The Bishop and the brothel.
“Catholic Bishop backs brothels”
That was the headline which captured the imagination of many yesterday, fomenting debate on a few Catholic blogs. Backing an effort to legalize brothels as a means of controlling them, Bishop Crispian Hollis of Portsmouth, England, is quoted as saying:
“If you are going to take a pragmatic view and say prostitution happens, I think there is a need to make sure it’s as well regulated as possible for the health of people involved and for the safety of the ladies themselves,” Hollis said. - Reuters
In our day of international sex-slave trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in the pornography industry, the Bishop’s support is attracting harsh criticism. The Bishop explained himself in this way:
“That’s not to say I approve of prostitution in any way. I would be very much happier if there was no prostitution in Portsmouth,” he told The Portsmouth News.
“But it’s going to be there whatever we do and it has been from time immemorial. So I think that is something we have to be realistic about.” - Reuters
I’m thinking Bishop Hollis pretty much relies on the same argument used by theologians and city governments in medieval times. Concerning prostitution, I found this quote from St. Thomas Aquinas in support of the state tolerating certain vices:
…those who are in authority, rightly tolerate certain evils, lest certain goods be lost, or certain greater evils be incurred: thus Augustine says (De Ordine ii.4): “If you do away with harlots, the world will be convulsed with lust.” - A Thomistic Case For Tolerance
Medieval tolerance.
The Middle Ages in Europe witnessed a universal paradox of tolerance and condemnation with regards to prostitution. While technically a sin (because it hinged on the act of fornication), prostitution was recognized by the church and others as a necessary, or “lesser evil” (Karras, 246). It was accepted as fact that young men would seek out sexual relations regardless of their options, and thus prostitution served to protect “respectable” townswomen from seduction and even rape. In 1358, the Grand Council of Venice declared that prostitution was “absolutely indispensable to the world” (Richards, 125). In general, declarations proclaiming the necessity of prostitution were not quite so enthusiastic. Indeed, the church did not hesitate to denounce prostitution as morally wrong, but as St. Augustine explained: “If you expel prostitution from society, you will unsettle everything on account of lusts” (Richards, 118). Thus, the general tolerance of prostitution was for the most part reluctant, and many canonists urged prostitutes to reform, either by marrying or by becoming nuns. In fact, there were many religious sanctuaries set up specifically for prostitutes who wished to quit the profession (Bullough, 183). - Prostitution in the Middle Ages
Of course, the medievals were not condoning the vice of prostitution, simply recognizing its existence from time immemorial, and the fact that regulation can be a safer alternative to an illegal black-market, or lusting men run a muck. I’m neither a scholar or an expert on the subject, but from what I understand, in countries where brothels are permitted, crime and vice does accompany the industry. Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to me that the industry should be regulated in order to limit and control the problem, while providing humanitarian care for the women involved.
Nevertheless, I believe prostitution is degrading and dehumanizing to women. I also recognize that poverty or previous abuse often forces a woman to enter the business unwillingly. Our society ought to do all it can to prevent this unfortunate lifestyle becoming the only option for the poor and vulnerable. Likewise, I am just as much opposed to that aspect of feminist thought which applauds the right of women to use their bodies for profit. I’m certain it is on account of concerns such these, the Bishop stated: “(Prostitution) is going to be there whatever we do and it has been from time immemorial. So I think that (regulation) is something we have to be realistic about.”
It is a very sensitive subject. We do not live in a Catholic culture as did the medievals, in fact, many refer to our times as the post-Christian era. Thus the danger in legalizing prostitution is that other vice will flourish, and we could follow suit by legalizing and regulating such things as recreational drug use, lowering the age of consent, and other more aborrent vices. I don’t know what the answer is.
[Go here to read an interesting article about nuns who work with the prostitutes of Rome and elsewhere. I wonder if they would be in favor of Bishop Hollis' position? Also, Fr. Tim Finigan has an excellent post with several good reasons why legalized prostitution is not a good idea.]
November 9th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Nice work if you can get it. :p
November 9th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
What society sanctions, it gets more of. I don’t think this is a road we want to go down lest we see these enterprises pop up all over the place
November 9th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Prostitution is dehumanizing. It does not contain sexual license, but inflames it. It leads to more crime. From what I have read, prostitutes often live lives of terrible abuse. They are easy targets for battery, murder, rape. No Christian should support such slavery and degradation, in any form.
November 9th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
“If you are going to take a pragmatic view and say prostitution happens, I think there is a need to make sure it’s as well regulated…”
If this is what the Bishop sincerely believes, he isn’t being pragmatic as much as he is rationalizing. He’s walking a fine line between doing everything possible to stop this evil, mitigate its effects and help those involved, to actually tossing in the towel and condoning it. There are many sins in the world. To say we can’t stop them so they should be permitted and regulated in some way is faithless.
Your quote from St. Thomas is a bit out of context, IMHO, and is really citing St. Augustine, who never ceases to amaze me with some of his beliefs.
I believe St. Thomas was talking about tolerating the beliefs of non-believers, pagans and heretics to the extent that you don’t make things worse by being heavy-handed and have the Church come off as fascist. St. Thomas also argues that God’s law is divine and we should do our best to imitate it. Laws should help us spiritually instead of hinder us.
I don’t know what the answer is either, but the Bishop you quoted is a bit goofy.
November 9th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Legalize prostitution so you can regulate the health of the prostitutes–how absurd. So does the Bishop think Prostitutes stay in the profession for years and get a retirement? Most prostitutes move–frequently. You don’t condone sin by leagalizing it for any reason.
Help prostitutes–and minister to their spiritual need–yes–and help them get out of the profession–not deeper in sin.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Having worked with prostitutes in two countries, I have this to say….
BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT!
Ok, I feel better now, and I apologize for my language, but it’s only right to call it what it is.
Prostitution does not “control rape”. It promotes it. From infancy on up to those women too old to bear such abuse.
It does not “provide a service.” It promotes degradation of the human person, both the woman being used as an object, and the man who turns himself into an object or an animal.
It is not for the Catholic Church to fudge on morals. Sure, evil happens…that doesn’t mean we open the door and lay out a red carpet so that those who choose to continue sinning can do so in comfort.
Instead, we are called to be witnesses for Christ, and institute programs and outreach to help people understand that the devil wants them dead in a dumpster, but God wants them in His eternal embrace.
November 9th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01 /30/wgerm30.xml
‘If you don’t take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits’
By Clare Chapman
Last Updated: 12:23am GMT 30/01/2005
A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing “sexual services” at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.
Prostitution was legalised in Germany just over two years ago and brothel owners – who must pay tax and employee health insurance – were granted access to official databases of jobseekers.
The waitress, an unemployed information technology professional, had said that she was willing to work in a bar at night and had worked in a cafe.
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She received a letter from the job centre telling her that an employer was interested in her “profile” and that she should ring them. Only on doing so did the woman, who has not been identified for legal reasons, realise that she was calling a brothel.
Under Germany’s welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job – including in the sex industry – or lose her unemployment benefit…
November 10th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Vincenzo - I remember that story! As if all the other reasons against legalized prostitution aren’t enough - this is a huge reason why it shouldn’t be done! I was going to try and work this story in, but I would have been writing a book to cover all the angles of the story.
I’ll bet the bishop takes back what he said in the next few days.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:37 am
I can only imagine what JP II would say to it all..
November 10th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Things just seem to be getting worse..particularly with regard to this Bishop..heaven help us..
November 14th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Brothels are legal in Nevada where I live.
There are 2 brothels in my town, or so I am told. I have no idea where they are but they seem to function without being a nuisance. Likewise gambling is legal here. hese entertainments have no impact on my life, nor should they have an impact on the lives of those who profess the Catholic Faith.
The fact is that we need to address ourselves as catholics in an increasingly secular world which requires us to separate ourselves from the profane.
We are called to be holy, that means separate and apart from the secular. The modern mistake is to believe that our religion is just an expression of personal belief , it is our way of life.