VATICAN CITY (GlossyNews) — It appears that Pope Benedict XVI has had an epiphany about the sex scandal continuing to plague the Catholic Church: lack of fish in a priest’s diet can lead to inappropriate sexual behavior toward young men.
The Pope has asked the Vatican physicians to look into this possibility, explaining that because priests are no longer officially required to abstain from consuming meat on Fridays, the levels of mercury in their systems from lack of fish has dropped significantly. It’s a well-known fact that mercury levels contribute to high blood pressure. In most cases, the condition can only be treated with blood pressure medications that tend to suppress the male sex drive.
In addition, the over-consumption of meat leads to a greater presence of protein, which is essential to a healthy sexual drive in the male body. The end result is that priests’ libidos are in full-swing again, contributing to their unsavory appetite for sex.
In a review of the cases involving sexual improprieties, the Pope noted that only during the Lenten season was there a significant drop in complaints of a sexual nature against the Church, which confirms his suspicions. Fish is consumed in large amounts during much of February and into March and early April; but after that, the amount of fish consumed falls off dramatically. That’s when complaints of sexual abuse begin to rise.
The Pope has written a Pastoral Letter to all priests and bishops in Ireland and Germany requiring them to consume fish at least three times or more per week. “Abstinence now is not the answer. We must eat as much fish as we can to keep the blood pressure elevated so as to suppress our un-Godly desires,” the pontiff said.
Dubbed the “Loaves and Fishes Path to Salvation,” the Pope hopes that this simplistic approach to the Church’s most embarrassing scandal will be as effective as the time Jesus fed multitudes of followers with just a few fish and a couple loaves of bread.
When asked if this plan of action is a bit extraordinary considering the adverse medical implications it can have on Catholic priests, the Pope seemed nonplussed. On the one hand, if something isn’t done quickly, the Catholic Church may face bankruptcy. On the other hand, the Church sees this as an appropriate physical act of contrition.
Rumors that the Pope has a back-up plan to spike all priests’ food with chemicals that inhibit their libidos are unsubstantiated; however, an undisclosed source indicated that Vatican physicians have been “asking around” about chemical castration as a possible solution to the growing problem.