Posted on 09/19/2005 4:11:33 PM PDT by scripter
Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document indicating that men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as Catholic priests, reports Catholic World News.
The policy statement is a direct result of the pope's concern about the pedophilia scandal in the church – especially in the U.S.
The new document, prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II in 1994, will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller, according to the report.
The report was first referenced on Joseph Farah's nationally syndicated radio program last week by Raymond Arroyo, author of the new book "Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve and a Network of Miracles." Arroyo has covered the papacy more than any other journalist
The text, approved by Benedict at the end of August, says that homosexual men should not be admitted to seminaries even if they are celibate, because their condition suggests a serious personality disorder that detracts from their ability to serve as ministers, says the CWN report.
Priests who have already been ordained, if they suffer from homosexual impulses, are strongly urged to renew their dedication to chastity and a manner of life appropriate to the priesthood.
The "Instruction" does not represent a change in church teaching or policy, according to the Vatican.
Catholic leaders have consistently taught that homosexual men should not be ordained to the priesthood. Pope John XXIII approved a formal policy to that effect, which still remains in effect. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, that policy was widely ignored, particularly in North America.
The Congregation for Catholic Education prepared the "Instruction" after soliciting advice from all of the world's bishops, from psychologists and from moral theologians. A draft was then circulated among the Vatican dicasteries concerned with the issue, notably including the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The pending release of the "Instruction," in the face of certain criticism from liberal forces in America and Western Europe, demonstrates the determination of the Vatican to improve the quality of priestly ministry and to protect the church from some of the scandals that have recently shaken the Catholic community – and no doubt deterred many men from entering priestly training.
Informed sources in Rome indicate that the "Instruction" probably will be made public after the Synod of Bishops, which meets in Rome Oct. 2 through 23.
Oh, I don't know about that.
All WE need is the Total Payouts To Date line on the lawsuits.
Dallas has several priests from Africa and India. All but one of the African priests have been sent home due to their inability to work with established parish councils. It seems the best foreign priests are those from India; they are more accustomed to the give and take of working in an American parish.
10. What can a "lay run" parish or "priestless" parish do? Concentrate on social gospel stuff? How sad and fortunately, how very temporary. Maybe it is better to shutter such churches and yolk their parishioners pro tempore with parishes having priests.
Everything can happen in a priestless parish except the celebration of the Eucharist on a daily basis and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In large parishes, laymen run everything: the RCIA program, youth programs, Adult Education,baptismal and marriage preparation, all social ministries, including hospital visitations, counseling, and annulments.
Let lay people do what they can do, and priests do what they were ordained to do.
Arguing about married priests is a waste of time. Instead, the focus should be on empowering laymen to bring their time and talent to the service of the Church.
I presume you are gay for that would explain the outward hostility in your statement. I for one couldn't care less. However just because you disagree with some of the statistical conclusions reached by these studies doesn't necessarily mean they should be outwardly dismissed. They may be debated and interestingly they may shed light in the very statistical underpinnings that help support 40 orto 50 years of social liberal policies that may have arguably set us down a path that may not be reversed only slowed. Kinsey is portrayed by our liberal media as a vanguard in the study of sex in our society when in fact his entire volume of statistical conclusions were discredited, yet here we are thirty years after the fact and they make movies out of the sick perverted bastard. Statistics are what you make of them.
presume away
What is the difference between a heterosexual sinning and a homosexual sinning?
When you talk about homosexuality being more than sexual acts, are you talking about the raging queens dancing in drag shows? Or somebody like J. Edgar Hoover who is outwardly very homophobic while hiding (a la Jimmy Swaggart) the very act he pretends to despise? Because if you are, then I agree with you.
But if a priest is completely celibate (and by that I include NOT fondling anybody, much less a child) and fulfills his function, what more can they hope for? Will they borrow from the scientologists and hook crude lie detectors up to them and ask them increasingly personal and sexual questions?
Ultimately I think most of the men who choose to be priests and thereby choose to forsake sexuality are going by the very nature of the decision to have issues with sexuality, and it doesn't make much sense to me to classify them as sexual at all (assuming they are honest in fulfilling their celibacy).
there is a big difference between being a priest and just being a Catholic. Not all can be priests, but that doesn't preclude them from being good Catholics
Hm-m-m-m, some similarity to the issue of divorce. Since I have been divorced in the past, and remarried, I cannot be a Catholic who receives the sacraments, but that doesn't preclude me from being a good Catholic. Grew up in the Catholic church....but have found a nice 'home' in a traditional Protestant church that opens its arms to us sinners. Maybe in my next lifetime I'll be perfect enough to be a Catholic... Don't be offended - it's just the way those of us who have been faced with the reality of the Church's stance(s) have moved on in life.
Bigsigh isn't gay but he knows some gay couples and he stayed at a Holiday Inn last night. To get a better picture of where's he's coming from, checkout his previous profile as breakem.
Here are some articles that bigsigh doesn't like:
Study Finds Disproportionate Percentage of Illinois Foster Child Abuse is Same SexNobody is saying all homosexuals molest children. In fact most don't. But homosexuals commit a disproportionate amount of child molestations.
Molestations by homosexual foster parents: newspaper accounts vs official records
Child Molestation and Homosexuality
Homosexual Rape and Murder of Children
Study shows link between homosexuality and pedophilia
A REAL Child Abuse Scandal
Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse
Child Molestation and the Homosexual Movement (PDF Document)
Gay Foster Parents More Apt to Molest
Homosexuality and child molestation: the link, the likelihood, the lasting effects
What proportion of newspaper stories about child molestation involves homosexuality
Thxs Scripter. I always liked staying at a Holiday Inn as well!
You know, one thing I find interesting is that it's so easy to get under the skin of a Catholic. Remember, I was raised Catholic, so I know from whence you are coming...
All the best.
King David certainly wouldn't have been a good catholic...he wasn't even the best Hebrew when it came to observing the Mosaic laws...yet the Bible says his sins were forgiven and that he was "a man after God's own heart"...him a murderer of the husband of Bathsheba and guilty of adultery with her....David the ancestor of Jesus Christ...
The Catholics would have never granted him absolution(well maybe in the 15th century if he had paid enough indulgence money) but God surely did!
You're free to follow that crap as truth if you want, but belief is not proof. I like the fact that you were honest enough to say "presume" when you accused me of being homosexual. At least you had some twinge of honesty even in a pathetic attempt to make an argument.
You won't mind if we do the same about you then?
Yes, the Bible is full of this and it is so reassuring. One of my favorites is Peter's denial of Jesus - now that's pretty big-time. Having been raised a Catholic in a very orthodox Catholic home (both parents were converts) I received a strong grounding in the beautiful liturgy and the mysticism of the Church, which I totally respect. Unfortunately, I found the Church very unforgiving when life thrust some unexpected, and unwanted, turns into my path. I experienced it as kicking a person when they were already down, but that was just my experience - doesn't mean it's universal.
About time.
Well, it's about time!
Now what is he going to do about all the homo bishops and cardinals, like that old fag Marcial Maciel?
The gays have tried to separate this group (even though a lot of the abuse was of adolescent boys which is a homosexual act and NOT classified as pedophilia). Mainstream media continually refuses to use the term homosexual when it pertains to many of the cases. They do not want the negative association.
The fact is that homosexuals abuse children at much higher rates than heterosexuals........the Pope is right when he states that it is a personality disorder that makes homosexuals ill suited to minister to others.......esp. children.....
Wrong.......attraction to the same sex shows a pathology.
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