Just prior to when I would have been ordained deacon, I was too much of a systematic theologian and not enough of a pastoral counselor. My bishop said he already had enough guys like me and needed pastoral counselors, so he did not ordain me. This was also the Diocese of Green Bay, same as for the author of the original 2010 screed. There is a Canon Law statute forbidding ordination if the diocese did not have a use for a man. The staff at the seminary still to this day thinks I should be a priest, but it would have to be in one of the monastic orders, to which I did not feel called. My not becoming a priest had exactly zero to do with celibacy or sexuality.
Celibacy is not a cause for a homosexual takeover of the church. The men I knew who did get ordained embraced it willingly. There is no duress of any kind to be ordained. There is no "right" to be ordained. Ordination is an entrance into a life-long relationship, hence the comparisons to marriage. Either party can refuse the ordination. Only a fool would suppress an urge to marry for a lifetime for perceived power in the Church. That is not how celibacy works.
I have seen it up close from the other side. I absolutely certain that relaxing the celibacy requirement will be devastating, not enhancing, to the numbers of priests. Why become a priest if you need to support a family and you could easily get a better paying job? One year out of seminary formation and I am making more than double what I would as a priest. All the lodgings the Church gave me as a seminarian were straight out of 1960's construction codes. I would not subject a family to that kind of treatment.
I have seen what healthy celibacy looks like. Though I have room for a woman in my life now, I will probably remain celibate the rest of my days. I have a path that involves mission trips to Third-World countries, and I know few Catholic women in my parish who would go along with that who were not already heading to a convent. In the end, it is not that important me, because my vocation is the mission to help the poor, not to get married. If a suitable woman comes along to help me in that mission, so much the better, but it is not a necessity.
I guess I just have a completely different experience in the Church that you had Glutens. I do not recognize the church you describe. It is alien to me.
Cripes! Sorry to all for my grammar errors. I am usually better than that. My philosophy professor at St. Meinrad would have docked me a lot for those.
Thank you for your thoughtful post.
I can only say that we must have attended Churches on different planets.
To get a picture of what I'm talking about, google sometime: "Father John Patrick Feeney Green Bay"
"Father Donald Buzanowski Green Bay"
"Father Donald Becker Gay Gospels"
This is just a sampler for you. There's lots, lots more. All of those men were parish priests that served my family. I knew a lot of seminarians back in the day. They were essentially all gay. Or alcoholic or crazy or something along with being gay. But they were mostly gay.
You can't begin to address the problem until you admit that there is a problem. How you missed the Lavender Mafia is beyond me, but okay, I accept it. I guess that my first job is to convince you that it's real.
Please tell me what you think of Bernandine and Weakland. Were they Lavender Mafia? Did they cover for anybody? Were they gay? Did they regularly have sodomy?
You tell me.
If my suspicions are correct about the reasons for BXVI's resignation, the evidence of the Lavender Mafia is about to come bursting forth.
I’m sorry that you were not ordained. Have you tried another diocese, or is that a doable thing?