Posted on 11/18/2005 10:01:51 AM PST by NYer
ASSISI, Italy (CNS) -- Deciding not to accept as candidates for the priesthood men with "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" would not be an act of discrimination, said the general secretary of the Italian bishops' conference.
The bishops, meeting in Assisi, approved new norms for seminary admittance and the formation of priests, including the rejection of mandatory psychological testing of candidates.
While they provided some information about their discussion, the bishops said they would not release the text of the norms until the Vatican had approved them.
Bishop Giuseppe Betori, conference general secretary, told reporters Nov. 15 the text includes the key passages cautioning against admitting homosexual candidates for the priesthood found in an instruction from the Congregation for Catholic Education.
Because the Vatican document has not been published -- it is expected in late November -- he said he could not provide further details about the limits on accepting homosexuals into the seminary.
He said the Catholic Church has an obligation to discern the qualities it seeks in its priests and "the negative consequences that can arise from the ordination of priests with deeply rooted homosexual tendencies represent an important element for discernment."
Bishop Betori said that if the bishops decide being homosexual and being a priest are incompatible they would not be engaging in discrimination.
"The concept of discrimination can be used in reference to a right, but a vocation is not a right; it is a gift. And this frames the question in a totally different way," he said.
The bishops passed the norms after spending more than an hour debating the extent to which they should welcome psychological testing and consultation in seminaries.
The bishops rejected mandatory psychological testing of candidates and any mandatory psychological consultation for seminarians prior to ordination.
Archbishop Italo Castellani of Lucca told reporters Nov. 16 that while psychology could be helpful in certain areas it cannot be considered part of the "vocational discernment" which the candidate, his bishop, professors and spiritual director are called to conduct.
A seminarian has no obligation to undergo psychological testing or counseling, the archbishop said, although "he can be asked if he would like assistance or it can be suggested to him."
Psychological support should be aimed at helping the candidate "respond with freedom and authenticity to his vocation" by helping him know himself better and identify areas where he may need more assistance from the seminary formation staff, he said.
"The psychologist is not part of the educational team," the archbishop said.
Pope grades bishops - The Italians Pass, the Austrians Flunk, the Brazilians...
Amen to that.
In the USA, the PSYCHOlogists have been part of the problem.
They should start their own church.
You want to sprinkle the children with what?
This has been one of the tactics used to keep conservative men out of US seminaries. Send 'em to a shrink, who decides that they have a personality disorder.
Personally, I think the psychologization of the Church has been one of the biggest problems in the US church. The Church is viewed by many of its members and clergy as a sort of therapeutic organization, and even within that, the principles of that "therapy" are not those of Christ, but those of Freud and the APA.
Of course it's discrimination - the good kind, the kind of discrimination that comes from the exercise of good judgement.
Stop discrimination against discrimination!
Look for Diocese in certain states to be hit with "anti-discrimination" lawsuits for failing to ordain homosexual priests.
Viva Italia!
Homosexual Agenda Ping.
Yes, yes and yes.
May this understanding of basic truth spread throughout the entire Catholic church and the world.
Freepmail me and DirtyHarryY2K if you want on/off this pinglist.
Note: I will be busy for a little while and will likely not do much pinging. Main reason:
Preparing in case there is a bad avian flu outbreak. I think it probable to highly likely to it's gonna happen. I advise all of you to look into it. Won't bother you again, if you have ?s about it do a search or freepmail me.
Where do you get the little blankets and thermometers for the birds?
husband and wife on a picnic. A bird flies by and drops a load on the wife. Wife says "hand me a tissue." Husband "says what for? That bird is a half mile away by now."
LOL
Exactly!
I agree, in instances like this it is discernment, not discrimination.
An all-male brotherhood rife with sexual immaturity;
seminaries that have failed to adequately teach students how to live chaste lives;
and a faithful flock that raises its priests to an elevated status that in the case of my own family member, was horrified to find his elders invading the beds of innocent 18-year old recruits in his Florida seminary.
His sponsor was an uncle from the Sierra de Guanajuato region of Mexico, a former Vatican canon lawyer who fluently spoke 8 languages and was aghast to learn of such aberrant homosexual behaviors.
It is the church's silence on such matters of the flesh, its secrecy in dealing with wayward priests and its blind protection of the men in its own ranks that have catapulted it to deserved controversy.
When the real church is raptured, RCC may continue to conduct its business in any manner it sees fit. AMEN!
Too Funny.
BTTT!
May the prayers of discernment be with all considering the priesthood. That's where the answer is -- it's not discrimination because it is a call by God to sevre HIM!
You think protestant churches haven't had their share of problems with this? It's almost a stereotype in some circles about how any youth director that's not just starting out after graduating has to be watched...
And I have had students come up and tell me stories of abuse they had when they were at nicely thought of protestant run religious schools.
And I have known too many groups that hustled up and covered the problems they had with sexual scandals in their own congregations.
No church has clean hands, because all churches are staffed by humans who give in to sin from time to time. I suggest you might want to review the parables of the wheat and tares and the parable of the net.
When we cross that threshold and stand in the presence of our redeemer, you may be quite surprised at who is there, and what churches they came from.
No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirt, and we say it a lot in this church you are happy to condemn. We can happily say with the writer of Hebrews, For which cause I suffer also these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day.
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