Religious images statues depicting pedophilia.
Cathedral at Cologne, Germany
Satan in the Groin has lots of information on pedophilia and sodomy in religious images. Apparently a longstanding and well-accepted practice:
A large proportion of monks came into monasteries via "child oblation" : the donation of unwanted or superfluous male children to a monastery before puberty as a pious interpretation of Jesus' request: "Let the little children come unto me !" "Let the little children come unto me !" codified by St Benedict himself.
Benedictine monasteries always included a younger generation, whether its youngest were aged five, as in the early centuries, or from twelve to fifteen, from the mid-10th century on. What Peter Damian fulminated against in his 11th century Book of Gomorrah was not only innocent sexual exploration between boys or youths of the same age, but what he considered to be the worst of all possible clerical sins, the corruption of 'spiritual sons' by ecclesiastical 'fathers'.
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carmencita ago
I had seen those statues before in the first ink but grouped together they are much more powerful. God God how awful all that stuff is. I saw a drawing at least 5 years ago of two saints that were married (2 men) in the 15th century. Can't find it now. The joke has been on us.
think- ago
What do you mean by 'they were married'? The Church certainly didn't approve of gay marriages in the 15th century.
carmencita ago
That's what we have been told. But I saw it. Wish I could remember their names. Darn. They did a lot of things then we were never told. Things were changed and now they want them changed back in favor of the gay priests etc. Next thing the gay priests will be adopting Children with their gay husbands. I know that sounds far out but nothing would amaze me anymore. Yes, there are also archived records of priests married to young girls. I know this to be true. Someone told me they were married to the priest that abused her. Wedding ring and all. They are and have been doing things for centuries I believe in secret.
think- ago
Maybe it's the 'spiritual marriage' that was mentioned in the link?
carmencita ago
That is a possibility.
One of the inherent problems with early Christian attitudes to sex was the concept of'brotherly love', the pairing of monks in 'spiritual marriage' as eulogised by the 12th Century, Abbot (later Saint) Ælred of Rievaulx in Yorkshire, whose spiritual and close relationship with a monk called Simon slightly pre-dated the famous heterosexual liaison of Abelard and Eloïse and harked back to the "marriage of true minds": the Sacred Union of two holy males in Brotherly Love ('philadelphia') practised by uninstitutionalised early Christian monks in the Middle East and, later, in Ireland. (See Boswell, John: THE MARRIAGE OF LIKENESS - SAME-SEX UNIONS IN PRE-MODERN EUROPE, HarperCollins 1996)
Also this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-Sex_Unions_in_Pre-Modern_Europe
Chapter four, "Views of the New Religion", looks at the influence of early Christianity on relationships. Noting that the faith encouraged asceticism and celibacy, he discusses the devalued role of marriage in Christian society, and the increased popularity of asexual marriage. He moves on to look at the evidence for same-sex "paired saints" in early Christianity, such as Nearchos and Polyeuct, Ruth and Naomi, and Serge and Bacchus, arguing that these couples were perhaps romantically involved.[6] The fifth chapter, "The Development of Nuptial Offices" opens by explaining that the early Christian Church was uninterested in marriage ceremonies, which were largely left secular; he notes that the Western Church only declared marriage a sacrament and developed canonical laws to regulate ceremonies at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. He then discusses Barberini 336, a circa 8th century Greek liturgical manuscript containing four ceremonies for sacramental union, one of which is between two men. Discussing this and similar recorded ceremonies, Boswell questions what they represent, if they reflect homosexuality, and ponders if these are "marriage" ceremonies, in doing so rejecting the idea that they represent ceremonies of adoption or "spiritual fraternity".[7] The sixth chapter, "Comparisons of Same-Sex and Heterosexual Ceremonies of Union" looks at these ceremonies, and their varying similarities and differences.[8]
The picture of Serge and Bacchus is similar to the one I saw but not the same. I believe they are examples of the "paired saints" which was a form of secret same sex unions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-Sex_Unions_in_Pre-Modern_Europe#/media/File:Same-Sex_Unions.jpg