Posted on 03/29/2010 2:17:12 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
A Roman Catholic archbishop who resigned in 2002 over a sex and financial scandal involving a man has written a memoir that describes how he struggled with being gay.
Archbishop Rembert Weakland, former head of the Milwaukee archdiocese, "is up front about his homosexuality in a church that preferred to ignore gays," Publisher's Weekly wrote in a review Monday.
The book, "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop," is set to be released in June and is described by the publisher as a self-examination by Weakland of his "psychological, spiritual and sexual growth."
The Vatican says that men with "deep-seated" attraction to other men should not be ordained.
Weakland stepped down quickly after Paul Marcoux, a former Marquette University theology student, revealed in May 2002 that he was paid $450,000 to settle a sexual assault claim he made against the archbishop more than two decades earlier. The money came from the archdiocese.
Marcoux went public at the height of anger over the clergy sex abuse crisis, when Catholics and others were demanding that dioceses reveal the extent of molestation by clergy and how much had been confidentially spent to settle claims.
Weakland denied ever assaulting anyone. He apologized for concealing the payment.
In an August 1980 letter that was obtained by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Weakland said he was in emotional turmoil over Marcoux and signed the letter, "I love you."
"During the last months, I have come to know how strained I was, tense, pensive, without much joy," Weakland wrote. "I felt like the world's worst hypocrite. So gradually I came back to the importance of celibacy in my life."
The revelations rocked the Milwaukee archdiocese, which Weakland had led since 1977. But when he publicly read a letter of apology for the scandal, Milwaukee parishioners gave him a a standing ovation.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee released a public statement last week alerting local Catholics that the book is soon to be published and that it deals in part with Weakland's relationship with Marcoux and the scandal.
"Some people will be angry about the book, others will support it," the archdiocese said.
Weakland, who has been a hero for liberal Catholics because of his work on social justice and other issues, will also address in the memoirs his failures to stop abusive priests.
In a videotaped deposition released last November, Weakland admitted returning guilty priests to active ministry without alerting parishioners or police.
Advocates for abuse victims said that Weakland's cover up of his own sexual activity was part of a pattern of secrecy that included concealing the criminal behavior of child molesters.
The archbishop did not respond Monday to an e-mail request for comment. Weakland, a Benedictine, plans to move to St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, N.J., this summer.
U.S. Catholics have long debated whether the priesthood had become a predominantly gay vocation. Estimates vary from 25 percent to 50 percent, according to a review of research on the issue by the Rev. Donald Cozzens, author of "The Changing Face of the Priesthood."
Cozzens, a former seminary rector, said in an interview that Weakland's acknowledgment of his sexual orientation "cuts into the denial that relatively few priests or bishops are gay."
But Russell Shaw, a former spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, questioned whether the book would have much impact.
"That one controversial archbishop acknowledges what everybody's known for several years," Shaw said, "I don't think that's going to make any big difference."
IF you give it up it is a non-issue.
It is a non issue. The real problem is homosexuality which is a grave disorder and promises of celibacy don’t seem to work for them. They may have good intentions but then the disordered personality takes over. That is why the church is now being diligent about keeping them out of the priesthood altogether.
Married ministers and teachers offend in greater percentage than all Catholic priests but because the Catholic Church is the enemy of the Communist state of the world, every imperfection is screamed throughout the world.
A comparison would be all the awful things that were said about Bush that the media kept quiet and now everything anti-Obama whether truth or not is a great crisis and Republicans are blamed.
Christ was an extraordinary man ... a man without sin, the one Son of God. Rumors are irrelevant, though I am quite sure there were people that thought many horrible things about Christ. They crucified Him.
But, He was blameless and sinless. Priests are not. Priests are just men (apparently to varying degrees) ... with all the proclivities, perversions, weaknesses, and sinfulness that that abound throughout society. Heterosexual priests no doubt have lustful and sinful thoughts, if not actions, about women.
The fact remains that priestly celibacy provides a good cover for a closet homosexual ... and apparently that convenient cover has not gone unnoticed by the closeted. It would not surprise me in the least if the proportion of homosexuals in the priesthood exceeded that of regular society, or at least of non-celibate Cathlics, Christians or clergy.
SnakeDoc
>> or force them all to take drugs to kill their sex drives to “help them out” with keeping their covenant with God and Church.
Hmmm. I wonder if it could be made easier, would it be less valuable? <<
Could consider the chemical equivalent of a cold shower. I knew someone who had to take simular drugs for a prostate condition, essentially a “chemical neutering”, before they had to have surgery on it, his sex drive went down to pretty much zero, he stopped lusting after other women and ended up developing several hobbies he soon dropped after he was able to get off of it. Sometimes he laments the “refound focus” the drugs gave him that he lost after stopping taking it.
Hey! Ricky Martin just did the same thing on another thread. What a coinkidink.
Exactly Doc....sin likes to hide...in this case in full view of the audiance under a deceptive mask.
My Jewish husband is more CATHOLIC than this FREAKY CREEP!!
Can you point me to your source on that?
“Gay” is a social construct that goes far beyond homosexuality. It includes things like “gay pride” and love of musical comedies (not that there is anything wrong with that). The church believed that you can have homosexual proclivities, lead a chaste life, and be in holy orders. That has proved to be a huge costly blunder.
However, when someone declares himself “Gay” he is placing himself in direct defiance of church teachings.
It is sad that this man was surrounded by Jesus (or at least the outward articles of faith), and yet he is/was lost..! (and I’ll bet his story isn’t alone)!
It is sad that this man was surrounded by Jesus (or at least the outward articles of faith), and yet he is/was lost..! (and I’ll bet his story isn’t alone)!
WRONGO....there are THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of GOOD, DECENT PRIESTS......I hope you were KIDDING!!
You ARE kidding....or are you just PLAYING BEING STUPID????
Ahhh! Someone who is still thinking and reasoning for himself! You are correct. If one is celebate this whole matter should be a non-issue. However, the time when the word 'homosexual' described the act and not the man is long past. That is why one may come across the word 'homosexualist' to describe the fellers who indulged in that sort of thing in very out-of-date books and journals.
The "sexual revolution" was a revolution of lust. Lust is a sin. Sin is in. Twenty years from now (if there is a twenty years from now) all the ink spilled on Tiger Woods's infidelities will seem quaint.
>>Christ was an extraordinary man ... a man without sin, the one Son of God. Rumors are irrelevant, though I am quite sure there were people that thought many horrible things about Christ. They crucified Him.
But, He was blameless and sinless. Priests are not. Priests are just men (apparently to varying degrees) ... with all the proclivities, perversions, weaknesses, and sinfulness that that abound throughout society. Heterosexual priests no doubt have lustful and sinful thoughts, if not actions, about women.
The fact remains that priestly celibacy provides a good cover for a closet homosexual ... and apparently that convenient cover has not gone unnoticed by the closeted. It would not surprise me in the least if the proportion of homosexuals in the priesthood exceeded that of regular society, or at least of non-celibate Cathlics, Christians or clergy.
SnakeDoc <<
The apostles, (which a lot of the priesthood is modeled against) were not perfect either and most of them were married men too. I blame the incestious relation Rome in the Old Roman Empire’s decline had with emerging Christianity for the issue.
The Catholic Church needs to do one or all of the following:
1. Let Priests Marry and encourage Married priests.
2. A far better vetting process for weeding out perverts from the priesthood.
3. Give them drugs to kill their sex drive preemptively.
Pick one, two or all three, something needs to be done.
Was HE the one that took that GORGEOUS on the outside Cathedral and when you walk in it’s all just folding chairs?? OMG!! IT WAS HIDEOUS!!
Then how do you explain the married fundamentalist ministers, like Ted Haggard, who have been involved in homosexual scandals in recent years?
>> It seems blatantly obvious that the Catholic church environment attracts homosexuals and pedophiles into their priesthood.
Either it’s blatantly obvious, or it seems to be the case.
No doubt other vocations include a fair share homosexuals and pedophiles.
You ANTI-CATHOLICS are really DISGUSTING?? What Religion are you???
Homosexuality is predominately a sexual addiction. Convincing society it is a “lifestyle” enables it to survive and grow like wildfire to the levels it has.
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