[jrherreid]

Wow. First article by Greeley that I've actually agreed with (for the most part).

[jrherreid]

Ping

[history_matters]

ping

[Lady In Blue]

Thank you jrherreid for the post.I've already read it before and I couldn't agree with you more on it.It must be near the end-times when I agree with Fr.Greeley but he sure is righ on here.

[Irene Adler]

The problem is that this isn't about "child abuse" it's almost entirely about homosexual abuse of adolescent (or slightly pre-adolescent) boys. It's clearly a different issue than what is being portrayed in the press. Given Greeley's past statements about the "lavender mafia" (apparently his term) in the church, I am surprised that he repeats the mainstream mantra. He knows better. And a married priesthood would almost certainly attract more hetersexual men to the priesthood.

Now, I am not a Catholic so I don't want to make recommendations for a church I don't belong to, but I do think that a logical case can be made that when traditional priestly celibacy was hit by the sexual revolution, straight guys became less likely to enter the priesthood while homosexual guys MAY have become more likely to (the second part's a guess, but I think it's a reasonable guess). While it's possible that the church can somehow once again start attracting sufficient numbers of heterosexual men to the priesthood with celibacy retained, I must say that I rather doubt that that will happen.

[iconoclast]

Greeley's a jerk, always has been, always will be. Don't you be one. Stop playing the "victim" card and be proud of your faith.

[B-Chan]

No kidding. Sometimes I think I've logged onto Oliver Cromwell's FreeCommonwealth website. I luv FR, but the snake-handlers and Roundheads get a bit thick sometimes.

[Notwithstanding]

Large thread already posted here

[aimhigh]

Jesus said to rejoice when you suffer persecution. I don't see much rejoicing here.

[Kay Soze]

Do Americans really want to do away completely with men such as Father Damian or M. Vincent or Father Kino or Joe Bernardin because the self-serving diatribes of a few resigned priests fits so neatly our culture's anti-Catholicism?

No of course not!

These men would be who they are with or with out the Catholic Church.

[steveisright]

Phew! And here i thought it was dead, what a relief!

[Gophack]

Do the bigots really think that Catholics were in the churches on Easter because of the priests?

This is the key point, and something that most people don't understand about Catholics. Priests are incidental to the Catholic Church. Not that they are not valuable, but it doesn't matter WHO the priest is. They are interchangeable. (I love my two parish priests and would miss them dearly if they left, but that's beside the point.) The Catholic Mass is about JESUS CHRIST. The priest is the instrument by which the bread and wine are turned into the body and blood of Jesus. God turns the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus; the priest celebrates the Holy Eucharist with the flock.

Many Protestant churches -- I will not say all, because I don't have knowledge on all -- but many to revolve around a particularly charismatic, or smart, or attractive, or saintly minister. Without the minister, the church disappears or weakens. In the Catholic Church, changing priests doesn't take away from the Mass, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ.

I think that is worth remembering, particularly us Catholics who might feel betrayed by the actions of a few wayward and sinful priests.

God bless.

[RobbyS]

He's an arrogant so-and-so, BUT he is no McBrien.

[Petronski]

Thanks Rev. Greeley, so why have you spent the last few decades sleeping with the enemy?

[colorado tanker]

I'm a prod, but I sure see the anti-Catholicism. What surprises (well, it really shouldn't) me is the degree to which most of the anti-Catholicism in the U.S. today comes from the left, and not just the secular left, but also the protestant left.