Cardinal's words on gay priests surprise scholars

The Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Fri, May. 03, 2002 | JIM REMSEN

[Clint N. Suhks]

Very well. As an experiment, could you possibly choose to have exclusive same-sex attraction for a day? I don't ask that you actually act on it, just that you choose to have it for a 24-hour period. After that you could choose to go back to not having them. If you can do this and report was it is like, I might believe your assertion.

Hehehe…try prison.

[Aquinasfan]

The Vatican has taken a similar stance. In 1961, Pope John XXIII issued a decree concerning people entering convents, monasteries and other religious orders. The directive, which remains valid, instructs that "those affected by the perverse inclination to homosexuality or pederasty [man-boy love] should be excluded from religious vows and ordination."

That must really kill the liberals.

[arthurus]

an area where doctrine is unsettled

This means that it is an area where the Church has not been yet induced to accept the proposals of these theologians for new doctrine that is more in keeping with new age modernism then is that musty 2000 year old stuff that Rome seems to be stuck in.

[arthurus]

than

[ColdSteelTalon]

You know one thing That does not make sense about this Gay Scandal, is that why is this centered on just American Catholic priests, I mean isn't this a problem in Catholic Churches worldwide? Despite the differences I have with the doctrine of the Catholic Church, Why is this focused only on the American branch???

[St.Chuck]

I see I'm a couple days late to this, but thanks for posting it; very interesting indeed.

[blue jeans]

re: please tell me the objective criteria that will be used to determine who ia a homosexual.

Why is this hard to understand? Someone who has sex with someone of the same gender is a homosexual. Why try to make the obvious into something complex?

Now having said that.... (and anticipating your response ) it's important to note that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous... not even one. Our throats are like open graves.

In short, every man and woman deserve hell and it's because of our sin and because we can't be good enough to earn our way to heaven. It is only because Jesus paid for our sin in FULL... by dying on the cross in our place. God wouldn't accept the death of another sinner... it had to be a perfect (sinless) lamb... and he supplied the lamb... just in the same manner that He did when Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac.

God had Jesus lifted up so that all who look upon him for salvation would be saved. Just like Moses did when the Israelites were bitten by snakes.

Jesus died so all men and women could be free from sin. The homosexual... the murderer (yes, Moses and David demonstrate that point). And Jesus pointed out that any of us who hates his brother is guilty in the same way.

So in a nutshell, this Holy God that we're talking about has revealed himself and he loves everyone (so much he gave us his one and only son). So He is a God of love yes... but also of holiness. And that salvation (grace) is available to all.

Christianity 'should' be known as the religion where the playing field has been levelled for all. And even more than that, we 'ought' to be known for our love for one another (not just those that have the same views).

If you have seen otherwise... then please don't let the missteps of others cause you to not see the truth (& grace that God has provided for all). Don't let those folks hurt you twice (once on earth and once for eternity).

[Bonaparte]

Permit me to preface my (very) brief remarks by telling you how much I enjoy reading your posts. Sincerely meant.

That said, I think you may have mistakenly addressed your post to me (perhaps not). I have no problem at all with the concept of identifying homosexuals and excluding them from sensitive positions of stewardship within the Catholic or any other faith. They should be welcomed into the parish or congregation just as any other repentant sinner is, ie. fully confessing their absolute dependence on Lord Jesus for their personal salvation, fully confessing Who Jesus is, confessing the sin in all its enormity, repenting of that sin in their hearts and with the tongue, and asking Jesus for his forgiveness. Any homosexual who considers his sexual practices to be "just another lifestyle," brazenly persisting in it, certainly does not belong in any church that I would bother to attend. I would shun him.