"Children have never been considered autonomous and/or equal before the law ... , and with good reason"

Yes. And beating them for their own good had never been considered wrong by the law then. Gays had never been considered equal before the law. Women had never before treated autonomous or equal before the law. And we were told "with good reason". It is very nice that for you the difference is obvious and has always been obvious. I had to think about it before arriving at a conclusion.

"One can understand, perhaps, the confusion of certain catholic priests in this context?"

I've never heard that they were confused. They weren't concerned with sexual liberation, either. They had (and I dare say have) a domination issue, which is not unusual in hierarchical environments.