Posted on 07/19/2004 4:23:44 PM PDT by sinkspur
Bishop John M. D'Arcy, who in private letters to other church officials as early as 1978 questioned the reassignment of priests accused of sexual misconduct, said yesterday that the church must improve its screening process for accepting seminarians and that homosexuals should be prohibited from being ordained as priests.
"We must be very careful of who we accept in the seminary and who we ordain as priests," D'Arcy told parishioners at Our Lady of the Presentation Church, the Brighton parish in which he grew up. ''It's time to ordain men of quality, not to just look for numbers."
During yesterday's 10 a.m. Mass, D'Arcy, now bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese in Indiana, said the church must look for men whom children can respect -- ''men who would be good husbands, men who would be good fathers," he said.
In an interview after the service, D'Arcy acknowledged that his reference to ''good husbands . . . good fathers" conveyed his belief that only heterosexual men should be allowed to become priests. He said men in the priesthood must embrace celibacy.
To put a gay man in the priesthood, in a mostly male environment, is unfair, given the potential attractions, D'Arcy said. ''We don't put these [heterosexual] men in with attractive women," he said, referring to seminarians. ''You're putting him in with men. It's not fair to him, it's not fair to them, it's not fair to the church."
D'Arcy said that if the church can bring men to seminaries who have the right temperament for the job, those priests will attract more good men to work for the church.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
**Yes. The clergy should be populated, like the permanent diaconate, with men who are good husbands, and good fathers.
**
Echoing your comment!
The other side of the issue,from the article:
The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, spokesman for the archdiocese, said that while there has been discussion among some members of the archdiocese and at the Vatican about the possibility of banning homosexuals from the priesthood, no decisions have been made.
''The main issue is celibacy," he said, adding that D'Arcy's concerns about gay priests ''aren't necessarily shared by others."
Well,"others" are dead wrong on this one.
I take it then that you both agree with Rev. Coyne and "others"?
But first, you have to ordain MEN.
Set the minimum age for ordination at 32, and make sure the guy has at least had one job outside the Church in his life.
I'm for optional celibacy, yes. If you want to rid the priesthood of gay men, populate it with heterosexual men.
OK.I just believe it is a gay problem,not a celibacy problem.
I think it's both; that's why there are so many gays in the priesthood.
Bump.
"Set the minimum age for ordination at 32, and make sure the guy has at least had one job outside the Church in his life."
Goofy idea. While late vocations can be very good, the idea that a man dedicated to Christ needs to go "experience the world first" is just goofy.
Read the data. The vast majority of the abusers were ordained in their mid-20s. Very few were ordained in their 30s.
You want to minimize the number of homosexuals in the priesthood, allow the heterosexuals to mature.
St. Padre Pio, at age 15 entered the noviciate of the Capuchin Friars in Morcone, and joined the order at age 19. He was ordained at the age of 22.
You have a problem with that?
No. He became a canonized saint. The same cannot be said of the vast majority of men who enter the priesthood.
Works well for the Jesuits.
Woops did I say well...
"Read the data. The vast majority of the abusers were ordained in their mid-20s. Very few were ordained in their 30s."
___________________________
Do you think it might be because when the abuses peaked practically ALL priests were ordained in their mid-20s?
Yep. And, now that men are delaying coming into seminaries, the incidences have dropped off dramatically.
"now that men are delaying coming into seminaries, the incidences have dropped off dramatically"
__________________________
Also, since Bill Gates sold Windows 95, since Clinton became president, since the eruption of AIDS epidemic, since Catholic dioceses began to be sued for abuses of minors. See now how many factors contributed to it?
If you present a link between the age of ordination to the priesthood and homosexual orientation then I will personally recommend you to the Secretary of Defense.
You didn't answer my questions, so I presume you can't, or that you agree that there is a link between ordaining older, more mature heterosexual men, and the drop in sexual abuse incidents.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.