The Catholic Church's Child Sexual Abuse Is Nothing New

"Elliott’s talk spanned centuries, drawing on artifacts and texts ranging from the Warren Cup (a putative 1st-century silver cup that depicts males engaged in same-sex acts) to Dante’s Inferno to illustrate the widespread presence of—and varying attitudes toward—homosexual eroticism in the medieval Church, which included depictions of sexual relations between older and younger men. Examining the closed, and ostensibly celibate, world of medieval monasteries, Elliott drew a comparison to contemporary prison culture. “In renouncing women and all memory of them, monastic culture left a void. There was no legitimate sexual outlet,” she posited. 'Boys, then, fell within the realm of temptation.'”

Church Sex Scandals From Medieval to Modern Times