Prostate Cancer & Priests

[Lil Red]

my brother says that if the Church allowed priests to marry there wouldn't be as many priests getting prostate cancer; because, he says, sexually active males are less likely to get prostate cancer. any information?

[phatcatholic]

well, first, i'd have him show you the exact study he is referring to. secondly, i don't think anyone will be able to prove a cause-and-effect relationship between sexual activity and preponderance of prostate cancer. furthermore, define "sexual activity". what does that mean? how "active" does one have to be? for how long? this statement by ur brother also presupposes that the man in question was not sexually active before he became a priest (some people convert from crazy lives).

basically, ur brother expects the Church to change her doctrine based on a theory that raises more questions than answers.

[Lil Red]

good response, phat, thanks! he didn't cite a specific study, i could ask him more about his theory though.

[journeyman]

Someone asked a similar question (although not in the Catholic context) here:
[url="http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=31107"]http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=31107[/url]

general info about prostate cancer:
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer[/url]
(research into causation seems inconclusive)

[Anastasia13]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='Aug 9 2005, 02:31 PM']my brother says that if the Church allowed priests to marry there wouldn't be as many priests getting prostate cancer; because, he says, sexually active males are less likely to get prostate cancer. any information? 
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As I recall, breast cancer used to be called the nun's disease because it was more common in women who did not have children.