[RobbyS]

The priesthood in Americab underwent a crisis in the eraly '70s when so many priests left. It was almost unheard of up to that time. So priests stopped recruiting, except for the minority of homosexual priests. The Church relaxed its standards for seminaries so that homosexual priests were no longer weeded out. It was a kind of don't ask, don't tell and its was presumed that homosexuals would keep their vows of celibacy at least as consistently as normal priests. Unfortunately, many of them had no intention of keepoing their vows. The laity, after all, had generally ignored the Church's teaching on birth control. Why were they wrong in disobeying the rule on celibacy?

[american colleen]

Robby, I'm reading a very good book you might be interested in: "The Desolate City - Revolution in the Catholic Church" by Anne Roche Muggeridge.

Just finished "What went wrong with Vatican II - The Catholic Crisis explained" by Ralph M. McInerny. Basically this book outlines how the theologians set themselves up as an alternative teaching magisterium. After Humanae Vitae was published, a bunch of them took out a full page ad in the NY Times and stated that the HV teaching was in error. If I had the time or the inclination to type, I'd type out the content of the ad. It is astonishing in its presumption. And it confused the laity. And here we are.

Regarding the priesthood. My parish priest (aged 68) has addressed it several times. Tells us to prepare for a desolate priesthood in the future unless the Church admits a married clergy as it did before it invented celibacy in the 11th century (I purchased and read Cardinal Stickler's book on the celibate clergy, but decided not to give it to this priest although I probably should - don't think history matters much to him unless it fits in with his fuzzy agenda). God help him, he is so uninspiring anyway, I can't imagine any boy or man looking hopefully and prayerfully at a priestly vocation.