Revealed: US Bishops Asked Pope to Delay Homosexuality and the Priesthood Document

LifeSiteNews.com ^ | 20 January 2006 | John-Henry Westen

[steve8714]

more concerned with hobnobbing with the Kennedys than saving souls-

[sageb1]

I could be wrong, but I got the impression that Pope Benedict ordering Levada to Rome was more for "re-instruction" purposes, so to speak, and not to be considered any kind of promotion.

[Juana la Loca]

If only more of your bishops were like Pell, and more of ours were like Chaput....

[marshmallow]

Cardinal Gagnon told them that the pope sympathized but would not meet with them as such meetngs were pointless since the American Church was effectively in schism and refused to obey Rome.

Reminds me of a tale I heard, not too long ago.

My former pastor here in Augusta, GA, who is now the vice-rector of Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Maryland and a wonderful, orthodox priest, used to tell the story of his first trip to Rome in the early '90s, just after he had been ordained.

As a newly ordained priest he, along with his newly ordained companion, was granted an audience with the Pope, together with a number of other priests and visitors to Rome. When the Holy Father finally approached him and his companion he said that he managed to nervously blurt out "Good morning, Your Holiness". He said that the Pope did not reply immediately but stared at them both intently for what seemed like an eternity before he finally intoned in that Polish baritone...."AHHHHHH-MEEEER-EEEE-KAAAAAANS!!" and without another word, turned and walked away.

My pastor said that in that one word he seemed to express a whole universe of feeling towards the American Church. And that was before the scandals broke.

[Antoninus]

He said the bishops were concerned that the document would be released during the official visits of US bishops with the Pope over the issue of sexual abuse in seminaries, and thus would ignite the sensitivities of homosexuals activists. Explained George: "We said, 'If you do this, it will be taken as a commentary on the visitations and we'll get into this whole business that the gay community is so sensitive to of, 'You're blaming us for the pedophilia.'"

Gee, when 80-90% of the sex abuse cases involved young men between the ages of 12 and 18, who the heck is supposed to get the blame? Maybe that's the message the Vatican was trying to send, Cardinal George.

The AmChurch bishops shouldn't be giving advice to anyone on how to run the Church. They've fouled their own nests and many of them should be wearing sack-cloth and ashes for the way they've acted--accusing the innocent and defending the wicked.

[Antoninus]

Cardinal Gagnon told them that the pope sympathized but would not meet with them as such meetngs were pointless since the American Church was effectively in schism and refused to obey Rome.

There you have it. That's why lots of us refer to many of the American bishops as "AmChurch." They are not Catholics in any meaningful sense.

[Antoninus]

Any prizes for guessing where Bernardin might be now?

I reckon his skull is an E.P. Henry paver on the road to h#ll.

[Antoninus]

But who knows, maybe God directed those prayers towards Bernardin's soul and the cardinal had a deathbed conversion, known only to God.

Anything's possible. For the sake of his immortal soul, let's hope.

[ShihanRob]

Levada's always come through as rather conservative around here, especially with homosexuality, homosexual marriage, abortion, euthenasia, pedophilia and porography.

He's got something going for him. Bernie Ward (Leftist Radio Talk show host on KGO and a former RC Priest) sure didn't like Levada. If Bernie didn't like him, that says something good about Archbishop Levada. ;-)

Rob

[starfish923]

I could be wrong, but I got the impression that Pope Benedict ordering Levada to Rome was more for "re-instruction" purposes, so to speak, and not to be considered any kind of promotion.

After the years listening to and watching Levada, I believe that it really is a promotion. Again, I only heard and saw the Archbishop in action for many years, so I still might be wrong. He had much nastiness to take care of.

Sidenote:
There is a homosexual group called the "Sisters of Perpetual Ingulgence." They HATE the Church, even thought the Church does 95% of all the outreach work for HIV/AIDS victims, most of which are homosexual men.
These "Sisters," for example, hold a yearly mock Mass on Easter Sunday. It's a disgusting mockery of the Mass, replete with costumes, music, liquor and drugs.
The City closes off part of the Castro district and Market Street (THE main street in the city) for their "party" on Easter mid-morning, supplies and pays for police security/protection and cleanup of said party.
Levada always commented appropriately on the whole sinful, disgusting, unfair desecration of Christ's Mass and resurrection, but HIS comments never made the news. He tried to get the date changed, just by one day, but got screamed down as "anti-free speech," "Hitler-redux," Arch-Nazi-bishop and such.
The story of his coup against one screamingly homosexual and virulently anti-Catholic Supervisor (Tom Ammiano) made me chuckle for weeks. Ammiano's pals villified Levada for weeks. THAT made the news too but Levada was always the "bad guy."

I also don't believe that Benedict would single out ONE bishop to "reconstruct" when there are so many other and more bishops and cardinals (especially here in the U.S.) who really DO need "reconstructing."

I think I'm right on this one. Time will tell.
Levada WAS given a post and title in the Vatican -- I think he's in the same area that Cardinal Ratzinger was in for so long.

[BlackElk]

No kidding! In his Last Will and Testament no less, which would have to have been signed personally and under oath before witnesses who would also witness under oath.

If you want to get a fuller picture, obtain a copy of the thinly veiled (and quite compelling novel of JP II in the winter of his papacy under attack from all sides) novel: Windswept House by the late Fr. Malachi Martin which starts out with a chapter that will keep you awake for about a week that involves simultaneous black (satanic) Masses in South Carolina and in Europe facilitated in South Carolina (for his bishop) by a young but utterly corrupt priest apparently patterned after Bernardin, who in real life was originally incardinated as a priest for the diocese of Charleston, South Carolina.

Also, the despicable Fr. Andrew Greeley, full time porno novelist, part time pollster, and occasionally a practitioner of the priesthood, wrote an early novel about a Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, originally from South Carolina (there is a pattern here since South Carolina has the lowest percentage of Catholics of any state) whose sexual peccadilloes in South Carolina gave a priest (rather like Fr. Greeley) the leverage to refuse the cardinal's order that he return from his other professions to be a parish priest. The priest lets the cardinal know in no uncertain terms that every detail of the cardinal's youthful sexual indiscretions will be public fodder to destroy the cardinal if he further tries to disrupt the priest's chosen outside professions. Now, I can't say that either novel is an absolutely accurate rendition as to Cardinal Bernardin but the similarities are striking.

[AD from SpringBay]

The document entitled, "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Pedophilial Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Office of Public School Teacher, Bus Driver, Coach, or Administrator", reinforced the NEA's teaching barring union members "who practise pedophilia, present deep-seated student-sex tendencies or support the so-called 'liberal sexualization of children'", from becoming associated with the NEA.

Of course, when public school teachers do it, it's an isolated incident.

[starfish923]

1. This is good to hear. I must say it goes against what I've been hearing, but you live there, so it's a report from the trenches, so to speak. I can't imagine what it must be like to keep the Faith in San Francisco.
2. I do believe and trust that Pope Benedict knows what he's doing.

1. Thanks.
2. So do I. I was THRILLED when the PanzerPope got the job. It was almost too much to hope for; I FORCED myself not to get my hopes up.....and then, God be praised, the cardinal turned in his red hat for a white one.

San Francisco IS getting more conservative.
One example, on the last ballot, last November, there was a "declaration" about war support. "It shall be San Francisco policy that the U.S. end the war now...." or some such thing. I think it was that, something similar. I can't even remember....that's how teeny I cared about what the Bored of Stuporvisors wanted as "city policy."
Anyway, the voters DID pass it but it was a 60% - 40% vote. Twenty years ago the vote would have passed 90% - 10%. I am not in a 10% minority anymore....but a 30% minority.
In my mind, the margin was a CONSIDERABLE improvement.

You know, the Church THRIVES on challenge. I feel MUCH stronger in my faith after living FIVE years in Saudi Arabia and returning to a virulently anti-Catholic city.
By the way, my Saudi boss was instrumental in my becoming closer to MY religion.
Very weird, but then, God does indeed work in mysterious ways. :o)

[Cicero]

Cardinal George IS one of the good guys.

I suspect either that his remarks were taken out of context, or he was giving an honest estimate of what the US bishops' response would be, or he was giving prudential advice on the best way to handle the problem.

Which is not to say that Pope Benedict wasn't right to go ahead, and the hell with the traitors in the US Bishop's Conference and too many of our American seminaries.

[starfish923]

He's got something going for him. Bernie Ward (Leftist Radio Talk show host on KGO and a former RC Priest) sure didn't like Levada. If Bernie didn't like him, that says something good about Archbishop Levada. ;-)
Rob

Ain't dat da truth?!
I can't think anyone more .... cynical, mad-at-the-Church and ready to aggress than a FORMER priest (or nun). He is also probably DEAD SURE that he is right.

[JoeFromSidney]

"He's had a horrid mess to clean up in Chicago after Bernardin..."

Could you explain this to me a little?

I can't speak for Chicago, but many of us in Cincinnati archdiocese were glad to see him go. He left aa mess here, and his successor hasn't done much to clean it up.

My son is a Brother in the order of St. John Cantius, in Chicago. He speaks highly of Cardinal George. The choir he directs frequently sings for the Cardinal's Masses.

[ZULU]

I wish this great, good and holy Pope wholehearted success in rooting out homosexuals from the Catholic Church.

Living a life of chastity as a sacrifice to God was never intended to create a playground for sodomites.

Apparently the good Bishops of the U.S., who worked hand in glove with paedophilic priests in the past, are unwilling to secure the reputations of the majority of clergymen under them who were damaged by these scandals by participating in a vigorous campaign against these perverts. These Bishops should be defrocked and replaced with more orthodox clergymen loyal to the Holy Father and his wishes.

Democracy and a Republic are nice, but God never called for a vote on the Ten Commandments.