Posted on 04/23/2002 8:38:22 AM PDT by ELS
Mr. Joe Zwilling
Archdiocese of New York
1011 First Avenue
New York NY 10022-4134
212-371-1000 is the general phone number for the Archdiocese.
I am curious though. Are the freaking homos going to enter St. Pat's and begin to toss condoms around again? Are they going to be spilling their sexual excrement all over the place like they would when the late Cardinal O'Connor would say anything remotely traditional? Yep, folks, this is a homosexual problem. I hope and pray that these perverts will be uncovered and brought to justice. I say we give the cardinals one more chance to truly redeem themselves in this matter. Will they kick them all out and call the cops? Let us pray.
WAY TO GO, SANDYEGGO!
I just called the Archdiocese, asked for Joe Zwilling, and left a message in support of Msgr Clark on his voice mail. Simple.
Letters will follow w/cc's to Vatican/Holy Father/Ratzinger.
Phone number is: 212 371 1000
April 23, 2002 Monsignor Explains Remarks on Gay Priests
By RICHARD LEZIN JONES
One of Cardinal Edward M. Egan's closest lieutenants denied yesterday that he had attempted to blame the sex scandal roiling the Roman Catholic Church on gay priests, saying that remarks he made on Sunday during a homily at St. Patrick's Cathedral were "misconstrued and misinterpreted."
The rector of St. Patrick's, Msgr. Eugene V. Clark, also said in a statement released yesterday that the views he expressed at Mass were his own, not those of Cardinal Egan or the archdiocese. And he disputed the interpretation that his comments made any link between homosexuality and sexual abuse cases.
According to a written copy of his 15-minute homily that his office gave to The Associated Press yesterday, Monsignor Clark said: "In some seminaries in the United States, known homosexual young men have been accepted as candidates against every rule of church wisdom and church requirements. One need say no more of this as a breeding ground for later homosexual practice after ordination, and the manifest danger of man-boy relationships."
Speaking from the pulpit of the cathedral, where he was filling in for Cardinal Egan, Monsignor Clark called homosexuality a "disorder" and said that it was a "grave mistake" to allow gay men to be ordained, according to The Daily News.
The monsignor's comments drew sharp criticism from gay Catholics and those in the scientific community who have studied sexual offenders and maintain that there is no link between homosexuality and sexual abuse of children.
The controversy over the homily came at the beginning of a week in which the church appears to reaching for conciliation and healing over the issue of sexual abuse by priests. Cardinal Egan and other cardinals from the United States are in Rome meeting with Pope John Paul II about the issue. And bishops across the country have pledged to draft new policies. Bishop William Murphy, of the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, has said he will hold a news conference tomorrow to address his "pastoral concerns regarding the sexual abuse of minors."
But perhaps more than anything else, the monsignor's comments seemed to highlight the increased scrutiny that church leaders were giving to the contentious issue of homosexuality in the church and what many church leaders believe may be a link between gay clerics and sexual abuse cases.
In a three-paragraph statement released by the Archdiocese of New York, Monsignor Clark said he did not mean to imply there was a connection. "In my homily, I did not associate homosexuals with the illness of pedophilia, although some priests had fallen, sadly, into man-boy sexual relationships," he said. "Nothing in the homily implied that homosexuals were, categorically or individually, guilty of any crime."
The monsignor said his comments were "misconstrued and misinterpreted" and noted the causes of sexual abuse by priests are "complex."
"To suggest that I said that there is one cause and one solution to the problem is to grossly oversimplify the situation," the monsignor said.
Monsignor Clark added that his homily did not reflect the views of Cardinal Egan and said that he did not consult with the cardinal as he prepared the homily, or yesterday's statement in which he sought to clarify it.
Joseph Zwilling, the archdiocese's chief spokesman, declined to comment, saying the monsignor's statement spoke for itself.
The statement soothed some gay Catholics who said that they had been alarmed by the homily. "My initial reaction was just to be appalled and astonished," said Marianne T. Duddy, executive director of Dignity/USA, which calls itself the nation's largest organization of gay Catholics. "I thought it was an incredibly irresponsible thing to say."
Ms. Duddy said the monsignor's comments were "doctrinally wrong and pastorally harmful." She added, "Unfortunately, it has been consistent to some extent with what's been coming out of the Vatican."
Monsignor Clark's comments on Sunday may reflect the church's own uncertainty in addressing the abuse issue, Ms. Duddy said.
"The church doesn't know how to handle the anger and frustration of not only the sexual abuse, but in church officials' roles in covering it up," she said. "It's almost as if by raising the bogyman of gay priests, the attention will be deflected to gay priests."
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said that he, too, was troubled by the monsignor's message. "As long as bishops and clergy point the finger of blame, we'll never make any progress on this issue," Mr. Clohessy said. "And if there has to be finger-pointing, church leaders may need to look in the mirror."
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