Perfect: The Bishop Has no Shame (Roots of Violence, Seeds of Change Book 2)

A former bishop in Belgium goes live on French television to state that his sexual behaviors with his nephews were not abuse but were "a certain intimacy." This article analyzes the former bishop's statement and ends with a description of how other perpetrators describe their experiences of child sexual abuse.

In his statement, this priest--likely soon to be a former priest--explained that he is not a pedophile, that he never used violence, and that the boys he victimized wanted it as much as he did. In his statement, this man hit almost every note that I have identified in my research with perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

Actions such as these do not cause me to lose my faith. On the contrary, this terrible event shows me once again how important it is to question our relationships with God to make sure we are not fooling ourselves.

I believe this man not only experienced evil as good but that he also experienced hubris, which is an unquestioning pride in the self. He did not question his relationship to God. In a certain sense, he married Satan, at least metaphorically, in his sexual behaviors with children.