Douthat plays defense:
There’s a valid debate to have about whether the drawbacks of clerical celibacy for Catholicism outweigh its benefits. In the developed world, the celibacy requirement has clearly reduced the supply of men willing to contemplate entering the priesthood. In the developing world, it’s honored more in the breach than in the observance, creating widespread scandal. But there is no evidence that I’ve seen anywhere indicating that men who take vows of celibacy are more likely to abuse children. And a fair-minded media would make that point more often.