Posted on 07/23/2015 1:59:34 PM PDT by markomalley
Writing for The Daily Beast Monday, a former Roman Catholic Priest, who left in November 2014 after "coming out" as homosexual, went on yet another dime-a-dozen rant against Catholic teaching on homosexuality, employing the all-too-common trope that bishops need to stop calling homosexual "love" wrong or sinful while still finding ways to maintain Church teaching, which essentially means "move the goal posts further back until you have nothing left to defend."
Every point Bill Dickinson makes as to why the Catholic Church should change up their approach towards the LGBT community serve as basically a trojan horse to lower the faithful's defenses at a most vulnerable time as the culture continues to endorse homosexual behavior in direct contrast of Catholic teaching. In short, Dickinson waves a carrot before Catholics' faces knowing that the immense pressure they feel from SCOTUS declaring so-called same-sex "marriage" a constitutional right could spur them into apostasizing.
He begins his censure by first — as they always do in articles of this sort — classifying himself as being victimized by Catholic teaching since it forced him to remain in the closet for 25 years and expressing deep frustration over not being able to corrupt the Church from the inside-out, which led him to leave so he can write articles like this attempting to corrupt it from outside-in.
"There is no infrastructure within the Church to support me as a gay man," he wrote. "And the Church is not at her best when speaking to and about people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), or even questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity."
According to Dickinson, he held no small role serving at some random local parish in the middle of nowhere and, in fact, actually "provided leadership training, development, and consulting primarily for bishops and priests throughout the country." During all this time, Dickinson constantly tried to undermine and subvert Church teaching on homosexuality, especially as the 2014 Synod on the Family approached, and when he realized he would not get his way, he left in frustration:
Because I thought I had a credible relationship with bishops, in particular, I invited them to seize an opportunity regarding the LGBT community and the recent Supreme Court decision on marriage equality and October's Synod on the Family at the Vatican, in which bishops and cardinals will discuss a range of issues related to family and evangelism.
The Church, and the bishops who lead it, have an opportunity to more thoughtfully and sensitively understand who we are as LGBT persons — and to use language that is responsible and respectful when speaking to us and about us. So, this past April, I reached out to the bishops I knew and offered my counsel.
Alas, only one of the 82 bishops I contacted has chosen even to respond. I found the non-response to be a great disappointment.
Be careful to note that Dickinson left the priesthood in November 2014, just one month after the Synod where the Final Relatio upheld Church teaching on homosexuality.
Dickinson offers four "solutions" for Catholic leadership regarding homosexuality "without changing Church teaching," all of which could've been taken out of the German episcopal conference's playbook.
He first proposes that Catholics "should do no harm" towards LGBT people by stopping all "public statements that deny LGBT people's experience of themselves" and shutting up about the coming persecution of religious freedom in America, saying both "perpetuate misunderstanding." Dickinson gives no advisement that LGBT people stop suing businesses for not servicing their so-called same-sex "wedding."
For the second proposal, Dickinson then advises bishops "should organize an ad-hoc committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that seeks to understand the LGBT community and persons — hopes, contributions, concerns and self-identifying language."
"This understanding," he wrote, "influences a common national plan to use language and Catholic terminology that is pastorally respectful and inclusive whenever the LGBT community is addressed or discussed."
The next proposal advises bishops then start gutting sections of the 2006 pastoral document, Ministry to Persons with Homosexual Inclinations, so that its language will stop making homosexuals feel bad about what they do.
"Gay persons are not persons who have 'homosexual inclinations,'" he wrote. "To refer to our expression of sexual love as 'intrinsically disordered' is neither helpful nor useful."
His final proposal involves the USCCB's putting in place an educative program that will "enable all ecclesial leadership — ordained and lay — to live a life of ministry and/or celibacy with more authenticity and self-acceptance."
Dickinson believes this approach will "reap significant benefits for the Roman Catholic Church," because "bishops will finally be able to effectively demonstrate pastoral care and relevance to LGBT persons and all those with whom they relate and associate."
"Even in the absence of doctrinal change, promoting understanding, sensitivity, and proper language are acts of profound ministry," he wrote. "Through them, all of us become more inclusive, understanding, and respectful — even if we don't always agree on issues or teachings."
His article finishes declaring that he only wants to "service the Church on this issue" and wants Church leaders to do the "right and responsible thing" by stopping all rhetoric that homosexual activity is sinful.
Coming from a sodomite, that is a truly disgusting statement...
I seem to recall hearing that the Roman Church had this thing called "confession" ...
Huh????
"To refer to our expression of sexual love as 'intrinsically disordered' is neither helpful nor useful."
Truth is truth, dingbat!
Former bank robber says we should respect armed robbery if it’s done for certain reasons.
Pffft....
bishops need to stop calling homosexual “love” wrong or sinful while still finding ways to maintain Church teaching
Yeah who cares what God says.. Its mans word they want to follow. Don’t know why they even think of themselves a Christians.........
Where, anyone with the slightest awareness of homosexual behavior knows they go after anything of the same sex that is willing.
What’s interesting, is “Christian” gay marriage advocates will always say it’s about monogomous loving relationships.
Wouldn’t the “B” (bi) in LGBT mean that there’s certainly more than two people sexually involved with the individual?
One of these names is not like the others:
- Moses,
- Ezra,
- Nehemiah,
- David,
- Solomon,
- Isaiah,
- Jeremiah,
- Ezekiel,
- Daniel,
- Matthew,
- Mark,
- Luke,
- John,
- Paul,
- James,
- Peter,
- Bill Dickinson.
Exactly why would anyone follow a defrocked pervert rather than obeying God's inspired word?
Is is possible that this “gentleman” has never opened a Holy Bible?
As a priest he took a vow to remain celibate. He broke the vow if he participated in any sexual activity with another person.
Bill Dick-in-son?
Really?
Not to nitpick, but shouldn’t be “Gay [Former] Priest”? The other way sounds like he used to be homosexual before becoming a priest.
The Bible doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear.
If you don’t believe fornication and adultery are wrong, why would you believe that Jesus saves sinners? It’s the same Book that says it.
Why should the Church take the advice of a former homosexual priest?
Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604), a very holy and versatile Doctor/Father of the Church, who was responsible for wide ranging accomplishments from clergy reform to the introduction of Gregorian chants into worship, continues on the hellish theme, explaining how the metaphoric stench of gay sex becomes literal: "Sacred Scripture itself confirms that sulfur evokes the stench of the flesh, as it speaks of the rain of fire and sulfur poured upon Sodom by the Lord. He had decided to punish Sodom for the crimes of the flesh, and the very type of punishment he chose emphasized the shame of that crime. For sulfur stinks, and fire burns. So it was just that Sodomites, burning with perverse desires arising from the flesh like stench, should perish by fire and sulfur so that through this just punishment they would realize the evil they had committed, led by a perverse desire."http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/otoole/140324
Whoever wrote this must not know anything about Catholicism. This person may be laicized, but he’s still a priest. Once a priest, always a priest It can’t be undone.
OTOH, if his priestly faculties have been revoked, he is no longer a priest in the functional sense. That's probably the sense most people are interested in: Does he have an ecclesial assignment? Does he have faculties to minister the sacraments? Is he permitted to function or to present himself to the public as a priest?
The answer is, No.
Playing in poop is so loving. : )
Interesting.
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.