Posted on 04/22/2002 2:43:14 AM PDT by kattracks
Edward Cardinal Egan's stand-in at St. Patrick's Cathedral pointedly blamed the priest sex abuse scandal yesterday on homosexuality, a "sex-saturated" society and a constant assault on celibacy by liberals.In a 15-minute homily from the most prominent Roman Catholic pulpit in the city, Msgr. Eugene Clark labeled the United States "probably the most immoral country" in the Western hemisphere. He also called homosexuality "a disorder" and said gay men shouldn't be allowed to become priests.
Clark, 76, a longtime key player and conservative voice in the Archdiocese of New York, delivered his stinging homily as Egan and other U.S. cardinals left for Rome to meet with the Pope about priestly pedophilia.
After preaching about forgiveness, Clark detailed reasons he believes some priests victimized children. He appeared to place most of the blame on homosexuality, saying the theory that people are born gay "is not true."
"The tendency to homosexuality is a disorder, not a sin," he said. "But the practice of homosexuality is truly sinful."
Some parishioners in the packed pews shifted uneasily, others nodded in agreement and a few walked out. But Clark continued, arguing that it was a "grave mistake" to allow gays in the priesthood. He blamed American society for being "very protective" of homosexuality.
"Homosexuality became in the American exchange of views a protected area," he said. "And unfortunately ... homosexual students were allowed to pass through seminaries. Grave mistake. Not because homosexuals in anyway tend to criminality, but because it is a disorder."
'The Most Immoral Country'
Clark also criticized what he called "the campaign of liberal America against celibacy."
He theorized that priests who have a tendency toward sexually abusing children a group he pegged at 3% of the nation's clergy were affected by a barrage of sinful images in society.
"Liberated sex is offered to people all day long, all evening long," he said. "There is nothing quite like it."
"We know we won't mention it outside the cathedral we are probably the most immoral country certainly in the Western hemisphere and maybe the larger circle because of the entertainment we suffer and what it's done to our [country's] morals ...," Clark said.
Christine Schubert of St. Paul dashed out of the cathedral midway through the homily. "I left because I realized I have no desire to be connected with the institution of the Catholic Church," said Schubert, 27. "I thought, wouldn't it be great if the entire church walked out?"
But few did. Most parishioners stayed, and many applauded Clark after his sermon.
Marianne Duddy, executive director of Dignity/USA, the nation's largest organization of gay Catholics, called Clark's comments linking the sex scandal with homosexuality "incredibly horrifying and irresponsible."
"This is a poor attempt to deflect attention away from the church's culpability for the sexual abuse of minors by priests and its attempt to cover it up for decades," she added.
But Catholic League President William Donohue praised Clark. "He makes a great deal of sense and to have this said so articulately by one of the brighter priests in the New York area is very encouraging," Donohue said.
"The internal problem in the church is a lack of governance and due to diligence," he added. "But there is no question about it this is a societywide problem that goes way beyond the Catholic Church."
With Gretchen E. Weber
Almond, please try to remember that Lucius brought up the artificial womb angle. I simply felt I could help further understanding by posting the thread link. Now, I am pleased that you might like the idea as a solution to abortion. But you worry me by bringing up "social cost" questions. I thought your argument was that what dooms the unborn is their lack of viability, not their burden on society. Is that a goal post I see you pushing behind your back?
Only if they are expected to deny their sexuality as a condition of their position, and as a group they have a history of being disproportionately full of child abusers.
Look, Americans and the Church have known of this problem for decades, but it still seems to exist. The Church is free to deny that a homosexual priesthood culture exists and just make little changes around the edges as long as you're willing to believe it. They can make the changes that are needed now or after a billion dollars of their money is redirected to sports cars and summer homes for trial lawyers. This is not my battle.
Still waiting to find out what's going on right under my nose!!! I have a long drive home now. Am anticipating your illumination.
You wanna talk about birth control? Hell i'm imagineing that espically during the early part of pregancy that this is not a very intrustive operation(I could be wrong here) this would make it even less painful(I bet you will find women who have refused to have an abortion based on friend's experiences, however how prevelant that is i do not know). What this could lead to is more women seeking this extraction method more than abortion was ever used.
You asked my opinion on the social cost invovled? I'm afraid to really jump into this since i haven't thought about it yet. Think of it this way though. On one side we could have continued abortion(which I think just about everyone on here agrees is wrong). On the other hand we may a crisis on our child welfare system by a huge surge of normally aborted babies and due to my point above possibly even more babies due to an increased use of the extraction method as birth control. Do I think that's acceptable social cost? I do not know. What I want to know is... who the hell is going to take care of all these kids and what price might they pay.. will we raise an extra abudance of people hating bitter kids.. or will we find some way to raise them properly?
I think that, in the end, it will come down to the question of why abortion is legal in this country. Is it legal out of respect for a woman's supposed right to not be pregnant, or is it legal because we wish to enjoy the benefits of ridding our society of those who would burden it financially and socially? I don't know why you and other pro-choicers believe abortion should be legal, but according to the Supreme Court, it is legal to serve the bodily integrity rights of the woman. A transplant procedure utilizing an artificial womb would allow a woman to exercise those rights without harming the baby. That should be the end of the debate. Whatever problems we may encounter as a result of not exterminating our children, we'll just have to deal with.
The dichotomy is the Church may be blaming homosexuals on their problems, but this is their own creation! Of course this can't be a blanket statement but it gives me cause to wonder.
If a priest with same-sex attraction has remained celibate for the duration of his priesthood, that's one thing. The homosexuals and feminists must be cleared out of the seminaries, though. And, the entire Church should institute the standards held by the Diocese of Phoenix, which WILL NOT accept as a candidate for the priesthood a man who has had recent struggles with same-sex attraction, because that in itself is evidence of stunted emotional development. You are aware of the fact that homosexuality is an emotional disorder, aren't you?
Doesn't sound like scapegoating to me. Sounds like he is identifying an aggravating phenomenon: the hypersexualization of our culture. Do you deny that our culture is saturated with erotic imagery, or that this super-sexual atmosphere is gasoline poured on the fire of perversion?
That hardly disputes what the priest was saying. By your own admission, many young couples that you personally shepherd in marriage ministry are immoral.
Aren't the children a part of the Church?
Well, sin is at the fault of all the things not of God. THough that sin is committed by the free will of individuals. And homosexuality is most certainly to blame -- it was a preponderance of homosexuals who have committed these atrocities, therefore, you can say that homosexuality is to blame. Remove homosexuality from the equation we're currently discussing, and the entire landscape would be different.
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