There is a distinction between "compassion for the person" and putting that intrinsically disordered person in a position wherein he has access to youth of his own sex in what amounts to "the near occasion of sin" as we call it. You are perfectly free to be compassionate but not at the expense of the innocence of children. Something about millstones. Furthermore, it is not compassionate to the homosexual to place him in the near occasion of sin. And it is downright ludicrous and scandalous to set up separate castes within the priesthood of those trusted to be near young men and those who are not.
There is a distinction between "compassion for the person" and putting that intrinsically disordered person in a position wherein he has access to youth of his own sex in what amounts to "the near occasion of sin" as we call it.
You are perfectly free to be compassionate but not at the expense of the innocence of children. Something about millstones. Furthermore, it is not compassionate to the homosexual to place him in the near occasion of sin. And it is downright ludicrous and scandalous to set up separate castes within the priesthood of those trusted to be near young men and those who are not. Very well put, BlackElk. I agree. We should be extremely compassionate for those who suffer from disordered homosexual inclinations. We are called to love everyone, and that includes homosexuals. But it is crazy to bring homosexuals into seminaries, where they shower, sleep and live together with men for extended periods of time. (And the craziness of this is well-illustrated by the rampant homosexual activities that have been going on in many seminaries.) Further, to have a priesthood filled with homosexuals, and then expect parents to either feel safe with their teenage sons in close proximity to such priests, or to expect that our teenage sons are going to get a good grounding in Catholic sexual morality, is asking us to forego common sense and reason. While this situation exists in the American Catholic Church, we can never feel secure about priests being around our teenage sons.