Posted on 07/22/2006 7:06:59 AM PDT by NYer
Aw dang, Jeff, you caught us red-handed!Trying to Hook More Youths on Priesthood
In this era of Eminem and Britney Spears, of sexy sitcoms and sexier commercials, of high-speed Internet and instant gratification, a life of celibacy devoted to God can be a hard sell to a teenager.
So as the nation's Roman Catholic leaders gathered recently and watched a video called "Fishers of Men," designed to draw young men to the priesthood, they had good reason to worry about the future of their chosen way of life.
Church leaders have long been aware of the statistics. There are now about 43,000 Catholic priests in America, down from more than 58,000 in 1965. As the U.S. Catholic population has risen to about 70 million, more churches have had to share priests.
What receives less attention is that the men who go into the seminary generally don't do so until later in life. The average age of newly ordained priests was 36 last year, up from 28 in the 1960s and 26 in the 1940s.
...
Observers of vocational trends say more effort is needed now because of smaller families, with parents who want grandchildren; a secularized culture wary of lifetime commitment and celibacy; Catholic assimilation in America; and increased family mobility, which detracts from parish loyalties. [More...]
Where in any of those posts was I "bragging"? And again, reading all of my posts since I've been here since what 1999 is kinda obsessive don't you think?
"In many dioceses, the civil authorities preferred that the Church handle these matters internally."
Huh? Law Enforcement didn't want the Church to report the crimes of priests committing the crimes of sexual molestation of minors? Where is this cited?
Yes, you're right, landerwy, we've indeed strayed from the original thesis of the article presented. It's a bit depressing when seemingly 75% of threads which deal with the Catholic church end up going "off the rails" for the same reason.
My apologies for contributing to the derailment of this particular thread; I just get weary of seeing the "pot & kettle" attitude over & over ;-)
Please cite the specific scripture.
I was the one that brought up the passage in Timothy. Paul is the one doing the telling. Now I don't know Marajade from adam (or eve)but I know what Paul said. The catholic church is having a problem getting men to become priests and here is a possible solution. I'm sure I'll be listened to by those who make that decision!!! LOL
I think we need something similar to Godwin's Law . . . whoever first brings up "Child Molestation!" in an otherwise unrelated Catholic thread Loses the Argument.
Acts 4:19-20, Acts 5:29, just for starters.
Apology accepted!! LOL
I just want to talk solutions instead of pointing fingers. I'm sure we all have good ideas to make things better. I know I have enough faults to go around too!
As some wise man said, "Look for the good and you will find it". Anyway, I hope you have a good day!
I agree wholeheartedly!
Should we call it AAM's Law, in your honor? ;-)
Thank you for the kind reply; hope your weekend goes well, too :)
Joe Campo has a great story. He used to work in Hollywood and then had a Catholic re-conversion. He started Grass Roots Films. He hires troubled kids and helps them get back on their feet. They do all the work. This film is really well done.
. . . besides, it just doesn't have that ring to it.
Benedict's Law, perhaps? Not just for BXVI but for the original St. Benedict, who was very strict about discouraging homosexual behavior under his Rule.
Huh? Are you saying Acts 4:19-20 and Acts 5:29 is scripture to condone that it was God's will that priests rape kids?
Sounds like an excellent choice!
Obsessive? No, it's smart because then you get to see inside a person better and I can speed read. No big deal. That post was from 2005. I haven't gone that far into your records, LOL!
The "menu" of disciplines cited in the catechism above affirms the founding of these traditions of men.
Menu? Disciplines meaning the difference between the Latin and Eastern Churches? Celibacy is embraced in both churches; however, the Eastern Catholic Churches do allow for a married priesthood, with restrictions. A married priest must be matched to a particular parish. The church recognizes that the married priest made his first vow to a wife and the second vow to the church, and those become his priorities. The celibate priest is 'married' to the church. He is the father of a congregation.
These are not the traditions of men but those of Christ who founded the church, as cited in the CCC.
If the Lord's highest will was accomplished in Peter's life -- then why shouldn't all of His servants in the church be permitted to marry and continue to serve -- including recognition at the strategic levels of leadership?...
How do you determine that Peter's life = the Lord's highest will?
The socio-cultural and religious climate in which Jesus lived favoured married life, for we know that in the Jewish environment no condition was so much deprecated as that of a man who had no descendants. Yet Christ willed, harmoniously and intimately, to combine the virginal state with his mission as eternal priest and mediator between heaven and earth. We can therefore affirm that chastity and virginity are not simply additional or secondary to Christ’s priestly existence, but belong to its very essence.
By priestly ordination, every priest is configured to Christ and shares in his priesthood. From this identification with Christ, it follows that he who follows Christ in the priesthood, assents to becoming his witness and to adhering strictly to the ontological connotations of his priesthood.
Like Christ, the priest is called to give himself totally and with undivided heart to God and the brethren, even to the sacrifice of himself. Of course, no one can claim to achieve so exalted an ideal on his own. The call to the priesthood, like celibacy which is linked to it, is a gift which comes from God; it is therefore a supernatural reality, a mystery. «‘For not all men’, says the Lord, ‘can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given’» (Mt 19:11). Not all, that is to say, are called by God to the height of total self-giving to him in perfect chastity, in accordance with the actual model, Christ. Not to all does God give the potentiality inherent in virginity.
Are not those priests who later choose to marry expected to resign the priesthood in order to do so?
Yes. These priests made a vow and chose to break it.
Don't you find these disciplines incongruent with the Lord's heart??
These are his disciplines; hence they come from his heart. "But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please [his] wife."
Even among the Eleven -- many our apostolic fathers were happily married and were not weakened in their mission of spreading the Gospel.
The only Apostle we know was married, was St. Peter.
They served at the earliest, most strategic levels of our faith -- and the large majority made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of Christ?
The earliest Church fathers, such as St. Augustine, St. Cyril, and St. Jerome, fully supported the celibate priesthood. The Spanish Council of Elvira (between 295 and 302) and the First Council of Aries (314), a kind of general council of the West, both enacted legislation forbidding all bishops, priests, and deacons to have conjugal relations with their wives on penalty of exclusion from the clergy. Even the wording of these documents suggests that the councils were not introducing a new rule but rather maintaining a previously established tradition. In 385, Pope Siricius issued the first papal decree on the subject, saying that "clerical continence" was a tradition reaching as far back as apostolic times.
But I pray for the sake of the Body of Christ -- that all of the church would embrace the Lord's heart -- that Godly marriage and faithfulness therein is NOT a disqualifying mark on a man's life...
It's not ... in the Eastern Churches, but it comes with limitations. The image used to describe the role of the priest is one of marriage to the Church. Just as marriage is the total gift of self to another, the priesthood requires the total gift of self to the Church. A priest's first duty is to his flock, while a husband's first duty is to his wife. Obviously, these two roles will often conflict, as St. Paul noted and as many married priests will tell you. A celibate priest is able to give his undivided attention to his parishioners without the added responsibility of caring for his own family. They are able to pick up and go whenever necessary, whether this involves moving to a new parish or responding to a late-night crisis. Celibate priests are better able to respond to these frequent changes and demands on their time and attention.
And that is the "heart" of our Lord! Jesus Himself practiced it!
"No, it's smart because then you get to see inside a person better and I can speed read."
Another thread, another OT personal attack from you. How surprising. And since its evidenced twice now where you've done this, why on earth would I even want to step foot in your Church?
By the grace of God, in this day of quickie no-fault divorce, this discipline spares us all from having to endure a pastor who is in the midst of an ugly divorce, a pastor with a emotionally unstable wife, a pastor with child visitation problems, with sole custody, etc. etc. etc. - not to mention problems with his children even if he is not divorced.
This allows the priest to focus on his ministry, and prevent shim from ever short-changing a wife and kids.
Your interpretation of the scriptures and I already responded to you.
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