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Jim McGreevey to begin Episcopal seminary classes http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2007/09/01/2007-09-01_jim_mcgreevey_to_begin_episcopal_seminar.html http://tinyurl.com/2p469w BY CHRISTINA BOYLE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, September 1st 2007, 4:00 AM Jim McGreevey, the nation's first openly gay governor, is returning to the classroom Tuesday as a seminary student. The former New Jersey governor will begin full-time studies at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in Chelsea, where he will pursue a three-year Master of Divinity program. McGreevey, 50, switched denominations from Roman Catholic to Episcopalian earlier this year and has expressed an interest in becoming a priest. "I hope that Jim McGreevey finds some contentment and...

Anglican Conflict: A Battle with 'Eternal Significance' http://www.christiantoday.com/article/anglican.conflict.a.battle.with.eternal.significance/10915.htm http://tinyurl.com/2ndbyg by Lillian Kwon, Christian Today Correspondent Posted: Saturday, May 26, 2007, 12:39 (BST) The recent non-invitation of two wayward bishops to a decennial global Anglican meeting produced a media frenzy this week. But what does all this mean? "First of all, it is clear that the Archbishop of Canterbury faces an impossible task – he is confronted by two irreconcilable truth claims," stated Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, newly installed missionary bishop of CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) – an orthodox Anglican splinter group and offshoot of the Church of...

Episcopal break up? http://www.catholic.org/views/views_news.php?id=24184 5/23/2007 Our Sunday Visitor One could argue that the Episcopal Church in the United States has been on the brink of disaster for years. Thomas Reeves, in his book The Empty Church: The Suicide of Liberal Christianity, quoted an observation made about the Episcopal Church in 1994 that seems no less true today: “The Episcopal Church is an institution in free fall. We have nothing to hold on to, no shared belief, no common assumptions, no agreed bottom line, no accepted definition of what an Episcopalian is or believes.” The Episcopal Church has been divided by...

No Lambeth Invitation for Bishop Robinson http://www.livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp?ID=3366 http://tinyurl.com/yoerxw 5/22/2007 The Bishop of New Hampshire will not be invited to participate in the 2008 Lambeth Conference, according to the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary of the Lambeth Conference. Invitations to the conference were mailed May 22 to more than 800 bishops of the Anglican Communion by the conference’s host, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. The Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) and the Rt. Rev. Charles Murphy and his suffragans, the bishops of the Anglican Mission in North America (AMiA) will not receive...

The nation's first openly gay governor has become an Episcopalian and been accepted into a seminary, according to a published report. Former Gov. James E. McGreevey, who was raised as a Roman Catholic, was officially received into the Episcopal religion on Sunday at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York, said the Rev. Kevin Bean, vicar at the church. McGreevey has been accepted to study at the General Theological Seminary in New York, the oldest in the Episcopal Church, school spokesman Bruce Parker said Wednesday. Parker did not know whether the former governor wants to become a priest. ''Mr. McGreevey has...

Episcopalians Begin Considering Response to Moratorium http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070412/26840_Episcopalians_Begin_Considering_Response_to_Moratorium.htm http://tinyurl.com/2mzvet By Lillian Kwon Christian Post Reporter Thu, Apr. 12 2007 09:19 AM ET Episcopal leaders have begun considering a potential response to requests from Anglican leaders to not consecrate another openly gay bishop. An appointed Executive Council work group convened for the first time early this month to begin discussion on a report responding to the communiqué that was issued by the Anglican Communion's Primates in February. The Episcopal Church was given a Sept. 30 deadline to respond to a moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex...

Few would dispute that the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin exercised great influence in the Catholic Church in the U.S. Sadly, however, that influence was not for the good of the Church. The following are pertinent excerpts from Randy Engel's new book The Rite of Sodomy. Chapter 15 The Special Case of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Introduction This segment on Joseph Cardinal Bernardin was originally incorporated into the previous chapter on homosexual members of the American hierarchy. However, because of his extraordinary influence on AmChurch, I decided Cardinal Bernardin deserved a chapter all his own. To do real justice to Cardinal Bernardin...

The following is an edited update from Catholic attorney Sharon Bourassa regarding the situation in the Miami archdiocese. (Note: This statement contains a graphic description.) “On March 21, 2006, Stephen Brady of Roman Catholic Faithful drove from Illinois to Fort Lauderdale to meet with Christifidelis members from All Saints Parish and parishioners from several other parishes -- St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Vincent and St. Augustine's.  The subject of Brady's visit was to discuss strategies for dealing with the ‘gay subculture’ that has infiltrated the Miami archdiocese (as well as many other dioceses across the U.S.), abuse of parish monies,...

THE PRIEST'S heart was pounding in his chest. His hands were icy cold. He was nervous. More than usual. The pews were nearly full as they are most Sundays as he walked up the middle aisle of St. Joseph Basilica in Alameda to celebrate Mass. It was just after 9 a.m. Children squirmed and latecomers slid into their seats as the morning light poured in through the stained-glass images of Mary, Jesus, Joseph and the saints. Going through the ritualistic motions of Mass, the priest struggled in his mind with the decision he had made. It's the time, he thought....

Psychiatrist Joseph Nicolosi maintains the phrase "gay Catholic," like "pro-abortion Catholic," is a contradiction in terms. This has nothing to with a man's behaviors, and everything to do with his convictions. Whereas a person's homosexual proclivities may be unsought and unwelcome, to identify oneself as gay is to make a conscious and deliberate decision -- a decision to live one's life in a way that treats Catholic doctrine on the subject as wrong or pernicious or irrelevant. It is a decision to refuse to be taught by the Church. The current NCR posts (subscriber only content) a lecture given last...

Loving Dissent Father Charlie Curran has made a career out of standing up to the Vatican. By JIMMY FOWLER Charlie Curran doesn’t look like someone who’s doomed to be burned at the stake. At 72, with worn sneakers and rolled-up sleeves, sitting in his book-lined office at Southern Methodist University, he looks like the low-key thinking man and professor that he is. And yet, as a Catholic priest and brilliant religious scholar, his actions were apparently so heinous that an archbishop once accused him of “sowing scandal” among the faithful. What he taught was so scary that the Catholic Church’s...

Texas Priest Accused of Groping Teen MARBLE FALLS, Texas (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest accused of groping a 16-year-old boy at a movie theater during a showing of "King Kong" has been charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact. Father Paul M. Clogan, 74, was arrested Friday as he left the theater, police Capt. F.T. Goodwin said in Monday's online edition of the Austin American-Statesman. Clogan was free on bond Monday. Clogan sat next to the teen in the theater, Goodwin said. The boy, who did not know Clogan, told investigators the priest groped him about an...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A cover letter accompanying the Vatican's instruction on homosexuality and the priesthood said the new norms must be "faithfully observed" and taken into account in the drafting or updating of each country's seminary guidelines. The letter also made clear that, while the text does not apply to those already ordained, priests with homosexual tendencies should not have educational roles in seminaries. The letter from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education went out to bishops in early November along with the nine-page instruction. The instruction was made public Nov. 29 but the cover letter was not; Catholic...

Wednesday November 30, 2005 Ban on Homosexual Men From Priesthood Was Always in Place - Decision from 810 A.D. Cited The term "homophobia" is "a slogan of intimidation", says Vatican consultant ROME, November 30, 2005 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) - A Vatican consultant, in an interview with the I Media news service, has observed that the Church has always taught that homosexuals should not become priests, since they suffer from a "structural incoherence" in their approach to human sexuality. The question of whether homosexual men should become priests has been raised repeatedly by Church leaders, and always answered negatively said Msgr. Tony Anatrella,...

Gay priest ruling adds fuel to fire Vatican document stands out more as pope's first than for whom it bans By Margaret Ramirez and Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune news services contributed to this report Published November 30, 2005 The Vatican issued a long-awaited document Tuesday on the explosive issue of homosexuality in the priesthood, but the document banning men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" added more heat than light to the controversy. In fact, several scholars said that the text of the document--which largely restates long-standing Roman Catholic teaching on homosexuality--matters less than its timing and prominence. It...

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican defended a policy statement designed to keep men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies from becoming priests, but said there would be no crackdown on gays who are already ordained. The Vatican document, the first major policy statement of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy, was officially released Tuesday after being leaked earlier. Conservatives have said it may help reverse the "gay culture" of many U.S. seminaries, while liberal critics complain the restrictions will create morale problems among clergy and lead to an even greater priest shortage in the United States.The Rev. James Martin, a U.S. Jesuit who has...

Roman Catholic priests and seminary students with "homosexual inclinations" can be good priests and should not fear discussing the issue with their superiors, Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement scheduled for release this morning. As head of church leadership in the United States, Skylstad sets the tone for how Vatican edicts are carried out in this country. Skylstad made the statements in a news release timed to today's planned release in the Vatican of a document called an "instruction" that clarifies the church's stand on whether gay men can enter...

Head of U.S. bishops interprets Vatican's edict on priesthood. Roman Catholic priests and seminary students with "homosexual inclinations" can be good priests and should not fear discussing the issue with their superiors, Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement scheduled for release this morning. As head of church leadership in the United States, Skylstad sets the tone for how Vatican edicts are carried out in this country. Skylstad made the statements in a news release timed to today's planned release in the Vatican of a document called an "instruction" that clarifies...

The Forum: "Spin control" on the Vatican document by Phil Lawler special to CWNews.com Nov. 23 (CWNews.com) - Ordinarily the secular media in America do not become involved in theological disputes within the Catholic Church. But when the topic is as controversial as the acceptance of homosexuality, the ordinary rules do not apply. A new "Instruction" from the Vatican-- scheduled for release on November 29, but leaked one week earlier by an Italian news agency-- has stated in clear, unmistakable terms that homosexuals should not be ordained to the priesthood or admitted to seminary training. The public release of the...

A new Vatican decree against gays in the priesthood has brought mixed reactions from U.S. Roman Catholic observers, with some seeing notable benefits and others predicting morale problems and a worsening clergy shortage.The decree, approved by Pope Benedict XVI, is set for release next week. The Italian text was leaked Tuesday, and a Vatican official confirmed its accuracy to The Associated Press.It says men should not be admitted to seminaries or ordained as priests if they practice homosexuality, have "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" or "support so-called gay culture." Those with only "transitory" homosexual tendencies must be celibate three years before...