Although it was announced weeks ago, until now there hasn't been another peep from the pope about meeting with Irish bishops. They've been summoned talk about the grotesque magnitude of persistent sexual abuse within the Irish church.The Vatican Sex Summit is currently taking place behind closed doors. According to one news report, each bishop will have seven minutes to speak. If my calculations are correct, this adds up to a "chapter of faults" lasting nearly three hours. No information about what these men will be doing during the rest of their time together.
I, of course, have a suggestion, one based on a decade of experience teaching Sexuality and Society to college juniors and seniors. Please note that my professorial career took place during a time of relative innocence and no shortage of ignorance about sexuality.
For example, I couldn't begin discussing the sociology of sexual identity, behavior, or preference without first teaching basic anatomy and physiology. This included teaching the correct
spelling for esoteric terms like "penus." I mention this because given their median age, I figure the Irish bishops are probably as knowledgeable about sex as my former students.And so, I suggest the bishops be allowed to play with anatomically correct dolls and observed while doing so. For how long? Oh, maybe eight hours? Surely that should be enough time for qualified sex educators to assess the bishops' baseline knowledge and speculate what might have been going on. Behind closed doors.
