Catholic clergyman blames scandal on homosexuality; calls U.S. 'immoral' nation

Boston.com/AP ^ | 4/22/02 | Elizabeth Lesure

[LarryLied]

As Cardinal Edward Egan headed to the Vatican for a summit on sexual abuse, his stand-in at St. Patrick's Cathedral gave a homily blaming the scandal on homosexuality and an ''immoral country.''

Monsignor Eugene Clark, an outspoken clergyman of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, called homosexuality a ''disorder'' and said gay men should not be allowed to become priests, the Daily News reported in Monday's editions.

[Enterprise]

Someone told the homosexuals that the church needed a lot of rectors and they didn't know a rector was a cleric. Hey, anyone could make the same mistake.

[sinkspur]

Blaming the United States moral climate for bishops covering up pederasty?

Kind of a stretch, it seems to me.

These churchmen ought to stop looking for scapegoats. Just admit fault, ask for forgiveness, and assure the faithful through action that these things will not happen again.

[Huck]

Clark also said the United States is ''probably the most immoral country certainly in the Western Hemisphere''

This sounds purely subjective. By what metrics does Mr. Clark measure national immorality? Can we see his data? What is the average level of immorality? How many countries did he study? For how long? I am not saying he is correct or incorrect in his assessment, but in my line of work, I am trained to eschew anecdotal evaluations and to seek out reliable objective metrics. Six sigma. Maybe it's time the Catholic Church launch a Quality Management initiative.

[joesnuffy]

Clark also said the United States is ''probably the most immoral country certainly in the
Western Hemisphere'' and blamed American society for being ''very protective'' of
homosexuality.

The "god" of this world is satan... Jesus stated that "His" Kingdom is not of this world..
To blame the corruption of the church (which is supposed to be "set apart" from "world")
on American society..when it was the church's mission to influence American society
toward Christ and reject the worlds evil. Who failed who? Perhaps Luther and Calvin vindicated?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Its the Age of Clinton.

[Ann Archy]

Way to Go Monsignor Clark!! It's about damn welltime that homosexuality was called a disorder and ACTING on it was a sin!!!

This has been a immoral country and the proof is in the election of the Clinton's and the Kennedy's...

[1Old Pro]

Here's another article on the same topic:

Monsignor Blames Gay Men for Scandal

St. Pat Msgr. Hits Gays On Scandal - Blames woes on 'disorder,' U.S. immorality

[the]

But how could that be? Just this morning John Kerry assured us during his appearance on Imus that this "was not a homosexual problem, and that you don't have to be homosexual to be pedophile, and that while Gay Rapes do occur, it is VERY RARE."

</sarcasm>

On another interesting note it would seem that the mainstream media reports only that "priests" molest "children", never "boys."

I did a search on "John Geoghan" and the only article that mentioned that Geoghan molested boys was on NRO.com...

Deviancy is deviancy.

[patriot_wes]

Monsignor Eugene Clark, an outspoken clergyman of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, called homosexuality a ''disorder'' and said gay men should not be allowed to become priests, the Daily News reported in Monday's editions.

about time the people heard a little truth from the clergy!....the "church" has been a santuary for sodomites and pedophiles
for hundreds of years. It's no wonder the Messiah turns His face from them.

[Ann Archy]

How about all of the abortions that have taken place....35 MILLION PLUS....plus as a bonus we have the Clintons and the Kennedys...rampant homosexuality and acceptance and PUSHING it in schools.....rampant drug use...etc.

[the]

But how could that be? Just this morning John Kerry assured us during his appearance on Imus that this "was not a homosexual problem, and that you don't have to be homosexual to be a pedophile, and that while Gay Rapes do occur, it is VERY RARE."

</sarcasm>

On another interesting note it would seem that the mainstream media reports only that "priests" molest "children", never "boys."

I did a search on "John Geoghan" and the only article that mentioned that Geoghan molested boys was on NRO.com...

Deviancy is deviancy.

[the]

(Sorry for the double.)

(Sorry for the double.)

[Ann Archy]

It's Monsignor Clark not Mr. Clark.

[Huck]

How about all of the abortions that have taken place....35 MILLION PLUS

That's a good one to use. I wonder if it would need to be adjusted for per capita income, or pregnancies (opportunites to abort) or what have you, but however it ended up, it would be a clear, measureable statistic.

...plus as a bonus we have the Clintons and the Kennedys...

I don't know how this is a measure of anything. We are responsible for the Kennedy's?

rampant homosexuality and acceptance and PUSHING it in schools

"rampant" is subjective. I'd like to see a number, and a basis for the number. What is the acceptable level of homosexuality in a nation, per capita, or however it would be measured.

.....rampant drug use...etc.

Again, "rampant" is not useful. Neither is "etc." ;-) But you give some good ideas. His argument would be much more forceful if he backed it up with facts. Numbers. Then maybe he could compare that with the Church's own performance.

[dalebert]

Maybe he is pro-terrorist also and thinks we deserve 9-11. I think we should prosecute them just to let them know we do have moral standards. I think pedifielia by priests has been excepted in other nations throughout the world for centuries so the church has seen no need to deal with it.

[Ann Archy]

Being a homosexual is NOT a sin....ACTING it out IS a sin.

[RLK]

Give this man a bottle of the best and make him a cardinal.

[sinkspur]

Why do you troll from thread to thread, itching to fight over religion?

Homosexual ORIENTATION is not sinful, just as heterosexual ORIENTATION is not sinful. ACTIONS are what constitute sin.