Posted on 06/25/2002 6:43:01 PM PDT by Salvation
It Doesn't Sound Right To Talk About Our "Homosexually Oriented" But Celibate Priests
By Gary L. MorellaComments?: editor@DioceseReport.com
June 25th, 2002
The position of Cardinal Bevilaqua's Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the exclusion of those who are inclined to homosexual acts from seminary regardless of whether the act is committed or not, is the only tenable position for the Church. If you compromise on this, you compromise on everything. I’ve seen where some in the Church have made the suggestion that those men who have a “homosexual orientation” could still be considered for the priesthood if that temptation is fought, i.e., if the candidates remain chaste. Given recent history, I don’t believe that the Church can afford to take the chance that such individuals will, in fact, remain chaste.
If something doesn't sound right, it usually isn't. And it doesn't sound right to talk of our "homosexually oriented" but celibate priests. What are they giving up? Cardinal Bevilaqua rightfully reminds us that they're giving up sin, which we're all called to give up, while a heterosexual is making a distinct sacrifice for God following His celibate example giving up the prospect of marriage to be married to Holy Mother Church in God's service.
You're playing with fire to admit people who are inclined to homosexuality. I don't even like to use the word "orientation" in this sense because it doesn't apply in a final immutable sense to those heterosexuals who are inclined to homosexuality, which is the correct way to look at this. Fr. John Harvey, the founder of COURAGE, admitted that one of the biggest mistakes that he ever made was to title one of his books, The Homosexual Person, when there is no such person. We are all created heterosexual by God, with a small group having homosexual inclinations.
Our priests have enough "natural" problems without letting individuals be ordained who have demonstrated that they have "unnatural problems".
Someone said to me that "what if no one knows" about this inclination, and that these people remain chaste somehow? My response to that is, given the news of late, seminary rectors and bishops had better make it their business to know, given the higher probability of serious sin with such men who work within a celibate group of men, and boys through their ministry. We're talking about avoiding the occasions of sin. How is avoiding the occasions of sin met by allowing individuals with unnatural inclinations into an environment where the temptations for them are increased by an order of magnitude?
This is why historically the military would not admit such individuals. It's called morale for the good of the service. Does this not apply even more so to our priests and seminarians? Michael Rose's book would answer a resounding YES!
While some of the very disturbing parts of one of the most problematic documents ever to come from a committee of bishops of the USCCB, Always Our Children, were removed in a revision, e.g., the advice that parents must do nothing while their children are inclined to sinful, objectively disordered acts, this document remains extremely flawed per Rome’s allowance of the continuing criticism of it by COURAGE’S Father Harvey. The Church recognizes that having a sexual-genital attraction to another person of the same sex can never lead to a morally good act between the two individuals, but rather will always lead to an immoral act as the unitive and procreative aspects of sexuality are violated.
A prophetic consequence of ignoring Church teaching is the irrationality which has overtaken professional psychiatric associations who are now constructing the psychological normal pedophile, sadist, and masochist by telling us that these conditions are no longer disorders similar to homosexuality, that childhood sexual abuse is on average, only SLIGHTLY associated with psychological harm. The J. of Homosexuality says that adult-child sex is “male intergenerational intimacy”, the title of a special issue that neither hides nor condemns pedophilia. Rather, it is argued that pedophilia is an acceptable aspect of sexuality, especially homosexuality. The San Francisco Sentinel, a Bay area gay-activist newspaper, published an article that argues that pedophilia is central to male homosexual life.
In summary, in the context of Cardinal Ratzinger's 1986 pastoral to the world's bishops, a person's inclination to homosexual behavior is objectively disordered (objectively morally reprehensible) because it can never lead to a morally licit act for the reasons given below.
Where the procreative and unitive aspects of sexuality are violated is by the unnatural acts of homosexuality which is why the Church teaches that any orientation to this behavior is objectively disordered, i.e., it is an orientation to a misuse of human sexuality, an orientation to acts which are sins against nature and nature's God. The unitive is violated because the plumbing doesn't work, i.e., man wasn't created physically for homosexual acts; the procreative is a consequence of this fact.
Heterosexual attraction is natural to man and woman (Catholic Catechism #2333), while homosexual tendencies are unnatural. Heterosexual attraction is God-given, and for the vast majority of the human race, leads to marriage, children, and family; same-sex attractions are an objective disorder, but not sinful in themselves (CDF Statement, 1986, sect. 3). One often hears this objection to the term "objective disorder" being applied to homosexual tendencies: "If a man lusts for a woman or vice versa, this too is an objective disorder." But this is not so, because, if the man or woman controls this natural attraction, and wills to express it in the natural state of marriage, it is a good thing, desired by the Creator. But if one has a sexual-genital attraction to another person of the same sex, it can NEVER lead to a morally good act between the two individuals, but rather it will ALWAYS lead to an immoral act. That is why it is called an objective disorder.
To say that the "Church does not ask homosexuals to deny their homosexuality" as a Penn State priest said in the local paper implies somehow that homosexuality is a gift from God - another obfuscation of Church teaching reinforced by the latest research in regard to homosexuality and orientation toward it. The Church clearly is teaching those inclined to homosexual lifestyles out of unconditional love for them that they are embarking down a road leading elsewhere than to salvation per the Catechism.
The word "orientation" has serious theological implications. If you believe that some people are essentially homosexual, you turn Christian anthropology on its head. Christianity holds that we are all heterosexual in our God-given nature, though some heterosexuals have a problem with same-sex attractions. If you believe that homosexuality is part of a person's nature, given by God, then homosexual acts become a fulfillment of a person's God-given nature, and that has never been the Catholic teaching.
The editors of the Catechism of the Catholic Church recognized this distinction. The original draft of the catechism (1994) was modified in 1998 to refer to homosexuality as an "inclination, which is objectively disordered."
The homosexual condition is neither normal nor natural. It remains an occasion of sin for which heroic chastity is necessary for avoidance. The same heroic chastity, I might add, that unmarried and married people need to avoid sin. There is no difference whatsoever.
As an aside, the phrase "sexual orientation" is problematic as there is absolutely no evidence that innateness is involved here along with a finality that excludes reparative therapy per NARTH, The National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. It is a phrase that evolved for political reasons from sexual perversion to sexual deviancy to sexual preference in the same manner that homosexuality was falsely characterized as being "gay". There is nothing gay about it per statements from the objective psychologists, psychiatrists, and behavioral scientists of NARTH as a function of many case studies.
There is no such thing as a "gay" Catholic. You cannot be a practicing homosexual and be Catholic, PERIOD! To say that the present crisis in the Church has nothing to do with homosexuality is a heinous lie! We're talking about men abusing boys, here, which are homosexual acts first and foremost. And, if you are a person inclined to homosexual acts, your inclination in the eyes of the Church is to an intrinsic moral evil, thereby making the inclination itself objectively disordered. You need prayer and help to overcome these unnatural temptations, which should disqualify you from any consideration for the Catholic priesthood. Candidates for the priesthood have enough baggage with natural problems, let alone unnatural ones.
We need our best men for such a vocation, not those who have demonstrated that they have some serious problems with their sexuality, problems that are to be addressed via maturation by professionals qualified to do so. The priesthood is not that place; it's primary job is to save souls, not provide a vehicle to baby-sit immature men who are not sure about their sexuality. If you are not sure about your sexuality, you have no right for consideration as a candidate for seminary.
Are Catholic parents supposed to feel comfortable by allowing their sons to be exposed to priests that are homosexually inclined, which is in clear violation of Church directives forbidding the ordination of homosexually inclined priests for the very good reasons given in the 1961 document approved by Pope John XXIII?
In regard to questions of Canon law, the canonists from the St. Joseph’s Foundation in San Antonio Texas remind us that it's helpful to look at what is required of candidates for ordination rather than those things that would disqualify them. Specifically, they tell us that Canon 1029 goes right to the heart of the matter.
Only those are to be promoted to orders who, in the prudent judgment of their own bishop or of the competent major superior, all things considered, have integral faith, are moved by the right intention, have the requisite knowledge, possess a good reputation, and are endowed with integral morals and proven virtues and the other physical and psychic qualities in keeping with the order to be received.
One who does not regard homosexual acts as seriously sinful, whether he be inclined to commit them or not, could certainly be considered as lacking the requisites of "integral morals and proven virtues." If he regarded them as sinful and was inclined to commit them, it is arguable that he could be judged as having these requisites.
You would not admit a person who was suffering from a physical disorder such as legal blindness to flight training for a commercial airline. The consequences could be physical death for all concerned. Similarly, you would not admit a person who was suffering from a psychological developmental disorder such as homosexuality to the priesthood. NARTH has as its official position that
Homosexuality is not a natural alternative lifestyle; rather 1) it is a developmental disorder, 2) its causes and predictors are very well documented, 3) it is treatable in adulthood, 4) it is highly associated with self-defeating and self destructive behaviors, pathology, and maladaptation, and 5) the four previous points have been politically buried or denied.
The consequences are far more severe in that they could be spiritual death for all concerned. To be blinded by homosexual urges would, in my mind, and that of the canonists from Saint Joseph’s Foundation preclude one from being an effective witness for the faith, and run the very strong risk of scandalizing the faithful - a situation that I, as a Roman Catholic member of the faculty at Penn State University, am all too familiar with, especially in regard to the heretical actions of clergy at the Penn State Catholic Center since 1996 who 1) told State College Pennsylvania that "there are healthy aspects of homosexuality" in op-eds, 2) signed full page ads in the Penn State student paper celebrating the homosexual lifestyle, and 3) co-sponsored "Christian affirmation services honoring sexual diversity" when everyone locally knows that "diversity" equals "perversity" under the Penn State regime of President Graham Spanier. All this occurred despite many complaints to Bishop Joseph V. Adamec of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown by concerned Catholics who could not understand how their priests could embrace mortal sin as a cause to be celebrated.
Of course there is that little matter of the authority of Canon 34 in the aforementioned Church document, which along with the previously referenced definitive teaching from Pope John XXIII is conveniently ignored by bishops who could only be considered as pro-homosexual by such actions.
Sadly, this "convenient ignorance" has become the modus operandi of many in the USCCB who have been AWOL on the Church's teachings on faith and morals since Vatican II. As such, they need to be removed from their bishoprics for the good of the Church, and the sake of the souls of all concerned.
The idea is to put the occasions of sin at a distance from you, not the reverse. A little theological sanity is involved here. Would you hire a “recovered” alcoholic for a job where his chances of reverting back to his disordered state are increased? No, you would hire someone else for that position. Similarly, if the choice is between two individuals, one claiming to be completely recovered from being inclined to homosexual acts, and another who never had that problem in the first place, everything else being equal, who would you want to ordain, given the occasion of sin consideration, which should be foremost in your mind? If the answer is the former, not only are you putting those at a greater risk who might come into contact with this man, but certainly the man himself for the reparative therapy reason that was previously given. Is this showing good judgment for all concerned? I respectfully submit that it isn't.
Something is very wrong when the Church has to consider those inclined to homosexual acts for the priesthood. And we know what has gone wrong since Vatican II. I've been talking about it on my website since 1996, unchecked dissent from Church teaching where these teachings are dismissed out of hand before the ink is dry, to include especially the liturgy. You mess with Holy Mass; everything is up for grabs.
When the smoke has cleared, I don't believe that it is a far stretch to state that those who deny that homosexuality is the primary problem, sexually, with the present crisis in the Church are either HOMOSEXUALLY INCLINED, HOMOSEXUAL ADVOCATES, or both. I include clergy and laity alike in that statement based on my experience as a Catholic layman fighting the culture wars in his neighborhood, and corresponding with people around the country. Reference my website at www.personal.psu.edu/staff/e/j/ejm1/morella/
Please don't tell me that we have to admit homosexually inclined men to the priesthood for numbers purposes. That is pure and simple garbage!
There have been plenty of “good men” since Vatican II who have wanted to become priests, but dissenting heretical apostate bishops and clergy, who had their own agenda for the destruction of the Church by reinventing it in their image, discouraged them. These dissenters need to be rooted out from the Church if it is going to survive, especially in America. There is considerable evidence that orthodox dioceses have many “good men” with vocations. Conversely, in dioceses where heterodoxy reigns, as a function of the allowance and encouragement of unchecked dissent from Magisterial teaching on everything from the liturgy to faith and morals, vocations are sorely lacking. Of course this makes the bishops of these heterodox dioceses very happy because they've wanted a “priestless” Amchurch all along, as opposed to the Church of Rome, where Sister "In-Your-Face" can freely conduct her radical feminists' liturgy, and homosexuality is celebrated as a virtue in order to make the dissenters comfortable with their vices.
If Rome persists on staying on the sidelines, allowing the joke of having the USCCB bishops police themselves after their sorry record over the years in promoting anything definitively Catholic on the really tough teachings, the "hot-button" issues, the institutional Church is FINISHED in this country. Witness the Always Our Children debacle.
If, in fact, Rome does nothing, what that will prove is that the pro-homosexual mentality in the Church goes right up to the highest echelons of the Vatican.
The phrase, "We looking for a few good men" is nowhere more apropos than for the Catholic priesthood, with the emphasis on "men" in the full masculine sense of the word because priests act as alter Christus, another Christ whose masculinity was undeniable. How could that be otherwise if the Church is the "Bride of Christ"? What normal individual wants to be a bride to someone whose masculinity is in question? The theological analog in regard to Holy Mother Church is no less compelling, given its clear invariant teaching on faith and morals since its founding by Christ upon the Rock that is Peter. Nationally known priest, Fr. John Trigilio, Jr. says, "Our seminaries NEED chaste, manly men to lead them; orthodox men to teach them; and reverent, prayerful men to help them worship God properly.
Would individuals inclined to other disorders such as alcoholism, kleptomania, and sadism be good candidates for the priesthood, despite the fact that they may not be currently actively involved with them? Any sane answer would have to be NO! Would you as a personnel director hire such individuals for your company who admittedly have serious problems with such inclinations? Not if you're interested in the well-being of your organization, in particular organizations who are in a service area, given the potential bad example on the part of your employees, which has a much higher probability of occurring as a result of your negligence.
Why should the Holy Ministerial Priesthood be any different when we're talking about the spiritual well-being of souls, the highest calling for any of us? The fact that for some in the Church to include bishops it isn’t, is testimony to the apostasy that is rampant in many of our dioceses, an apostasy that allowed a "gay subculture" to get a stranglehold in many of our seminaries, an apostasy that was the inevitable result of unchecked dissent from the Church's teachings on faith and morals since Vatican II, an apostasy that must be rooted out if the Church in America is going to survive.
God's promise that “The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church" says nothing about the survival of the Church in any particular country. We would do well to remember that.
Lifestyle Choice of holiness for priests to make. Yes, it is difficult, but with prayer they can and will make it.
I thank you for posting this. And I absolutely agree with the following:
The position of Cardinal Bevilaqua's Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the exclusion of those who are inclined to homosexual acts from seminary regardless of whether the act is committed or not, is the only tenable position for the Church.
It's sad that the notion that we oughtn't ordain homosexual men to the priesthood is somehow considered controversial by many.
sitetest
Once baptized Catholic, ALWAYS a Catholic.
This author would posit that committing grave sins removes one from the Faith--and that's balderdash.
Does the author also deny the possibility of repentance and forgiveness? The mercy of God?
Otherwise, it's a nice piece.
I was referring to holiness in my sentence, however. But I like your 'deathstyle' for those priests not committed to a holy life.
On another subject:
Today I rejoice that Bishop Dolan will become Archbishop of Milwaukee, and I pray that he is the first sign of Springtime coming to Holy Mother Church.
What do you think about this website?
Gospel
Mt 7:6, 12-14
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.
"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.
"Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few."
You mess with Holy Mass; everything is up for grabs.
If, in fact, Rome does nothing, what that will prove is that the pro-homosexual mentality in the Church goes right up to the highest echelons of the Vatican.
God's promise that “The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church" says nothing about the survival of the Church in any particular country.
Sums it up pretty neatly. It's a wonder the writer hasn't been run out of Penn State on a third rail.
I agree with everthing written, except the part about homosexuality not being "God given". I don't know who "gave" it.
Lo these many months, I've yet to see a direct recognition that there is an important (if not overriding) spiritual component to all this, so I thought now, and here, I'll say it.
These homosexual misfortunates are afflicted with varying degrees of demonic oppression, even possession in extreme cases. Assuming their inclinations (while hidden from man) are not hidden from the enemy and repeated acting out of homosexual inclinations gives the enemy 'permission' to oppress. Subsequently, the enemy is allowed to form assignments and bonds which the individual then carries with them in their walk.
There is a war in the heavenlies and these indivdiuals give the enemy beach heads if not bunkers, from which the enemy can attempt to advance on others. Whether he succeeds depends on our discernment and lack of ungodly handholds in our own souls for the enemy to grasp or exploit.
In my opinion...
I agree, this definitely is a spiritual war.
Did you read the post from Captain Crunch quoting Bishop Fulton Sheen? Very interesting.
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