Posted on 12/15/2005 6:09:14 AM PST by NYer
VATICAN CITY (AP) - A group of gay Italian clergy said Wednesday that their homosexuality has not stopped them from being good priests,a direct response to a recent Vatican policy statement banning priestly candidates with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies.
The message, an open letter in which the priests said they felt like the church's "unloved and unwanted children," was posted on the Web site of the Italian Catholic news agency Adista. The agency last month leaked the Vatican instruction on gay priests a week before its scheduled release by the Holy See.
Adista said 39 priests, 26 diocesans and 13 more members of various religious orders had signed the letter. However, the text reproduced on the Web site did not include the signatures or list their names.
"We don't have more problems living chastely than heterosexuals do, because homosexuality is not a synonym of incontinence, nor of uncontrollable urges," the letter states. "We are not sick with sex and our homosexual tendency has not damaged our psychic health."
The official "Instruction" from the Congregation for Catholic Education released late last month said men "who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'" cannot be admitted to seminaries. The only exception would be for those with a "transitory problem" that had been overcome for at least three years.
The open letter noted that "we are Catholic priests ... with homosexual tendencies, and that fact has not stopped us from being good priests."
"We consider our homosexuality to be wealth, because it helps us to share the marginalization and suffering of many people," the letter adds.
The Vatican document had been in the works for years, but its existence became known in 2002 at the height of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the United States. A study commissioned by U.S. bishops found most abuse victims since 1950 were adolescent boys.
"The message, an open letter in which the priests said they felt like the church's "unloved and unwanted children," "
You are are the weakest links! Goodbye!!!
Hope they find out who they are - and remove them right away.
I'm in Spain at the moment, and I think Spain is - maybe thanks to Our Lady, I don't know how otherwise - more Catholic and more orthodox than Italy. There was a big "gay priest" flap here about a year ago, when some priest came out and announced that he was gay - and they removed him right away. Also, of course, the Spanish Church is under a lot of pro-gay pressure from the Zapatero (raving leftist) government over the whole "gay marriage" thing, which the Church has been oppenly opposing. But sometimes pressure makes you a little clearer on your own values, so perhaps it was a good thing for the Spanish Church.
I don't know if the anti-Church pressure is quite so severe in Italy. Maybe the local Italian heirarchy still feel they have the the luxury of ignoring these fools. Or maybe the local heirarchy is like that in the US - compromised. I hope not.
I heard the total content of the letter was, "Non serviam."
"Wealth"? That is a new one on me.
If it were such wealth why did we HAVE to know of his sexual orientation? So he can "share" his "wealth"? He seems to be bragging about it. One's sexual orientation shouldn't even be a factor in priesthood. If it is, then he's putting IT ahead of his ministry.
"Adista said 39 priests, 26 diocesans and 13 more members of various religious orders had signed the letter. However, the text reproduced on the Web site did not include the signatures or list their names."
Adista may not cooperate with their ordinaries and superiors by releasing their names. If they have any integrity, they will send copies of the letter to their ordinaries and superiors. I'm not holding my breath for that to happen.
I just followed the link provided by NYer. In the blurb by Adista it says, "...costretti a chiedere la garanzia dell’anonimato, pur avendo il coraggio di firmarsi a viso aperto nella redazione di Adista." Cowards. They want to have their cake and eat it, too.
I think that the point here is that Catholicism has always differentiated homosexual acts from homosexual desires. These priests have not acted on their desires, and have therefore violated no Catholic precepts. This is a theological debate, not a political one.
There's only one word for this, and it's in their native tongue:
Caccasotto.
Yup. No John Hancocks these.
Pressure always makes values clearer! Just ask the christians in the Middle and Far East. Oppresion drives one to make a concerted decision and act on it.
That said, I'm feeling a tad 'oppressed' by distance from those 'tapas' you are probably consuming around now ;-)
If there are only 39 homos amongst the Italian clergy they are in way better shape than we are.
We probably have twice that number amongst the bishops alone.
...followed by four pages of whining.
Excellent point starfish! A+++! Exactly the problem with such priests and their supporters. You don't need to be homosexually inclined to better minister to someone who is. Any homosexual priest who thinks that has an exulted opinion of himself. Any priest who is NOT homosexual and thinks that is too afraid of himself to think that Christ can shine through ANYONE to ANYONE. It is a matter of pride. The supporters of homosexuality are infected with a pride of which they themselves may not even be aware. True humility and complete obedience to the authority of the Magisterium, and a prayer life that contradicts neither, is the key to effective ministry. An exulted opinion of particular psycho/spiritual/biological makeups gets in the way of the Work. It comes from fear I think.
*Fine. Time to quit and go into acting. I suggest Le Cage Au Faux
LOL Man oh man are you naive.
Agreed.
I think it is, at its core, a political debate. These homosexuals want to force the Church to accept their open, but not practicing, homosexuality.
Only God knows if they have or have not acted on their desires or have or have not violated Catholic precepts. If it were just that --a religious question -- it would be a private matter between them and their confessors and they wouldn't be writing public letters to the Pope....with 39 other signatures. How much more political can you think of? It's like a petition.
They WANT the publicity and the notoriety of their open, strong, but non-practicing homosexuality out there for the world to see. It's a way for them to think that somehow their profound abnormality will be normalized. One priest calls it his "wealth" to be homosexual.
It SHOULD be no one's business, but these men are MAKING it the Pope's business.
It is self-aggrandizing, arrogance and pure politics.
My two cents.
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