Priests, Celibacy, Scandals, etc.
Q: What has the Church done to protect minors in the future?
A: Obviously, no amount of prayer will reverse past sins but between 2002 and
2005 the Philadelphia Archdiocese has taken the following steps. This from the
Philadelphia Inquirer:
1. "Made it a policy to permanently remove any priest who ever abused a
minor.
2. "Appointed a review board to advise the archbishop of sexual-abuse
matters.
3. "Trained 40,000 adults, including priests, teachers, coaches and
volunteers, who work in the archdiocese about its rules for interacting with
minors.
4. "Educated more than 110,000 grammar school and high school youngsters
about safe relationships with adults.
5. "Appointed victim-assistance coordinators to reach out to persons
abused by
clergy."
(Source: Inquirer 9/23/05)
Q: What percent of American priests over the past 50 years were NOT accused of
abuse?
A. 96 percent
Q: What percent of priests currently in active duty do you think are
safe?
A: Well, now that the Great Purge has taken place, hopefully, 99 or closer to
100 percent, are safe. At the present time, the Catholic Church is by far the
safest religion in the world for minors.
Q: Don't you think the Church should allow priests to get married?
A: How would that help anything?
Q: Priests could have sex frequently, and could have lots of children.
A: Well, here's the thing. Most of the abuse victims were male, and all the
abusive priests were male. In other words, for the most part, the abusive
priests were the ones that would not have wanted to get married even if they
were allowed.
Q: Well, how about the heterosexually-oriented priests? Why not get them
married?
A: Well, if you review all the studies and statistics, it becomes very apparent
that heterosexually-oriented priests, on average, are the safest group of men
in the world. Safer than married clergy. Safer than married laity. Safer than
homosexually-oriented priests or laymen.
Q: So, what would the harm be in letting the heterosexuals marry?
A: To tell these men to get married would either have no affect, or, worse, it
would increase their risk. Most likely, it would lead to a situation in which
men with less of a commitment to the Lord, men of a lower spiritual caliber,
signing up for the priesthood.
Q: Where in the Bible does it say it's better for clergy to be celibate?
A: St. Paul, who was celibate himself, recommends celibacy for full-time
ministers in his first letter to the Corinthians in the Bible. St. Paul wrote:
For the form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from
anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to
please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to
please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl
is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit;
but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her
husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you,
but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord (1
Cor. 7:31-35)
Q: Interesting about St. Paul. How about Jesus? Did Jesus praise celibacy
for the sake of the kingdom?
Q: Yup. Here is what Jesus said: "For there are eunuchs who have been so
from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there
are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it (Matthew
19:12)." The most famous three virgins of the first century
would probably be Jesus, Mary and St. John.
Q: Can you point me to any other big celebrity saints that pledged
celibacy for the sake of God's kingdom?
A. John the Baptist! St. Augustine! St. Jerome! Leo the Great! Gregory the
Great! St Thomas Aquinas! St. Anselm! St. Francis of Assisi! St. Patrick! St.
Bonaventure! Mother Teresa! In the Old Testament? The Prophet Jeremiah! The
Lord told Jeremiah not to take a wife (Jer 16:1-4) Priesthood is all about
sacrifice. The more one sacrifices, the more one is united to the Sacrifice on
Calvary, and therefore, to Jesus. The more one sacrifices his life, the more
souls will be brought to salvation, which Jesus won for the benefit of the
world.
Q: What do you have against marriage?
A: Nada, mi amigo. I am married and think it's the greatest thing. The Church
regards marriage as a beautiful gift from God, who created this holy sacrament
and holy union, whose goal is the continual sanctification of both spouses to
prepare them for union with God. In fact, God specifically created the male and
female to complement one another. St. Jerome, one of the Early Church Fathers,
said marriage was a precious gift equivalent to silver, and that
celibacy was a more precious gift, equivalent to gold.
Q: Ok, back to the abusive priests. If most of the accused ones were
homosexually-oriented, why doesn't the Church just refuse to admit these men to
the priesthood?
A: Some diocese have long had such a policy. The entire Church has been
discussing implementing such a policy and perhaps that is what will happen.
Q: Wait, wouldn't such a policy be unfair to good priestly
candidates who are homosexually oriented?
A: 'Tis true there have been many homosexually-oriented priests who have
faithfully served God and the Church, and who have lived virtuous lives of
charity and chastity. In fact, most homosexually-oriented priests have
been faithful and trustworthy. You have to feel badly for these priests, who
have spent 24/7 serving and loving God. Even though they will be able to remain
priests, they must feel terrible that the sinful actions of other men have
demeaned their own good work and cast undeserved suspicion on them.
Q: Well then....?
A: The priority of the Church must be to protect minors. Let me give you an
example. When I was younger, one little boy in my town got a lot of pressure
from a friend to join the Boy Scouts. This is a wonderful organization and the
vast majority of Boy Scout leaders are probably of a higher caliber than
the average man. But the boy’s mother had heard the boy scout leader position
attracted a disproportionate number of men who got involved for the wrong
reasons and who preyed on youngsters. Resisting all pressure, the mother
refused to allow the boy to join the Boy Scouts for that one reason. Many years
later, a newspaper article revealed that the Boy Scout leader of the EXACT
troupe that that little boy was invited to join was arrested for molesting boys
during the EXACT time the little boy would have been a boy scout. Was it fair
that the mother kept the boy from the boy scouts? No. Did it save him? Yes.
Q: So you're saying being fair is not important?
A: No, I'm saying there must be balance. Is it more important for minors to be
safe? Or for every single man to have the right to be a priest? Actually, there
are many things that can make a man ineligible for priesthood: allergies to
bread, alcoholism, etc. Also, there are hundreds of alternative careers and
missions where these men can serve God, the poor, the hungry, the imprisoned,
the sick, the disabled. etc. The height of Christian life is to offer one's
entire life as a sacrifice. For some men, that might mean sacrificing their
ambitions for getting married and having a family. For others, it might mean
sacrificing their dream of being a priest. The teachings of Jesus are
difficult. He wants people to drop all their ambitions and Earthly attachments
to things and people for the sake of the kingdom. But he promises huge rewards
for those who do so. (See Mt 19:27-30, Mk 10:28-31, Lk 18:28-30). Jesus also
said: " . . . whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." (Mt
16:24-25). Our time on Earth is just one day compared to all of eternity.
Q: I still don't think it would be fair to bar any man at all from the
priesthood.
A: If a study determined that 90 percent of fatal train accidents last year
occurred while deaf conductors were driving, would you say it would be unfair
to bar deaf people from applying for conductor jobs just because most deaf
drivers had excellent driving records?
Q: You know, there are probably unfaithful guys in seminaries at this
very moment training to be priests.
A: The Vatican has authorized visitations of all U.S. seminaries and is
requiring seminarians to answer surveys about life there. While some
seminarians may eventually be kicked out, homosexually-oriented seminarians who
have been living celibate lives and who do not engage in gay activism or the
gay bar scene should be able to remain.
Q: Hey, I read that homosexually-oriented men are no more likely to be
pedophiles than heterosexually-oriented men.
A: Well, neither are priests more likely to be pedophiles, compared to the
average male population. Pedophilia is defined as the abuse of those who have
not reached puberty. Some of the abusive priests are accused of that, but the
majority of cases involved males who had reached puberty (still evil,
but not pedophilia). (See the John Jay study)
Q: What Bible verses discuss homosexual acts?
A: 1
Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:9-10,
Romans 1:27, Jude 7, Lv 20:13, Lv 18:22, Genesis 19, Genesis 2:21-24
and Genesis 1:27
Q: Have you ever met anyone who had same-sex attraction, but who decided
to persist in chastity?
A: Yes. It must be very difficult. God bless them.
Q: Is there anything sinful about strong same-sex friendships that are
chaste?
A: Nope. In fact, there is a former gay activist named David Morrison who recently wrote a book
about his decision to embrace the Catholic faith and chastity. He has said that
he still lives with his former partner, but they have agreed to maintain a
committed chaste friendship. They have separate bedrooms. I don't know if
everyone could do that, but I have to believe that with a whole lot of prayer,
penance and frequent reception of the sacraments, it is certainly possible with
God's grace for those who are further along on their spiritual journey. David
Morrison wrote this
article.
Q: Back to the issue at hand. When will we get married priests?! Married
priests! Married priests! How about women priests too! What a hoot that would
be! Yeah!
A: Well, the male priesthood is part of official Church teaching and this rule
ain't going to change unless it is discovered that the Apostles John and Simon
were really Juanita and Samantha. Joking. Female priests will never, ever
happen. On the other hand, the celibacy rule is not an absolute intrinsic and
necessary quality of the priesthood, so exceptions are technically allowed. But
remember, celibacy is a historic Christian tradition and I surely
hope and believe that celibacy will forever to be the norm for our priests.
After all, the Bible says it's better. I want my priests to imitate Christ and
be united to Him as closely as possible. But since celibacy is an honored
Christian discipline rather than dogma, there can be changes and
exceptions. Even now there are exceptions to the rule. For example, some
married Anglican priests who converted were permitted to be Catholic priests,
but they would not be able to remarry should they be widowed. Actually, in some
of the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church, priests are allowed to be married!
But bishops must always be celibate. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, bishops
also must be celibate.
Q: Okay, maybe the Early Church people had enough grace for overcoming
temptations to indulge in sexual desires. But nobody can do this anymore!
A: I have plenty of Catholic friends who refrained from sex a quarter
century or more prior to finding a man or woman to marry. So how can you say
that! Even married couples must refrain sometimes, like if one person needs to
fight a war overseas or if one is very ill. Not to mention widows. Say a rosary
and get back to me.
Q: One final point. I am married, and I feel called to the
priesthood!
A: Considering you would not be permitted to embrace such a calling in this
lifetime, I doubt it is God calling you to this.
Q: So you're saying the priesthood requires a higher calling than that of
an ordinary civilian?
A: Yes! These priests are handling the Body of Christ! Their lives revolve
around the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, which will forever be offered up to the
Father for our sins so that we can have salvation. St. Francis of Assisi didn't
even think he was worthy to be a priest. Not to mention, these priests
need to be filled with Jesus' grace so they can pass on Jesus' wisdom to those
in the confessional or in need of pastoral advice..
Q: Joe, I have an idea. Why don't you try out for deacon? Married men can
be ordained a Catholic deacon! The only rule is that if your wife should die,
you would not be able to remarry after being ordained.
A: Cheese and Crackers! I want to be able to remarry tons of times!
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Further reading and resources:
BOOKS: Priestly Celibacy (by Fr. Peter Stravinskas), The Changing Face of the Priesthood (Fr. Cozzens), Beyond Gay (David Morrison), Books by Fr. John Harvey,
WEB SITES: The Media and the Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal Celibacy and the Priesthood, Celibacy and the Clergy, The Priesthood Debate, Married Priests, Consecration of a Virgin Early Teachings on Homosexuality Gay Marriage Pope Benedict XVI on Legal Recognition of Homosexual Unions The Five Goals of Courage (Courage is the Church's outreach group for persons with same-sex desires), The Courage Apostolate
AUDIO-CD: Did Christ Give Us Priests?
STUDIES Celibacy: Fact and Fiction, What Percentage of Priests Abuse?, Refuting Arguments Against Celibacy, Celibacy Not the Problem A Crisis for Celibacy? Ephebophilia Ten Myths, Partial Ban on Homosexual Priests Witch Hunt? Seminary Visitations Seminaries Await Vatican Visitation What the Church Teaches Homosexuality and the Church The Church Answers Questions about Same-Sex Unions Washington Post
THE JOHN JAY RESEARCH STUDY: "The Nature and Scope of the Problem." This widely disseminated report showed that 4 percent of the priests were accused of abuses (1950 and 2002). The study showed that most victims had reached puberty, and that 81 percent of the victims were males.
COURAGE Ministry of the Catholic Church supporting people with Same-Sex Attraction
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