The deep roots of sexual abuse

by Letters Editor · April 3, 2014

From Margaret Mollet, Piketberg, WC

Archbishop William Slattery is to be commended for his exemplary handling of the alleged abuse case in Pretoria (March 5), as is the editor of The Southern Cross for his balanced perspective of the situation (editorial, March 12).

St Peter Damien

If I may add some thoughts on the wider screen: the rare and isolated abuse case, bad as it might be, might not reflect that negatively on the Church in the long run, but when these take place in recurring clusters one realises that there is something very wrong.

Things didn�t start to go wrong in the 1950s, �60s, �70s or �80s. Pederasty was severely condemned by St Peter Damian in the 11th century, and by the Church Fathers.

Already active in Greece 500 BC homoerotic relations between male adults and young boys was inspired by the myth that the god Zeus, who took the shape of an eagle, abducted the beautiful young Trojan Ganymede and made him his own. As the myth spread to Rome the youngster was called a catamitus, or in English catamite.

Over more than two millennia the Zeus-Ganymede myth has traversed through many cultures as evident in paintings, sculptures, literature, theatre, satire, and popular discourse. It also seeped into the imagination of some prelates and priests.

Myths, when they become ideologies, seldom perish, and pederasty stealthily latches on to any religion, at any time and in any place hospitable to its presence.

Some religious pederasts may be unfamiliar with the Zeus-Ganymede myth but if they are into man-boy love, they are already members of the quasi-sacrosanct club. In their view, the silenced catamites must be grateful for the blessings and privileges bestowed on them.

The agenda of the man-boy lobby � a dropping of age-consent of man-boy relationships � does not bode well for the Church or society at large. Strict prevention of abuse is crucial, but so is eradication of the Zeus-Ganymede mentality.