Posted on 03/16/2002 7:48:41 AM PST by marshmallow
He'd just completed a funeral Mass at the bustling parish over which he presides, and now, moments later, removing his collar, that pastoral demeanor quickly vanished, giving way to a bristling anger he made no effort to conceal.
The priesthood hadn't been his first vocational choice, but it continued tugging at his heart in the corporate world until he finally yielded, entering seminary a few years older than most of his colleagues.
To look at him today, well-established in his calling, riding a wave of personal popularity, few would guess how close he came to missing it all, to almost throwing in the towel prior to his ordination.
``Thanks for returning my call,'' he said. ``I have a take on what's happening now, something no one else seems anxious to get into, including the people in your business whom I'm angry at, too.
``The papers keep talking about pedophilia. That's the wrong word. The real issue here is homosexuality. It's usually heterosexuals who are pedophiles, which is a psychological disorder that has something to do with arrested development, sending them back to an age where they last felt comfortable, identifying with someone who reminds them of themselves.''
``Where are you getting this from?'' he was asked.
``From friends who are psychologists. John Geoghan? Sure, he was a pedophile. But of all the guys whose names we're reading now, no more than a couple were pedophiles, a percentage probably consistent with the general population.
``The majority of these victims were not prepubescent; they were young teens, so it had nothing to do with pedophilia. It's technically called ephebophilia, which is almost exclusively homosexual, and it isn't about comfort; it's about sex.
``The media don't like talking about this because, by and large, they have come down on the side of gay rights, the advancement of the gay agenda, so there would be an uncomfortability because, again and again, gays are saying, `We're no threat to children; that's why we should be Boy Scout leaders, why we should be teachers, why we should be able to adopt.' That's always their justification for interactions with young people.''
``Father,'' he was assured, ``you'll be branded a hater.''
``I know, so please make sure I'm well-disguised, though if I said all of this in a homily I think people in this parish would be pretty cool with it.
``But Lake Street wouldn't be too happy. The problem is, there's a subculture of gay priests and everyone knows it. I went through seminary with a lot of them and got hit on. And when I reported it, I was harassed to a point where, emotionally, it was very difficult to get ordained. I'm not the only one who had to fight to get through it; I know guys who left because of it.
``It was clear there was a cabal tacitly saying, `Don't bother reporting this stuff.' You wouldn't believe the self-justifications, like, `Well, celibacy only applies to not getting married, so since we're not getting married we can do whatever we want.' It was horrible, with a lot of intimidation, but I stayed because I felt this was what God was calling me to do; besides, if I'd walked, they'd have won.''
``Why are you telling me all this?'' he was asked.
``Because somebody has to talk about the elephant in the middle of our room. But mostly because I'm angry, not just for myself, but for friends of mine who are feeling besmirched, too. Believe me, there are wonderful priests throughout this archdiocese, celibate, faithful, loving the Church and loving God's people.
``The Church is embarrassed by this, and also concerned that if too many are weeded out there'll be a crisis in our work force because we're due to lose 70 to 80 guys through retirement in the next few years.
``My personal feeling is, I don't care; we should stand up and be counted, reaffirming the authentic faith. If this element isn't rooted out, we're going to see reoccurrences. Vocations will come back; God will take care of that.''
Fearing recrimination, he was asked why he doesn't rally those colleagues he claims to represent, perhaps issuing a joint statement, since there's strength in numbers?
``That may happen,'' he replied. ``I'm touching base with many of them because we know what needs to be said. But right now I just don't know what to do.''
Before Paul was Paul (when he was Saul) he was a member of the Sanhedrin. From what I've studed, I believe it was mandatory for all Sanhedrin members to be married. So at one time Paul was married but we never read anything about his wife.
Regards.
And, thanks for the heads up on Anglican Province of Christ the King, we’ve actually attended the sevices at Parish of Christ the King in Georgetown, it’s the only one in the area. We liked the Rector there but were turned off when the assistant Rector and his wife, out of the blue, started making derogatory comments about lawyers in front of my wife. Did you know one out of ten occupations in the DC area are attorneys, needless to say my wife is one and that was our first and last visit there. I know of Mission in America and Anglican Communion both of which don’t have any parishes in the area, I'm going to assume in liberal politically correct Bethesda MD there isn’t anything remotely conservative. Regardless, thanks for your help and regards.
And just how is ending the vow of celibacy going to accomplish all that? I'm not trying to destroy anything. I'm just stating the obvious. People like you, who cling to the past, will ensure the church has no future. As for me, I could care less. I left the church as a youth and I've never looked back.
You gave no proof; you asked me to go look at police blotters. Some proof.
As for your "street wise knowledge," I give that as much credence as the rest of your nonsense.
Is the FACT that there are married priests TODAY in the Eastern and Western Rite Catholic Church an "incidental"? Never mind scripture. How do you answer the FACT that there are over 100 married priests in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church TODAY?
And please don't come back at me with some smarmy stuff about it being a discipline,
Well, you don't like to hear it, but celibacy IS a discipline. It can be changed, and HAS been changed.
Oh, and another thing you don't have to bother to explain to me is this magisterium of the people that you Anchurchers put so much stock in.
What's an "Anchurcher"? Nobody said a word about the "magisterium of the people."
You're very confused and ill-informed.
Very well said. Part of the problem (perhaps the principal part) was addressed in a talk given by a certain saint of the 20th Century which I once saw on videotape. This priest said something like, "Children, pray for the Church. In past centuries, the heretics would leave the Church. But now, they're not leaving!"
Maybe people in past centuries had a little more intellectual honesty. Or maybe people today are just more brazen in their attempts to re-create God and His Church in their own image.
Yes indeed. But a news story that appeared in the Pittsburgh Gazette(?) about nine months ago calls that type of arrangement into question. One of these married priests was profiled, and it was implicit that he was on the edge of burn-out. It was explicit that his family was unhappy with the situation -- his responsibilities made it impossible for him to be home more than minimal amounts of time. His wife and children were suffering as a result.
Pius XII rightly condemned what he termed a "false archaeologism" that during his reign was showing the first signs of life. This movement essentially made the assumption a priori that the practices of the early Church were superior to those of later centuries. The movement of course excluded any notion of a return to the early Church's severe penitential practices from its agenda, since those practices do not comport with the arm-chair radical, bourgeois mentality that has so distinctly marked this movement from the beginning.
We must remember that Church practices were not instituted on capricious whim. They were instituted after the Church learned -- from the experience of centuries -- that a new or different practice would be better than the particular practice of the early Christians. Celibacy, aside from being a higher state in life in a metaphysical sense, helps the priest to better model the great High Priest, whose instrument He is.
As with Christ, the priest's spouse is the Church. A married priest's heart is divided between his wife and family and his flock. All parties suffer as a result.
Raise your hand if you believe that emotionally mature people think that way.
Raise your hand if you believe that any emotionally immature mentality could be classified as a "stable" mentality.
Raise your hand if you believe that an emotionally immature person could at the same time be a spiritually mature person (doctrinal issues aside).
Raise your hand if you believe that emotionally immature, spiritually immature, unstable individuals should be in positions of authority in a church as spiritual guides to others (other issues aside).
Roger. Sorry for the TMI moment.
Have a good day.
They are re-elected because this is a representative democracy (Republic), and therefore it follows that they are "representing their constituancy" on whose votes they can rely.
The base mentalities of the USA, are the base of the DemocRAT party. They vote for others just like themselves.
I believe the shortage of nuns has more to do with the greater availability of careers for women these days. In the 'old' days, in order to get a good education and become a 'professional', many women went into the convent. They became teachers, nurses, doctors, etc. Then as these positions became available for women across the board, many women saw less need to join the convent. Another reason why there are fewer nuns is for the same reason there are fewer priests. Many religious orders for women became caught up with feminism and got more politically active than religious. Many of these communities began to be hotbeds of dissent and young women who felt they had the call to serve God looked at these 'communities' and decided they weren't what they wanted. I also suspect there was some of the lesbianism tied up with the feminism, and the straight girls just didn't want to bother.
It works the same in the seminaries as it does in the convents. Those Dioceses and communities for men and women religious which are FAITHFUL to the Church's teachings are overflowing with people who have heard a calling from God. It is those which have turned away or worse, are actively FIGHTING God's teachings that are LOSING vocations everyday! So in that respect, I'd be glad for the Church to get rid of the priests AND nuns who are teaching against what the Church teaches because I also believe God will raise up faithful priests and nuns in the numbers we need if we are willing to be faithful to HIM!
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