Posted on 09/28/2005 8:08:32 AM PDT by marshmallow
FORT WAYNE, Indiana This week, teams of examiners, led by Edwin O'Brien, archbishop for the U.S. military, are beginning a visitation of all 229 Catholic seminaries in the United States. Judging by press accounts, the effort is all about uncovering and expelling homosexuals - a purge, simply put.
In truth, it's about far more than homosexuality. And it's badly needed.
When you read through the set of questions to be asked of all seminary administrators, faculty and students, you find that there is exactly one question on that issue: "Is there evidence of homosexuality?"
Along with the resurrection of warnings against "particular friendships," that makes two sentences in a document that is 11 pages long and covers a lot of territory: What are the seminary's standards for admission? Is the seminary's spiritual life vibrant and rooted in Catholic tradition? Are seminarians capable of intellectual dialogue with contemporary society?
The visitation is naturally of great interest to members of the clergy, who, like anyone, wonder if they could have been better prepared for the realities of life after school. But the rest of us - the people in the pews - have a stake as well. We may be on the outside, but we read the papers, and we see disturbing and persistent problems.
Recently, priests have been arrested for things like possession of child pornography, public lewdness and even embezzlement. This month, two seminarians from St. Mary's of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, died when their car - driven by another seminarian who, prosecutors say, was under the influence of alcohol - crashed, well after midnight, on a weeknight. Another seminarian in the car had been accused of bribery and perjury in his former career in law enforcement. The seminary had no idea.
(Excerpt) Read more at theologytoday.ptsem.edu ...
Amy's great!
The entire article is, in fact, posted in the New York Times from which the piece above is excerpted.
Sorry for the confusion.
Bump for later.
You are forgiven!
We seminarians are greatly anticipating the Apostolic Visitations. We seem them as our opportunity to bring a more traditional seminary formation back to the fore.
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BFLR
Pingout tomorrow.
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