What Happens When A Priest Has Sex

The tradition in the western or latin-rite church has been for priests as well as bishops to take vows of celibacy, a rule that has been firmly in place since the early middle ages. There is universal agreement that those who have sex with minors should be prosecuted as criminals and expelled from the priesthood. But what about violations with adults?

The church teaches that such actions â€¦ Sexual scandals among priests, especially homosexuality and pedophilia, the defenders say, are a breach of the church's discipline, not a result of it, especially since only a small percentage of priests â€¦