Posted on 11/27/2004 5:20:12 AM PST by JesseHousman
VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II expressed concern Friday over the decline in priestly vocations in the United States, telling visiting American bishops that the drop presents a "stark challenge" that cannot be ignored. He also suggested, in an apparent reference to the clergy sex abuse scandal, that seminary training needs to be tightened to instill a commitment to "holiness and spiritual wisdom." The pope has raised the sex abuse scandal and other problems facing the U.S. church as American bishops have been making a periodic visit to the Vatican throughout the year. In Friday's address to bishops from Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, the pope outlined how bishops must provide for the future of the church. "No one can deny that the decline in priestly vocations represents a stark challenge for the church in the United States, and one that cannot be ignored or put off," the pope said. He urged a program of vocational promotion and a national day of prayer for priestly vocations. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says nearly 500 new priests were ordained in 2003, down about half from 1965. The pope's reference to seminaries comes amid plans for a Vatican-sponsored investigation of U.S. seminaries, a project stemming from the abuse crisis. The outgoing president of the U.S. Catholic bishops, Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, has said onsite visits should start within a year.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Is it too late? Only God knows.
The Pope needs to clean house and rid the Priesthood of the Homosexuals who are running the Seminaries and chasing out young would-be priests because of it. He needs to get a clue that things are rotten in Denmark and ignoring the problem won't work.
You are 100% correct.
As a born,raised and educated RC, I now consider myself a lapsed agnostic.
Today, everyday people think of a dirty joke when they see a priest. That is an enormous (and unfair) burden for a priest to carry, and an almost insurmountable barrier for recruiters to overcome when searching out new vocations to the priesthood.
They are easy to find. Look in the prisons.
I agree that the seminaries need to be "cleaned out"...
I have known more than one person who left the seminary because of the homosexual problem.
But it's never too late.
And if a concerted effort is made, I am sure there are plenty of young American men who who would love to become a priest.(I certainly hope so because there appears to be fewer and fewer English speaking priests saying Mass these days. And one of the reasons I go to Mass is to listen to the homily which if I don't understand the priest it certainly doesn't help matters. LOL)
If the priesthood were cleaned out, homosexuals purged, what percent would be left? I have wondered that.
Who cares how many would be left get rid of them.
You cannot cleanse the Catholic church of bad priests without cleansing it of the Bishops and Cardinals who have either been bad priests themselves before and perhaps after rising in the ranks, or who have allowed this situation to perpetuate itself while hiding the pedophiles.
Will the Church do this, I sincerely doubt it.
FYI
What's the problem?
Don't kid yourself, I am sure just like any other profession in our society, there are plenty of young people who would love the religious life. There certainly is no more rewarding profession.
The Church has survived 2000 years dealing with other problems. The Church can overcome this one too.
What we need now is good old fashioned "Irish cop" for a pope who will knock some common sense into the Church and "clean house."
Years ago a friend of mine told me how he was seduced by one of the priests in the sacristry of our local cathedral when he was in high school. This happened back twenty years ago, so this stuff has been around for a long time and the Church chose to look the other way.
The Church is going to have to consider allowing married priests. Other Christian Churches seem to manage.
IMHO:
Average age of RC priests in this country = 62
"Becoming a Catholic priest means not having to tell your mother that you're gay."
The Church is dying.
The only solution is to rid the Church of homo-sexual priests and allow married men to become priests.
Both understandable and sad.
When I was 12, I was an altarboy and a true believer, as children are known to be.
A priest in our church, who was going blind, (unknown to many of us) checked into a hotel in NY City and committed suicide.
It was a blow that I don't think I ever got over. My thoughts were, If a man of God had no faith, should I?
Over these many years, thinking of that incident as an adult, I see clearer, but also much more objectivly.
I cannot imagine the damage inflicted on those that were approached in a sexual manner by priests.
We are merely human and therefor, I suppose, must deal with these inequities as best we can.
The Church has not fulfilled it's obligation and is suffering from it.
Priests should be allowed to join the human race...let them take a wife.
Dittos.
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