Conspicuously absent from the press’ reporting on this earthshaking story has been the underlying fact that 80% of those sexually abused by Catholic priests were boys. This fact coupled with the large number of gay priests in the Catholic Church—estimates range widely, from 10% to 60%—drastically changes the dynamics of the story. Suddenly, the story raises far less questions about the church than it does about homosexuality, but don’t expect the media to ask these questions, much less to answer them. After all, gays, unlike Christians, are not one of the media’s whipping boys, but one of its fair-haired boys.

Before you dismiss this blog as a Baptist preacher taking a swing at Catholic priests, consider the Vatican’s recent review of Catholic seminaries in the United States. This study of America’s 229 Catholic seminaries and their 4,500 plus students was prompted by the prevalent belief among church officials here and in Rome that the sexual abuse scandal is attributable to the growing number of gays in the American priesthood. Estimates of gay seminarians vary from one-quarter to more than half of all American priest-candidates. In light of this, Rev. Donald B. Cozzens, a former Catholic seminary rector, has written a controversial book asserting that “the priesthood is becoming a gay profession.” Also, the archbishop supervising the review of American seminaries, Edwin O’Brien, has concluded that gays should be barred from attending Catholic seminaries and studying for the priesthood.

Maybe the Boy Scouts, an organization that bans gays and refuses to allow them to take little boys out into the woods on weekend camping trips, aren’t so crazy after all.