Posted on 04/03/2002 10:49:38 AM PST by Antoninus
The Good Catholic's Response to Bad Priests
Claudio R. Salvucci
April 3, 2002
Our sex-obsessed culture has deluded itself with the ridiculous Freudian error that every sexual thought or fantasy not acted upon is a repression.
So muddled with lust have we become, so enslaved to our own self-gratification, that too many of us can no longer even conceive of a life lived in virginal purity. We see no dignity in it, only a condition to be pitied.
So some are suggesting that the Catholic priesthood, in the face of all the recent scandals, accept those ideas and make a grudging concession to human lust.
And that is exactly wrong.
It was precisely by conceding to lust in the first place that the priesthood got into this awful mess.
One curiously omitted question emerges from all of these so-called pedophilia scandals: Why do an estimated 80-90 percent of the victims of these molestations happen to be teen-age boys? True pedophiles tend to prey on pre-pubescent members of the opposite sex - not same-sex adolescents, which characterizes a different disorder called ephebophilia.
Many of us obedient Catholics, so ready to grant priests and bishops the benefit of the doubt, are now slowly becoming aware of a vast gay network quietly tolerated in the seminaries, the priesthood and even in the highest levels of church hierarchy.
Two respected and highly acclaimed books: Fr. Donald Cozzens' "The Changing Face of the Priesthood" and Michael Rose's "Goodbye! Good Men" frankly admit that the priesthood is "becoming a gay profession." Our local Catholic radio station, WISP 1570, recently featured a hard-hitting show describing how seminarians encountered difficulties for being "too masculine." St. Sebastian's Angels, a networking Website for gay priests, was only recently shut down. An anonymous priest interviewed by the Boston Globe described the sexual propositioning, harassment and intimidation he faced at the hands of a gay subculture in the seminary - "and I know guys who left because of it."
So what is to be done about this problem?
Some American bishops have adopted this idea that having homosexual inclinations doesn't matter in the seminary, that as long as the candidate lives in celibacy, there's no sin in the orientation. That is of course theologically true, but is it psychologically wise?
Suppose, analogously, we were to take a priest with the normal male attractions, and drop him right smack into a convent of nuns: eating, working, bathing, and sleeping among the opposite sex, 24 hours a day. Well, that would be sheer madness, utter insanity. Of course, we hope he wouldn't do anything to violate his chastity, but meanwhile we've vastly multiplied his near occasions to sin - the opportunities for sexual temptation to be enflamed and acted upon.
That is exactly what we are doing when we ordain gay men.
Folks, the monasteries and rectories are barracks in the army of Jesus Christ; housing men with a divine mission for which they need to be focused, clear-headed, and free from distraction. Just as in the military, a community of strong men provides the best environment for that condition to be met.
When homosexuality enters this system, the whole thing becomes utter bedlam. Suddenly, the opportunities for sex are numerous and immediate. Perhaps that is why the priesthood is said to be sought by some homosexual men.
Certainly, not every homosexual priest will act upon his temptations, but what right do we have to put him in danger of doing so? Do we have no healthy respect for the weaknesses of human nature?
There is only one solution here, and it is this: the seminaries must refuse Holy Orders to those with same-sex attractions. Not just for the overall good of the priesthood, but for the good of their own souls. For it is no act of charity to let a man become a priest in this life, only to be tempted into damnation in the next.
Claudio Salvucci of Bristol reminds Catholics that the best thing to do for priests - good or bad - is to pray for them.
An archive of Salvucci's columns may be found at: The I, Claudio web site
Ask Him. It's called prayer.
You pray. Some of the rest of us are going to demand accountability.
Passivity in the face of the disintegration of the priesthood is not acceptable.
Face it, Sinkspur. You are not in charge. The Bishops in union with the Holy Father are. Trust the Holy Spirit. Give it up, Sinkspur. Give it up. Furthermore, the priesthood is good hands. You need not get so upset.
And you reach this conclusion -- how?
I think you are wrong. I've met the Pope (he was gracious), and I've read a lot about him. I do not think that he dislikes women. There is nothing in his biography that would indicate that.
I trust the Holy Spirit; I don't trust much of the American hierarchy.
The only thing I'll "give up" are my dollars going to the diocesan collections.
He was very cold to the Pakistani woman from the UN who visited him in the Vatican, according to a biographer. Sorry I can't remember the book, but next time I go to the library, I'll try to find the book copy out the few paragraphs.
The woman described telling him about how terrible some of the rules about birth control and abortion affected some catholic women in cultures where women have no equal rights whatsoever. She described his eyes as turning steely cold and assumed it was because few people dared to challenge him, especially women. She concluded that he could be very cold. When the interview concluded, there was no photo op. She got the message
I'm not at all implying that from his treatment of the Pakastani woman that the rules should be relaxed because of this or that. I do think that the pope could have been more compassionate to her views, even if he didn't see it her way. She definitely made a point about how terrible it can be for some women having too many babies in some poor countries.
To bury one's head in the sand and think that everybody should follow the rules at all times and human misery will be relieved should think again. Some of the rules cause a lot of human misery. The hierarchy needs to be more understanding of the plight of women and what the birth control restrictions cause in modern families. Men who don't have to go through the post partum stuff and all the sleepless nights think they know it all and come down too hard on some people.
What kind of priest would do that? That sounds pretty cold and paranoid, if not downright insulting. Thank God it's not that bad anymore. That would really make my day if a priest refused to shake my hand after mass.
Are you sure you aren't talking about the Masonic handshake?
First of all in this ole material world we live in,a husband with a healthy income,mid hundred thousand and up,is a valuable commodity,I don't know any doc's who make less,do you?Despite the income I have heard complaining about the calls in the night.
Second,most of the wives I know are very much of the world and believe its best for overpopulation and numerous other causes they champion,to not procreate beyond the socially acceptable,two children per family.
Third,most of the wives I know (more than half)have great jobs.
Sinkspur,everytime I find one of your posts I end up thinking about points I really hadn't thought about before.The end result is that I become more convinced that relaxing the celibacy rules would be to court even more disasters.
Its called our baptismal responsibility. All too often we laity are lax in our participation in the faith. We have had seven priestly vocations and one diaconal vocation come out of our parish in the last seven years. Three priests are already ordained, one more this June, one next year and two the following year. One permanent diaconal ordination this October. All were called out by and approved of by the faith community. Very early church...its been wonderful.
100%
Catholic educated?
Yep!
Perhaps you are married to a Catholic?
That too!
PS: add to that list ...Faithful to the magisterium...Well grounded in the Catechism of the Catholic Church...A student of the Early Fathers of the Church..especially Augustine...an active apologist for the faith...I run the RCIA program in my parish with the help of my Catholic Wife...I have a prison ministry every Wednesday with 2 two hour bible studies...I am finishing up my studies this year in pastoral ministries and will be ordained a permanent deacon this October.
I think sacred scripture also!! And yes, we cannot go against either. Its that way in the eastern rite.
I know you don't mean it this way, but if you think about it; that's a real insult to the eastern rite Catholics and all married clergy! And I can tell you that many celebates treat the wives of these married priests terribly. Why?
One other thing. Why are Catholics who even entertain the thought of married priesthood treated like lepers? The Church had married bishops, priests and deacons for quite some time! The east still does.
Yes I am!
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