Posted on 03/07/2014 6:13:24 AM PST by marshmallow
Parishioners at the progressive Newman Hall in Berkeley are outraged at the decision by Oakland's new conservative bishop to dismiss two beloved priests — one of whom is openly gay.
During Sunday Mass several weeks ago at Newman Hall Holy Spirit Parish in Berkeley, Father Bernard Campbell spoke of anger, bitterness, and sadness. At the end of the service, the pastor read a short excerpt from a poem: "A friend once gave me a gift, a box of darkness, and it took me a long time to discover that even this was a gift."
The quote was his way of helping parishioners process the surprising news he had just delivered: Michael Barber, the new bishop of the Oakland Diocese, had decided to remove him and another pastor, Father Bill Edens, from Newman Hall. The "darkness" appeared to be a reference to the fact that, as Campbell told the crowd, the bishop had not met with the pastors or given them any information on the reason for his decision. It was, however, the bishop's direct order, he said. And yet more troubling was the fact that, according to the pastor, Barber had made it clear that the removal of these two priests supported his broader goal "to see a major redirection of ministry at Newman." The bishop had apparently expressed this intention last fall to the leadership of the Paulist Fathers, the Roman Catholic order that has run Newman Hall for more than a century.
The details of this "new vision," as Campbell also described it in his remarks, are not yet clear. In the weeks since the February 16 speech — a copy of which was posted on the church's website — parishioners at Newman Hall have continued to send letters to the bishop demanding an explanation. A day after the news............
(Excerpt) Read more at eastbayexpress.com ...
Since a number of gays have managed to get into the priesthood, why not allow married heterosexual men serve as priests? There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the Bible which requires celibacy as a prerequisite for service in the priesthood. Mandatory clerical celibacy was institutionalized in the Church in the Middle Ages, primarily to prevent the transfer of Church property. The policy has created more problems than it has solved.
Now THERE'S an oxymoron.
outraged ....
but of course
Berkeley
Ah Hah!
the 'pastor' (i.e. the "gay priest") read a short excerpt from a poem ....
A poem. I mean where else would you turn for holy words of spiritual guidance .....
Whatever was this Bishop thinking to oust such a paragon of Catholicism?!
Well said.
The younger priest recently camouflaged an announcement (not his first) of his orientation as part of a sermon. Immediately and afterwards, I was struck by his apparent need to periodically remind the congregation of this. I didn’t need to know his orientation and considered it declasse for him to throw it up to us. I don’t know his motives, but it strikes me that gays somehow can’t get over themselves. That said, any description of one’s sexual orientation is unwanted and inappropriate in this kind of setting, just as it would be for a Scout leader to dwell on his proclivities, straight or otherwise.
It could very well be that the Bishop was responding to these public proclamations of sexual orientation buried in sermons.
That being the case, when is the RCC going to sue to get back all that money paid out to thousands of non-victims?
There is no such thing as a celibate homosexual priest. If a priest is celibate, he wouldn't be a homosexual.
Thank you for the background and insight. Lest my post wasn’t clear, I was using heavy sarcasm. Bully for Bishop Michael Barber!
Married heterosexual Catholic men are ordained in Holy Orders mostly as deacons. Even just in the USA, the Catholic Church has more married men clergy in Holy Orders as deacons (15,000) that as priests in religious orders (e.g. Jesuits, Franciscans, etc: 14,000)
If these So Called Catholics don’t agree with the churches teachings on subjects such as Gays and Abortion, why don’t they just leave the church instead of causing turmoil?
Nobody is holding a gun to their heads to stay Catholic and if they think being gay or having a abortion is right, they are not Catholic anyways.
Your sarcasm wasn’t lost on me; indeed, I enjoyed it.
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