A Clockwork Catholic: Catholic Church Castrated Sexually-Abused Boys for ‘Homosexual Behaviour’

Kettle meet Pot, Pot meet Catholic Church. As they say in some book somewhere, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast the Ginsus that lop-off the peter of the boy you just molested.” Can’t remember where I read that but it sounds familiar.

Nevertheless, that seems to be the motto the Catholic Church was following back in the 1950s. According to Dutch News who translated an NRC (NRC Handelsblad) report into English for us:

At least one boy under the age of 16 was castrated to ‘help’ his homosexual feelings while in Catholic church care in the 1950s, the NRC reported on Saturday. …

The paper says the one confirmed case concerned a boy – Henk Heithuis – who reported being sexually abused by priests to the police in 1956. After giving evidence, he was placed in a Catholic-run psychiatric institution where he was then castrated because of his ‘homosexual behaviour’.

I see a Stanley Kubrick classic in the making. A charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society’s crime problem … but not all goes to plan A courageous normal kid Henk Heithuis is committed to a Catholic Church-run psychiatric institution and  involuntarily has his manhood chopped off to solve the Church’s crime problem  … and all goes to plan.

 

Related articles

• Catholic Church Castrated Boys for Homosexuality: Committee (towleroad.com)
• Dutch Report: Boy Castrated in 1950s After Accusing Priests of Abuse . . . In Order To Cure His Homosexual Tendencies (jonathanturley.org)