervasiveness of the entanglement, the book becomes a case study of sorts, with implications beyond the boundaries of Roman Catholicism and beyond the practice of celibacy. Among the most interesting and important aspects of the book is its systematic application of sociobiology to a concrete moral--and political--problem. That sociobiology shares with Roman Catholic theology a profound appreciation for the "natural" as an ethical category makes this a promising venture--and it carries it beyond the potential trivialities of expose{‚} or polemic. This is a thoughtful book, informed not only by the headlines but also by a deep respect for celibacy and for the Roman Catholic tradition as well as the "systemic" insights of sociobiology.Steve Schroeder