I was ordained a priest fifty years ago in July of 1974 and celebrated my First Mass in the parish church in which I was baptized and confirmed. At that time, St.
Thank you, Fr, for such an illuminating and revealing piece. First, given the support for homosexual proclivities in the western Church, how do you explain McCarrick’s laicization by Pope Francis? Also, given the legalization of gay marriage in 2015 and mainstream society’s acceptance of the LGBTQ lifestyle, there is less reason to remain closeted, so hasn’t this resulted in a more conservative, heterosexual seminarian population in recent years?
By laicizing McCarrick, Francis avoided a trial at which only he could have presided. He couldn't stand in judgment of McCarrick because McCarrick traveled to Argentina and discovered that Bergoglio abused Jesuit novices like McCarrick abused seminarians and young priests. Note, unlike Vigano whom Francis excommunicated, McCarrick was just laicized and can still qualify for a big Church funeral. The legalization of gay marriage has impacted the recruitment of gay seminarians and the retention of some gay priests. However, because most bishops and US-born priests today are gay, they will continue to seek out gay guys who will then be able to continue their sexual relationships with their recruiting priest or bishop when they are in the seminary and after they are ordained while enjoying a very comfortable closeted life. Conservative and Latin do not necessarily translate into "straight" insofar as a lot of gay seminarians today love the Latin Mass with its vestments and bells and whistles.
Great Reply Father Gene, you beat me to it. Only Bergoglio, as Pope, can judge a Cardinal! The laicization of McCarrick was more sodomite obfuscation.....aka coverup.
Thank you for your explanation. Still, Fr. James Martin and the America publication have reported a trend in nationwide seminaries graduating and ordaining much more conservative priests than in decades past (much to the chagrin of Martin’s followers’ comments on his Facebook page). Are you aware of this trend?
America and gay Father Martin want to hide how few straight seminarians there are today, just like CNA hid how there are less than half as many seminarians at NAC as they reported. Neither America nor CNA reported in the past how 1 in 12 NAC seminarians were HIV positive. Again, you cannot equate conservative and pro-Latin with straight. The more gays you have, the fewer straight guys you are going to have. It's like straight guys who don't like to go to gay bars,
So there’s no intention of taking the vow of chastity/celibacy seriously? If so, that is effectively lying to congregation and God himself on his ordination day.
Yes, but with an important caveat. Yes, when a priest has sex with a man or woman, he is breaking his promise of celibacy/vow of chastity. But,the problem is that most seminarians are never told the truth about celibacy before they are ordained (i.e., at any given moment in time, less than half of all the priests in the world are leading celibate lives). Only around 2%of priests can say that they never violated celibacy/chastity following their ordination. If you knew that 50% of the planes between point A and point B were crashing, would you board an aircraft or say,"I think I'll drive." Just after I was ordained, on my very first priestly retreat, the chancellor with whom I was walking around the grounds of the seminary said, "Now that you're ordained, I have just one piece of advice for you. Don't fool around with anyone in your parish or small town." So, not only are lay Catholics not told the truth about the "myth of celibacy," but so too are seminarians who probably never would have presented themselves for ordination if they knew the real statistics. While most US bishops and priests (except foreign-born priests from Africa and Asia) are gay and are having sex with other clerics or non-clerics using Apps like Grindr, most priests in Africa and Asia are sleeping with women. In Africa, it's hard to find a priest to be made a bishop who is not only not celibate, but a priest who does not have children. When you are a priest and you hear the confessions of other priests, you come to realize that most lay Catholics are totally in the dark about the sex lives of priests. For more information in this regard, Google "Sipe Sex Lies and the Priesthood," "Sipe Celibacy in Crisis," and "Sipe A Secret World."
Mind blowing. Thank you for your explanation and the further reading. Ok, to clarify: So is it fair to say men enter the seminary with the expectation and personal commitment to remain celibate but later find themselves giving in to temptation? Makes me wonder about the statistics of nuns…
Gene provides a glimpse of freshness to the Gospel. If you or someone you know ever experienced sexual abuse by clergy contact Gene. He will bring Hope and hopefully healing to too many already broken lives or wounded hearts.
Father Gene, thanks for this great article! A few years ago a relatively young, well-known and no doubt well intended internet Priest promoted daily readings of the bible in a year. I decided to try it. On about Day 6 or 7 he got to Genesis 19 and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah where a mob of townsfolk ordered Lot to send out his male guests "so they can know them." We know what God did to the town in retribution and we know that sodomy is a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance or justice depending on which bible translation one reads. This young celebrity Priest voiced his interpretation of this reading without even mentioning the sin of sodomy. Of course, I didn't bother to listen further. I must say, his interpretation is not only weak and misleading but also unmerciful. I hope and pray this young Priest gains courage.
Thank you, Fr, for such an illuminating and revealing piece. First, given the support for homosexual proclivities in the western Church, how do you explain McCarrick’s laicization by Pope Francis? Also, given the legalization of gay marriage in 2015 and mainstream society’s acceptance of the LGBTQ lifestyle, there is less reason to remain closeted, so hasn’t this resulted in a more conservative, heterosexual seminarian population in recent years?
By laicizing McCarrick, Francis avoided a trial at which only he could have presided. He couldn't stand in judgment of McCarrick because McCarrick traveled to Argentina and discovered that Bergoglio abused Jesuit novices like McCarrick abused seminarians and young priests. Note, unlike Vigano whom Francis excommunicated, McCarrick was just laicized and can still qualify for a big Church funeral. The legalization of gay marriage has impacted the recruitment of gay seminarians and the retention of some gay priests. However, because most bishops and US-born priests today are gay, they will continue to seek out gay guys who will then be able to continue their sexual relationships with their recruiting priest or bishop when they are in the seminary and after they are ordained while enjoying a very comfortable closeted life. Conservative and Latin do not necessarily translate into "straight" insofar as a lot of gay seminarians today love the Latin Mass with its vestments and bells and whistles.
Great Reply Father Gene, you beat me to it. Only Bergoglio, as Pope, can judge a Cardinal! The laicization of McCarrick was more sodomite obfuscation.....aka coverup.
Thank you for your explanation. Still, Fr. James Martin and the America publication have reported a trend in nationwide seminaries graduating and ordaining much more conservative priests than in decades past (much to the chagrin of Martin’s followers’ comments on his Facebook page). Are you aware of this trend?
America and gay Father Martin want to hide how few straight seminarians there are today, just like CNA hid how there are less than half as many seminarians at NAC as they reported. Neither America nor CNA reported in the past how 1 in 12 NAC seminarians were HIV positive. Again, you cannot equate conservative and pro-Latin with straight. The more gays you have, the fewer straight guys you are going to have. It's like straight guys who don't like to go to gay bars,
So there’s no intention of taking the vow of chastity/celibacy seriously? If so, that is effectively lying to congregation and God himself on his ordination day.
Yes, but with an important caveat. Yes, when a priest has sex with a man or woman, he is breaking his promise of celibacy/vow of chastity. But,the problem is that most seminarians are never told the truth about celibacy before they are ordained (i.e., at any given moment in time, less than half of all the priests in the world are leading celibate lives). Only around 2%of priests can say that they never violated celibacy/chastity following their ordination. If you knew that 50% of the planes between point A and point B were crashing, would you board an aircraft or say,"I think I'll drive." Just after I was ordained, on my very first priestly retreat, the chancellor with whom I was walking around the grounds of the seminary said, "Now that you're ordained, I have just one piece of advice for you. Don't fool around with anyone in your parish or small town." So, not only are lay Catholics not told the truth about the "myth of celibacy," but so too are seminarians who probably never would have presented themselves for ordination if they knew the real statistics. While most US bishops and priests (except foreign-born priests from Africa and Asia) are gay and are having sex with other clerics or non-clerics using Apps like Grindr, most priests in Africa and Asia are sleeping with women. In Africa, it's hard to find a priest to be made a bishop who is not only not celibate, but a priest who does not have children. When you are a priest and you hear the confessions of other priests, you come to realize that most lay Catholics are totally in the dark about the sex lives of priests. For more information in this regard, Google "Sipe Sex Lies and the Priesthood," "Sipe Celibacy in Crisis," and "Sipe A Secret World."
Mind blowing. Thank you for your explanation and the further reading. Ok, to clarify: So is it fair to say men enter the seminary with the expectation and personal commitment to remain celibate but later find themselves giving in to temptation? Makes me wonder about the statistics of nuns…
Great article Father Gene! Thank you very much!
Gene provides a glimpse of freshness to the Gospel. If you or someone you know ever experienced sexual abuse by clergy contact Gene. He will bring Hope and hopefully healing to too many already broken lives or wounded hearts.
Father Gene, thanks for this great article! A few years ago a relatively young, well-known and no doubt well intended internet Priest promoted daily readings of the bible in a year. I decided to try it. On about Day 6 or 7 he got to Genesis 19 and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah where a mob of townsfolk ordered Lot to send out his male guests "so they can know them." We know what God did to the town in retribution and we know that sodomy is a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance or justice depending on which bible translation one reads. This young celebrity Priest voiced his interpretation of this reading without even mentioning the sin of sodomy. Of course, I didn't bother to listen further. I must say, his interpretation is not only weak and misleading but also unmerciful. I hope and pray this young Priest gains courage.