The Scandal Driving the Church Sex Scandal

American Thinker ^ | April 01, 2010 | Selwyn Duke

[AliVeritas]

You have so much info, I figured you had that for comparison.

I know someone who works with priests in CT, I will ask him in person for it and forward.

[SkyPilot]

There are problems in all institutions, but the attempt to dilute the problem in the Catholic priesthood doesn't help the argument.

Back in 2002, when the homosexual priest scandal broke over the levy, thousands cried and demanded that the church defrock and toss out homosexual priests.

The Catholic church failed to do so then, and it fails to do so today.

The Gay Priest Problem

This former priest told me that his gay clerical colleagues constantly taunted the straight priests in their diocese, telling them that they might as well get girlfriends, because nobody cared. In fact, said the former priest, this was true: the bishop was in their corner, and nobody would care at all. The former priest said the rigors of the celibate life were tough enough without having to deal with many of one's fellow priests making a mockery of it. This man told me every heterosexual in his ordination class eventually left the priesthood, demoralized.....Sipe, who is probably the expert on the sexual lives of Catholic clerics, told me that the seminary system is the problem. Many seminaries are run by corrupt gay clerics, he said (Fr. Doyle agreed). If a seminarian struggling with homosexuality and chastity is admitted, the attempt will quickly be made to corrupt him by getting him involved in sexual activity. If he falls, he's done for. Even if he repents and lives a blameless celibate life thenceforth, the network has something on him, and is willing to use it. He's been neutralized. Besides, the network takes care of its own. It's impossible to say for sure how many bishops are thus compromised.

As it turned out, I interviewed a woman who had worked for him closely in one of his previous assignments, and who had gone to him to report that one of his priests was engaged in some very perverse sexual acts in the church. The woman told me that Bishop X. did nothing about it, and even informed the malign cleric, who taunted the woman by saying, "He's not going to touch me. When you have them by the balls, their hearts follow." This priest eventually went to prison (I checked) for sexually abusing minors, and this bishop's career advanced to a plum see. Unless you've spent a lot of time talking to people who have dealt with this stuff personally, it's hard to believe this situation really exists. I interviewed a seminarian who had been studying in a religious order's seminary, but who left for a diocesan seminary because, he said, gay sex was open and rampant in the particular order seminary in which he was studying. He told his own parents about what he was dealing with, and they didn't believe him. They couldn't believe him: priests didn't do these sorts of things, as they saw it. I firmly believe that John Paul II was so dreadful on the scandal because he couldn't face the extent and degree of the corruption.

Fr. Cozzens was, and is, correct. And Fr. Shaughnessy, the Jesuit who identified the Catholic Church's inability to deal straightforwardly with the powerful gay subculture in its clerical ranks, is also correct about the broader institutional effect of this culture of denial. But I don't look for the Roman Catholic church, or other churches dealing with the issue in its clergy, to talk about this honestly, or at all, anytime soon. Too many people, gay and straight on all sides of the issue, inside the churches and outside, are too invested in keeping up appearances. UPDATE: I ran across just now an old post from Grant Gallicho at the Commonweal blog asserting that conservative Catholics are distorting statistics to make the scandal seem like an exclusively gay problem. Grant quotes directly from the John Jay Report: The largest group of alleged victims (50.9%) was between the ages of 11 and 14, 27.3% were 15-17, 16% were 8-10 and nearly 6% were under age 7. Overall, 81% of victims were male and 19% female.

The church and whine and complain all it wants about how "unfair" the criticism has been. The real issues is that the church REFUSES to deal with the cancer of rampant homosexuality in its ranks.

Father Cozzens estimated on Meet the Press several years ago that the number of homosexual priests was probably 50%, or higher. Father Doyle agreed.

This isn't a "problem." This is a cancer that has just about succeeded in killing the body, but the patient still denies he is sick.

[Wpin]

Your logic is illogical...

[Elsie]

During your whole school life, how often, if at all, has anyone (this includes students, teachers, other school employees, or anyone else) done the following things to you when you did not want them to?

[Elsie]

During your whole school life, how often, if at all, has anyone (this includes students, teachers, other school employees, or anyone else) done the following things to you when you did not want them to?

WHAT!?

So what are the 'rules' if the person DID 'want them to'?

[A.A. Cunningham]

So keep kids away from teachers and priests; got it.

Correction: So keep kids away from teachers and priests and married men and protestant ministers and rabbis and coaches; got it.

[count-your-change]

The tearful couple are to live happily ever after until the pregnancy can’t be hidden any more, whereupon they are required to declare their undying love for one another and everyone should just “understand”.

[count-your-change]

Please do. I have not heard of a polling of anyone seeking such specific information.

[little jeremiah]

The Lavender Mafia was the influx of homosexuals in the seminaries in I guess the 60s-80s. A good book about this that I haven’t read and wish I had on my book shelves was “A Few Good Men” but I can’t remember the author. I almost bought it on Amazon a couple of times. Michael something.

Once the homosexuals get in there, they hire/appoint/favor more of their creepy kind, and exclude/disfavor normal men, especially those who oppose their disgusting agenda. They also had homosexuals influence the psyhochological testing that men who wanted to become priests went through - that was really bad.

[Anti-Utopian]

What a brave new sexually liberated world the Left has given us.

[D-fendr]

You’ve bought into the media agenda on this.

[count-your-change]

How so? and just what is this “media agenda” you speak of that I’m accused of buying into?

[D-fendr]

The Catholic Church has cleaned house with the Pope leading the way.

Given the current situation, singling out the Church, and Pope Benedict, for attack is solely based on political or religious agendas.

The article for this thread elaborates, as well as this one:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2484819/posts

The media agenda is to bring down the Church and Christians in general.

[D-fendr]

More links here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2480925/posts?page=40#40

[count-your-change]

The news media in their wildest imaginations could not do the damage to the Catholic Church that it has done to it's self.

No matter what their agendas, political or religious, it was the tolerance and protection of truly evil men by the Catholic Church that made a scandal possible and inevitable.

Several times priests used the term “brother priests” but how many times do you suppose they referred to any of the victims as “my brother”? Avoiding the scandal in the newspapers was far more important than “the weightier matters of the Law, justice, mercy and faithfulness”.

“The Catholic Church has cleaned house with the Pope leading the way.”

And it only took the pain of a $2 billion to $3 billion payout to produce virtue.

[D-fendr]

Regardless of your personal opinions about the past events and motives, the current situation reveals an agenda by the media contrary to the facts, most evident in the huge effort to smear and scandalize Pope Benedict. Regardless of the truth the left and the media have had this agenda for quite some time.

That’s the topic of this thread and others I linked to.

[lentulusgracchus]

They also had homosexuals influence the psyhochological testing .....

Oh, crap. Hadn't known that little detail. Of course, we both know the garbage that Judson Marmor and Robert Spitzer pulled with the Hooker study (itself badly compromised), when they rolled the American Psychiatric Association and helped set up Division 44 at the American Psychological Association back in the early 70's. Wonder what the human cost is so far, from what these people did? Ruined lives, drug dependencies, suicides. They've got to feel all warm and fuzzy every time a homosexual counselor helps "skin" a "questioning" or "bi-curious" patient. As for the patient ..... good luck, honey.

[lentulusgracchus]

No matter what their agendas......

Uh, no, it doesn't work that way.

Motive does in fact subvert authority -- as when a public official acts within his offices, but with ulterior, corrupt agenda.

No doubt you would like us to brush by the fact that over half -- over three quarters -- of New York Times front-page editors are gay/bi/out. This according to one of their number, who was publicly contemplating their happy estate under the guiding hand of "Pinchy" Sulzberger, the scourge of straight journalism.

[lentulusgracchus]

[Your quoted source]

And Fr. Shaughnessy, the Jesuit who identified the Catholic Church's inability to deal straightforwardly with the powerful gay subculture in its clerical ranks......

Oh, I wouldn't say they have an inability ..... they are just refraining from employing all their abilities in deference to public opinion.

They are perfectly capable, left to their own devices, of solving the problem.

[xzins]

The Roman Catholic Church is becoming more and more dear to me as it is attacked again and again.

Is it a coincidence that this happens at the time taxpayer-funded abortion is an issue again. Who is standing stalwartly against it, and has led the charge opposing abortion in every century? The Roman Catholic Church.

In my Methodist Church and in the Presbyterian Church, 2 churches also dear to me, the news of the week is of the nice liberals within it who either support abortion or gay marriage or any other liberal cause. The desire is to attack the growing Calvinism and the growing evangelicalism in mainline Protestantism.

Again, Satan is attacking conservative Christians in whatever denomination and trying to rout them.

I guarantee that within a fortnight we’ll hear of “evangelicals” outed regarding paedophilia, homosexuality, theft, greed, or any other number of abuses.

Fire away. I have on my flame-retardant, Servetus suit.