Obviously, you are not a straight priest or a Church historian. If you were, you would know that celibacy discourages straight men from becoming priests while it attracts gay men who see the RC priesthood as the best place to hide in the closet while living very comfortably. Most straight priests have met countless parents who told them, "My son was thinking of becoming a priest until he learned that he could not marry and have a family like ours." Don't complain that most bishops and priests today are gay or that the Church has closed thousands of churches to pay off court settlements involving homosexual predator priests. Fortunately, the Eastern Rite Churches don't have this problem because they do not force their priests to be celibate with the fake promise that the Holy Spirit will descend upon them and they will miraculously not have a basic human need for love and affection, thus ignoring the Scriptures in which we read, "And God saw that it was not good for man to be alone."
The purpose of the Affirming Church Directory™ is to help people locate and visit LGBTQ+-affirming Christian churches around the world. Our directory includes congregations that meet regularly in a physical location for worship, prayer, service, fellowship, and Christian community.
That's why I poll priests TODAY and ask what percentage of priests in their diocese do they believe are straight. The average response is that between 5% and 20% of the American-born priests are thought to be straight, while at least 50% of the foreign-born priests are believed to be straight. I don't waste my time polling young straight priests because most of them, like many devout lay Catholics, have not yet developed a well-working gaydar.
Working pro bono and not making a dime, I can hardly afford to research and work with the 198 US dioceses and eparchies. However. I agree that such a study would be beneficial. Christine Niles has documented the abuse of seminarians within the SSPX. They, like Roman Carholic Church bishops, want to cover up sexual predation and homosexual misconduct in their seminaries lest it harm enrollment and CONTRIBUTIONS from devout Catholics who are misled to beieve that seminarians today (unlike in the 70s and 80s) are straight and celibate when in fact that is a lie. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoj041P47sY
If your statistics are correct, I'm not opposed to them being spread and addressed.
But I am opposed to pointing the finger at celibacy as something wrong that needs changing.
The Saints died, but are alive in heaven.
There is such a thing as the 'democeacy of the dead'... That calls us to see things not just in the facts and ways of our own times, but of the consensus of generations.
Even if our times are corrupt,...why not consider the celibate consensus of Church history, and the witness of the Saints.
They hold weight, and are not to be brushed off like they nothing to do with us.
You are assuming that celibacy was practiced by the majority of clergy at a particular time in Church history. It's like a Catholic assuming that his pastor is celibate when I know, in fact, that he fathered two children.
Also, chaste masculine priests promote and witness to the Chaste fruitful love of Christ the Bridegroom and Salvation in the Catholic Church according to right order and God's designs...
While gay priests are about promoting themselves and their gay designs opposed to God's law... And false salvation according to false disordered permissions.... Which are lies and deceptions from hell... Leading to hell
Perhaps the Crux of the matter is not diminishing celibacy among priests,... But advocating the masculine celibacy of Jesus, Paul, and the Saints....
Which was sacramentally caught up in the the Love of Christ for His one Bride the Church...
And fruitful unto Chaste children...
Rather than the effeminate and adulterous false ecumenism and indifference of the modern age that does not advocate fidelity to Christ (the Bridegroom) alone in His One Bride ( the Church) alone... For Salvation...
And Children unto righteousness and Salvation in ( the Catholic Church alone)....
St brigit of Sweden said in her 'revelations' that it was revealed to her that celibate priests was the will of God for the Roman Catholic priesthood basically forever and woe to any Pope that says otherwise...curses upon him...
Look it up ...
Don't let a corrupt Church obscure Divine Designs....
You could be cursed for doing so...
St Peter Damian, doctor of the Church called out the homosexual clergy of his corrupt times, but didn't denounce celibacy... He advocated more strict discipline and penance
You can quote as many dead saints as you wish. The TRUTH is, however, that at any moment in time, no more than half of all priests are practicing celibacy and no more than 2% of priests can say that they NEVER violated celibate chastity following ordination. That's why, when Cardinal Jose Sanchez who was in charge of Catholic clergy throughout the world was asked about those high celibacy failure rates responded, "I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of those figures." You think Fathers Adam and Steve are going off to a monastery for a retreat when I may know they are going off to Mykonos or another gay hang out. You must lead a very sheltered life to be so naive when it comes to clerical celibacy, You probably even think that popes like Francis and Leo are straight along with their other close gay friends living in the Vatican. Try reading In the Closet of the Vatican by Frederic Martel. Having lived in Rome and the Vatican, I can support everything he wrote including the drug fueled gay orgies. Father Marko Rupnik who raped over 20 nuns and forced many of them to drink his semen out of a chalice has yet to be disciplined becuase he knows all the dirt on Francis, Leo, Fernandez, and all the other gay clerics who make up well over 80% of Vatican City.
I converted to Catholicism about 20 years ago, felt drawn to celibacy, joined a new Franciscan community that was getting started and growing.
We had a out 50 men in our community after only 5 years of getting going and a lot more in the ranks looking to get in.
I was in leadership so I was part of men's application process, and their screening and acceptance or denial of entry process.
We had lots of straight guys living our strict observance. The candidate here or there that struggled with homosexual inclinations seemed like a rarity ( maybe even a flip side 2 percent, to your 2 percent statistic of priests faithful to their celibacy always)
Sadly my community disbanded while I was a seminarian. Some of the former members are now diocesan priests. Decent straight men.
I became a seminarian with a diocese, but found the culture to difficult for me to live in, so I just applied to another Franciscan community and was accepted.
20 years into my celibate journey without violating my celibacy by the grace of God.
Also, during my 2 years at a major seminary in the US, that was known for having a gay culture in the past but was cleaned up before I started going there: I had a good experience with the priests on staff. I didn't get gay vibes. Same thing with most or close to the great majority of seminarians. I didn't get gay vibes from them. They seemed like decent men, for hope in the future Church.
This time you are maliciously conflating homosexuality with pedophilia and sexual abuse.
Epstein was not homosexual.
You are advocating for a senseless and hateful witch-hunting.
A priest can be homosexual by nature but rejecting his sinful impulses to serve God with a pure heart. The vocation of a man (or woman) is between him (or her) and God, nobody gave you the authority to judge it. Learn what it means: "‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13).
I regret that you don't know what you are talking about. #1 The Catholic Church does NOT have a pedophile problem. No more than 5% of clerical abuse victims are prepubescent children (i.e., pedophilia). #2 The Catholic Church does not have a problem, like in Epstein's case, which mainly involved young women and girls. Ove 80% of the victims of clerical sexual abuse are males, the vast majority teenage boys who are victims of HOMOSEXUAL PREDATION. As I wrote in tomorrow's article, there is a clear "connection between homosexuality and clerical sex abuse documented by Rev. Paul Sullins, Rev. Darius Oko, and Swiss Bishop Marian Eleganti." See" https://philarchive.org/rec/SULISAhttps://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/02/fr-dariusz-okos-major-article-with-pope.html and https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/bp-eleganti-church-cant-address-abuse-crisis-until-it-confronts-homosexuality-in-the-clergy/ Obviously, you never heard of NAMBLA and that Sullins’ findings are consistent with those contained in The Gay Report, a study by homosexual activists Karla Jay and Allen Young, which determined that “73 percent of homosexuals acknowledged having preyed on adolescents or younger boys.” Comparing abuse in society where most victims are women/girls abused by heterosexuals, most abuse victims in the Catholic Church are males who are NOT targets of the few straight priests left in the Church today. Having studied and lived with priests for the greater part of my life, I know about their orgies, drag parties, vacations in Thailand and Mykonos, use of gay hook-up Apps like Grindr, etc. Gay prostitutes have provided me with evidence of their sick behavior that they engage in on your nickel. If you can't handle the truth, I suggest you read pro-LGBTQ America, NCR, or Crux.
In 1979 gay people were not exactly coming out of the closet and lining up to be interviewed by Karla Jay and Allen Young. Most gay people stayed hidden back then. Early studies were methodologically flawed, the sample population was cherry picked in a non-representative way and many were selected among convicted criminals.
More recent studies and polls have shown that there is no causality link between homosexuality and pedophilia. Your lack of discernment may be caused by your personal experience, which I do not pretend to understand, let alone judge. What I do understand is that the indiscriminate witch hunt that you are suggesting will punish the sick and depraved but also harm many innocent and caring priest and their communities.
Who cares whether a priest or bishop is gay or not? Lift the bigoted blinkers from your eyes. Judge them by their deeds. I much prefer a compassionate and ethical gay priest to a perverted corrupt straight one!
Paul is clear that celibacy is the preferred way. It is not the problem in the priesthood. The problem is failure in screening. The seminaries have looked the other way, especially in light of the fact that the hierarchy is polluted with homosexuality. To suggest that celibacy is the "cause" is nonsensical. A heterosexual man is not going to become homosexual because he is living a life of celibacy in the seminary. These troubled men must be rooted out in the screening process before entering seminary. Seminarians must feel safe in "outing" the gay invaders. There has long been an argument that a homosexual man can live a celibate life, but living in a seminary is clearly the near occasion of sin and unacceptable (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis). A man cannot be an effective priest if he has a wife and family. They do and should come before the parish family. I agree that this is a devastating problem, but the holy, faithful, heterosexual men who wish to give their life to the Church need support from the hierarchy and laity to root out the weeds.
Mary Beth, in my opinion, you are right in some respects, and wrong in others. While celibacy per se is not the cause of clerical homosexual predation and misconduct, it IS a secondary cause in so far as MANY homosexuals are attracted to the priesthood because they can live in the closet while naive Catholics believe they have sacrificed getting married and having a wife and children to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is how the late Bishop Pat Buckley phrased it: "Today, the Roman Catholic episcopate and priesthood are predominantly gay. Is it a case that they promote each other? Is it a case that they promote each other in return for sexual favors? The case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is a case in point. McCarrick saw to it that quite a number of his former bedfellows got miters. The old belief that the Holy Spirit appoints bishops is nonsense. A cleric gets promoted for being a company man, for having a brown tongue, and it seems for bending over for your superiors. Why are so many gay men attracted to the priesthood? Do they go in there to hide? Do they go in to escape? Do they go in for the position and the status? Do they go in for the easy, comfortable life." You are also naive in your understanding of the fact that at any given moment in time, no more than half of all priests are leading celibate lives, and that only around 2% of priests can say that they never violated celibacy throughout their entire lives. Why do you expect priests to always be faithful to celibacy when neither Jesus, nor the popes, live alone like many diocesan priests? Even Jesus sent forth his apostles, "two by two" and not alone. For 4,000 years, Judaism taught that celibacy was practically unnatural and that only a very, very small number of human beings can lead celibate lives. Obviously, numerous studies, including those about clerical celibacy in the RC Church, seem to support their centuries' old beliefs. Finally, in regard to your statement, "A man cannot be an effective priest if he has a wife and family." I know many married Eastern Rite priests and Protestant ministers who are more dedicated and available than many priests I have known and supervised throughout my life. If one were to follow your logic, parents could love one child better than ten. Love does not work that way, nor does the pastoral ministry of priests. An unmarried priest might have the POTENTIAL to be more available than a married priest, but that potential, unfortunately, is often not actualized. It is for this reason that I maintain the RC Church would be better served by BOTH celibate AND married priests. Do not, do not, do not view support for married priests as an attack or criticism of truly celibate priests.
Thanks for your response, Gene. The argument that celibacy is a secondary cause is a non sequitur. It would not explain why homosexuals have invaded teaching professions, the Boy Scouts, athletics, etc. It is an act of opportunity that is only explained by the search for darkness where the sin can be hidden. I do not adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church which for me supersede the Old Testament and Jewish teaching including on celibacy. I agree there are very good priests who are married, but we aren’t talking about competition from 10 siblings, but of hundreds of parishioners. I have heard many stirring homilies from priests stating without hesitation that if they had a family, someone would get the short end of the stick. Our culture is averse to sacrifice. We are an instant gratification, entitled people. To me, there is nothing more inspiring and hope filled than a man living out his vocation as a celibate Father, holy and united in will with the Holy Trinity. In my never to be humble opinion, this is what we should encourage, support, and strive for. The answer is never to go backwards. Thanks again for the discussion!
While most "CONVICTED" child molesters are married men, most unconvicted sexual predators are Catholic clergy. Most kids abused by priests don't report their abuse until they are around 50-60 years old when the statute of limitations has expired, and the DA cannot prosecute or CONVICT them. However, in cases when the statute is lifted, such as in CA, MD, NJ, and CA,, thousands of victims have come forward. In Los Angeles, just one out of 198 dioceses, some 1,400 victims recently came forward! If every diocese were as large as LA, that would equate to (198 x 1,400) 277,200 convictions! The percentage of abusive priests in the US is between 23% and 25%. Are you telling me that over 25% of married men have been charged and convicted of child abuse? In my diocese, 51 out of 200 priests (25.5%) were removed from ministry for abusing kids, but only one was convicted who was reported before the statute of limitations expired. Also, while over 80% of abuse victims in the Catholic Church are teenage boys (who were NOT abused by straight men), the majority of abuse victims of married men are young women/girls. See: https://www.bishop-accountability.org/dioceses/usa-pa-altoona-johnstown/ The Boy Scouts also identified 7,800 leaders who abused 12,000 victims over 72 years. There was a gay Eagle Scout from our diocese who entered the seminary only to be dismissed within 3 months after the pastor of a parish where he was helping to train altar boys complained about his predatory behavior. That 12,000 figure still pales in significance to the number of boys abused by Catholic priests.
I don't understand what you're saying. The 50 priests who were unconvicted in my diocese were mainly parish priests as the bishopaccountability.org report shows. What is your hidden agenda that you want to give a pass to priests guilty of homosexual predation? One might be led to question if you are gay or lesbian for your refusal to look at the facts.
It’s not about protecting nobody. It’s about realizing statistics about the unconvicted cannot be known especially if confidentiality agreements were entered. There is a huge problem across many professions including in Hollywood. Your agenda seems to be pointed at believing more liberal Catholics are responsible when conservatives are equally responsible.
What do conservative or liberal Catholics have to do with clerical sexual predation? Again, you seem to have a hidden agenda. Even though there were confidentiality agreements involved in cases involving McCarrick, Hubbard, Mahony, DiMarzio, etc., the sheer number of complaints and the amounts of the settlements make their innocence highly questionable.
A celibate Priesthood is not the cause of widespread homosexuality, that is totally false.
Obviously, you are not a straight priest or a Church historian. If you were, you would know that celibacy discourages straight men from becoming priests while it attracts gay men who see the RC priesthood as the best place to hide in the closet while living very comfortably. Most straight priests have met countless parents who told them, "My son was thinking of becoming a priest until he learned that he could not marry and have a family like ours." Don't complain that most bishops and priests today are gay or that the Church has closed thousands of churches to pay off court settlements involving homosexual predator priests. Fortunately, the Eastern Rite Churches don't have this problem because they do not force their priests to be celibate with the fake promise that the Holy Spirit will descend upon them and they will miraculously not have a basic human need for love and affection, thus ignoring the Scriptures in which we read, "And God saw that it was not good for man to be alone."
The purpose of the Affirming Church Directory™ is to help people locate and visit LGBTQ+-affirming Christian churches around the world. Our directory includes congregations that meet regularly in a physical location for worship, prayer, service, fellowship, and Christian community.
https://www.gaychurch.org/find_a_church/about-our-directory/
While I agree with you, some of that research is 14 years old.
That's why I poll priests TODAY and ask what percentage of priests in their diocese do they believe are straight. The average response is that between 5% and 20% of the American-born priests are thought to be straight, while at least 50% of the foreign-born priests are believed to be straight. I don't waste my time polling young straight priests because most of them, like many devout lay Catholics, have not yet developed a well-working gaydar.
You should do that same research for the Institute of CTK, FSSP, SSPX, and other traditional organizations.
Working pro bono and not making a dime, I can hardly afford to research and work with the 198 US dioceses and eparchies. However. I agree that such a study would be beneficial. Christine Niles has documented the abuse of seminarians within the SSPX. They, like Roman Carholic Church bishops, want to cover up sexual predation and homosexual misconduct in their seminaries lest it harm enrollment and CONTRIBUTIONS from devout Catholics who are misled to beieve that seminarians today (unlike in the 70s and 80s) are straight and celibate when in fact that is a lie. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoj041P47sY
It would be very interesting.
If your statistics are correct, I'm not opposed to them being spread and addressed.
But I am opposed to pointing the finger at celibacy as something wrong that needs changing.
The Saints died, but are alive in heaven.
There is such a thing as the 'democeacy of the dead'... That calls us to see things not just in the facts and ways of our own times, but of the consensus of generations.
Even if our times are corrupt,...why not consider the celibate consensus of Church history, and the witness of the Saints.
They hold weight, and are not to be brushed off like they nothing to do with us.
You are assuming that celibacy was practiced by the majority of clergy at a particular time in Church history. It's like a Catholic assuming that his pastor is celibate when I know, in fact, that he fathered two children.
The Apostles practiced continency in Marriage after Pentecost... The Desert Fathers practiced celibacy... Monks practiced celibacy...
St. Francis and st Dominic practiced celibacy and enjoined it on their first order men and women....
The Saints upheld it and witnessed to it....
It is a Dogma of Catholic Faith that the celibate vocation is superior to the married state in its objective condition....
And you dare diminish it so outlandishly in your posts....
Woe to you...
Also, chaste masculine priests promote and witness to the Chaste fruitful love of Christ the Bridegroom and Salvation in the Catholic Church according to right order and God's designs...
While gay priests are about promoting themselves and their gay designs opposed to God's law... And false salvation according to false disordered permissions.... Which are lies and deceptions from hell... Leading to hell
Perhaps the Crux of the matter is not diminishing celibacy among priests,... But advocating the masculine celibacy of Jesus, Paul, and the Saints....
Which was sacramentally caught up in the the Love of Christ for His one Bride the Church...
And fruitful unto Chaste children...
Rather than the effeminate and adulterous false ecumenism and indifference of the modern age that does not advocate fidelity to Christ (the Bridegroom) alone in His One Bride ( the Church) alone... For Salvation...
And Children unto righteousness and Salvation in ( the Catholic Church alone)....
St brigit of Sweden said in her 'revelations' that it was revealed to her that celibate priests was the will of God for the Roman Catholic priesthood basically forever and woe to any Pope that says otherwise...curses upon him...
Look it up ...
Don't let a corrupt Church obscure Divine Designs....
You could be cursed for doing so...
St Peter Damian, doctor of the Church called out the homosexual clergy of his corrupt times, but didn't denounce celibacy... He advocated more strict discipline and penance
You can quote as many dead saints as you wish. The TRUTH is, however, that at any moment in time, no more than half of all priests are practicing celibacy and no more than 2% of priests can say that they NEVER violated celibate chastity following ordination. That's why, when Cardinal Jose Sanchez who was in charge of Catholic clergy throughout the world was asked about those high celibacy failure rates responded, "I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of those figures." You think Fathers Adam and Steve are going off to a monastery for a retreat when I may know they are going off to Mykonos or another gay hang out. You must lead a very sheltered life to be so naive when it comes to clerical celibacy, You probably even think that popes like Francis and Leo are straight along with their other close gay friends living in the Vatican. Try reading In the Closet of the Vatican by Frederic Martel. Having lived in Rome and the Vatican, I can support everything he wrote including the drug fueled gay orgies. Father Marko Rupnik who raped over 20 nuns and forced many of them to drink his semen out of a chalice has yet to be disciplined becuase he knows all the dirt on Francis, Leo, Fernandez, and all the other gay clerics who make up well over 80% of Vatican City.
I converted to Catholicism about 20 years ago, felt drawn to celibacy, joined a new Franciscan community that was getting started and growing.
We had a out 50 men in our community after only 5 years of getting going and a lot more in the ranks looking to get in.
I was in leadership so I was part of men's application process, and their screening and acceptance or denial of entry process.
We had lots of straight guys living our strict observance. The candidate here or there that struggled with homosexual inclinations seemed like a rarity ( maybe even a flip side 2 percent, to your 2 percent statistic of priests faithful to their celibacy always)
Sadly my community disbanded while I was a seminarian. Some of the former members are now diocesan priests. Decent straight men.
I became a seminarian with a diocese, but found the culture to difficult for me to live in, so I just applied to another Franciscan community and was accepted.
20 years into my celibate journey without violating my celibacy by the grace of God.
Also, during my 2 years at a major seminary in the US, that was known for having a gay culture in the past but was cleaned up before I started going there: I had a good experience with the priests on staff. I didn't get gay vibes. Same thing with most or close to the great majority of seminarians. I didn't get gay vibes from them. They seemed like decent men, for hope in the future Church.
Another deeply disturbing article.
This time you are maliciously conflating homosexuality with pedophilia and sexual abuse.
Epstein was not homosexual.
You are advocating for a senseless and hateful witch-hunting.
A priest can be homosexual by nature but rejecting his sinful impulses to serve God with a pure heart. The vocation of a man (or woman) is between him (or her) and God, nobody gave you the authority to judge it. Learn what it means: "‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13).
I regret that you don't know what you are talking about. #1 The Catholic Church does NOT have a pedophile problem. No more than 5% of clerical abuse victims are prepubescent children (i.e., pedophilia). #2 The Catholic Church does not have a problem, like in Epstein's case, which mainly involved young women and girls. Ove 80% of the victims of clerical sexual abuse are males, the vast majority teenage boys who are victims of HOMOSEXUAL PREDATION. As I wrote in tomorrow's article, there is a clear "connection between homosexuality and clerical sex abuse documented by Rev. Paul Sullins, Rev. Darius Oko, and Swiss Bishop Marian Eleganti." See" https://philarchive.org/rec/SULISAhttps://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/02/fr-dariusz-okos-major-article-with-pope.html and https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/bp-eleganti-church-cant-address-abuse-crisis-until-it-confronts-homosexuality-in-the-clergy/ Obviously, you never heard of NAMBLA and that Sullins’ findings are consistent with those contained in The Gay Report, a study by homosexual activists Karla Jay and Allen Young, which determined that “73 percent of homosexuals acknowledged having preyed on adolescents or younger boys.” Comparing abuse in society where most victims are women/girls abused by heterosexuals, most abuse victims in the Catholic Church are males who are NOT targets of the few straight priests left in the Church today. Having studied and lived with priests for the greater part of my life, I know about their orgies, drag parties, vacations in Thailand and Mykonos, use of gay hook-up Apps like Grindr, etc. Gay prostitutes have provided me with evidence of their sick behavior that they engage in on your nickel. If you can't handle the truth, I suggest you read pro-LGBTQ America, NCR, or Crux.
In 1979 gay people were not exactly coming out of the closet and lining up to be interviewed by Karla Jay and Allen Young. Most gay people stayed hidden back then. Early studies were methodologically flawed, the sample population was cherry picked in a non-representative way and many were selected among convicted criminals.
More recent studies and polls have shown that there is no causality link between homosexuality and pedophilia. Your lack of discernment may be caused by your personal experience, which I do not pretend to understand, let alone judge. What I do understand is that the indiscriminate witch hunt that you are suggesting will punish the sick and depraved but also harm many innocent and caring priest and their communities.
And that is neither justice nor truth.
Orgoglio is the Italian word for "Pride." Change "o" to "e" add a "B" and we have Be'rgoglio! Be Pride!
So what is his real name?
How long, Lord? How long does your Church have to suffer?
I propose an easy, although uncomfortable, method to find out if your priest is gay, although it may not be truthful.
Ask your priest "are you gay?"
(This may be a repeat because I could not find my comment. )
See: https://johneighteenthirtyseven.substack.com/p/id-ing-gay-bishops-and-priests
I think an easy, although uncomfortable approach, would be to ask a priest, " are you gay?"
Who cares whether a priest or bishop is gay or not? Lift the bigoted blinkers from your eyes. Judge them by their deeds. I much prefer a compassionate and ethical gay priest to a perverted corrupt straight one!
Paul is clear that celibacy is the preferred way. It is not the problem in the priesthood. The problem is failure in screening. The seminaries have looked the other way, especially in light of the fact that the hierarchy is polluted with homosexuality. To suggest that celibacy is the "cause" is nonsensical. A heterosexual man is not going to become homosexual because he is living a life of celibacy in the seminary. These troubled men must be rooted out in the screening process before entering seminary. Seminarians must feel safe in "outing" the gay invaders. There has long been an argument that a homosexual man can live a celibate life, but living in a seminary is clearly the near occasion of sin and unacceptable (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis). A man cannot be an effective priest if he has a wife and family. They do and should come before the parish family. I agree that this is a devastating problem, but the holy, faithful, heterosexual men who wish to give their life to the Church need support from the hierarchy and laity to root out the weeds.
Mary Beth, in my opinion, you are right in some respects, and wrong in others. While celibacy per se is not the cause of clerical homosexual predation and misconduct, it IS a secondary cause in so far as MANY homosexuals are attracted to the priesthood because they can live in the closet while naive Catholics believe they have sacrificed getting married and having a wife and children to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is how the late Bishop Pat Buckley phrased it: "Today, the Roman Catholic episcopate and priesthood are predominantly gay. Is it a case that they promote each other? Is it a case that they promote each other in return for sexual favors? The case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is a case in point. McCarrick saw to it that quite a number of his former bedfellows got miters. The old belief that the Holy Spirit appoints bishops is nonsense. A cleric gets promoted for being a company man, for having a brown tongue, and it seems for bending over for your superiors. Why are so many gay men attracted to the priesthood? Do they go in there to hide? Do they go in to escape? Do they go in for the position and the status? Do they go in for the easy, comfortable life." You are also naive in your understanding of the fact that at any given moment in time, no more than half of all priests are leading celibate lives, and that only around 2% of priests can say that they never violated celibacy throughout their entire lives. Why do you expect priests to always be faithful to celibacy when neither Jesus, nor the popes, live alone like many diocesan priests? Even Jesus sent forth his apostles, "two by two" and not alone. For 4,000 years, Judaism taught that celibacy was practically unnatural and that only a very, very small number of human beings can lead celibate lives. Obviously, numerous studies, including those about clerical celibacy in the RC Church, seem to support their centuries' old beliefs. Finally, in regard to your statement, "A man cannot be an effective priest if he has a wife and family." I know many married Eastern Rite priests and Protestant ministers who are more dedicated and available than many priests I have known and supervised throughout my life. If one were to follow your logic, parents could love one child better than ten. Love does not work that way, nor does the pastoral ministry of priests. An unmarried priest might have the POTENTIAL to be more available than a married priest, but that potential, unfortunately, is often not actualized. It is for this reason that I maintain the RC Church would be better served by BOTH celibate AND married priests. Do not, do not, do not view support for married priests as an attack or criticism of truly celibate priests.
Thanks for your response, Gene. The argument that celibacy is a secondary cause is a non sequitur. It would not explain why homosexuals have invaded teaching professions, the Boy Scouts, athletics, etc. It is an act of opportunity that is only explained by the search for darkness where the sin can be hidden. I do not adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church which for me supersede the Old Testament and Jewish teaching including on celibacy. I agree there are very good priests who are married, but we aren’t talking about competition from 10 siblings, but of hundreds of parishioners. I have heard many stirring homilies from priests stating without hesitation that if they had a family, someone would get the short end of the stick. Our culture is averse to sacrifice. We are an instant gratification, entitled people. To me, there is nothing more inspiring and hope filled than a man living out his vocation as a celibate Father, holy and united in will with the Holy Trinity. In my never to be humble opinion, this is what we should encourage, support, and strive for. The answer is never to go backwards. Thanks again for the discussion!
*I do adhere...
It’s important to remember most convicted child molesters in the USA are married men who identify as straight not priests or gay men.
While most "CONVICTED" child molesters are married men, most unconvicted sexual predators are Catholic clergy. Most kids abused by priests don't report their abuse until they are around 50-60 years old when the statute of limitations has expired, and the DA cannot prosecute or CONVICT them. However, in cases when the statute is lifted, such as in CA, MD, NJ, and CA,, thousands of victims have come forward. In Los Angeles, just one out of 198 dioceses, some 1,400 victims recently came forward! If every diocese were as large as LA, that would equate to (198 x 1,400) 277,200 convictions! The percentage of abusive priests in the US is between 23% and 25%. Are you telling me that over 25% of married men have been charged and convicted of child abuse? In my diocese, 51 out of 200 priests (25.5%) were removed from ministry for abusing kids, but only one was convicted who was reported before the statute of limitations expired. Also, while over 80% of abuse victims in the Catholic Church are teenage boys (who were NOT abused by straight men), the majority of abuse victims of married men are young women/girls. See: https://www.bishop-accountability.org/dioceses/usa-pa-altoona-johnstown/ The Boy Scouts also identified 7,800 leaders who abused 12,000 victims over 72 years. There was a gay Eagle Scout from our diocese who entered the seminary only to be dismissed within 3 months after the pastor of a parish where he was helping to train altar boys complained about his predatory behavior. That 12,000 figure still pales in significance to the number of boys abused by Catholic priests.
You cannot prove what job they have if unconvicted.
I don't understand what you're saying. The 50 priests who were unconvicted in my diocese were mainly parish priests as the bishopaccountability.org report shows. What is your hidden agenda that you want to give a pass to priests guilty of homosexual predation? One might be led to question if you are gay or lesbian for your refusal to look at the facts.
It’s not about protecting nobody. It’s about realizing statistics about the unconvicted cannot be known especially if confidentiality agreements were entered. There is a huge problem across many professions including in Hollywood. Your agenda seems to be pointed at believing more liberal Catholics are responsible when conservatives are equally responsible.
What do conservative or liberal Catholics have to do with clerical sexual predation? Again, you seem to have a hidden agenda. Even though there were confidentiality agreements involved in cases involving McCarrick, Hubbard, Mahony, DiMarzio, etc., the sheer number of complaints and the amounts of the settlements make their innocence highly questionable.