COMMENTARY
[Your thoughts are welcome at pthorp.ed@votf.org]
They
Still Don’t Get It
From the parish bulletin of Fr. Brian Lang at St. Joseph’s
Church “On the Hill” in Camillus, NY/ Syracuse diocese
"Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse
the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are
full of plunder and self-indulgence." Matt. 23:25
Over
the course of the next year, 117 bishops and seminary
staff will visit all facilities in the United States
that take part in the training of Roman Catholic seminarians.
This delegation will be lead by Archbishop Edwin O'Brien.
Archbishop O'Brien is currently the head of the Archdiocese
for Military Services. The purpose of these visitations
is to look for any possible root causes for the scandal
that has rocked the Church in the United States over
the last four years.
Ordered
by the Vatican, the review of American facilities at
first looks like a good thing. However, one has to question
some of the motivations that lie behind the visitations
themselves.
Archbishop
O'Brien has recently stated that he believes that any
individual with an inclination to homosexual orientation
should be banned from entering the seminary. He has also
made comments that would suggest that homosexuality could
be directly linked to priest pedophiles. The Archbishop
is currently confident that the Vatican itself is about
to release a document that would ban homosexuals from
the priesthood.
There
are a number of problems with the Archbishop's logic
that cannot simply be brushed aside. His contention that
it is harder for a homosexual to remain celibate than
a heterosexual simply has no psychological or sociological
proof. His implied suggestion that somehow homosexuals
are more dangerous or predatory than heterosexuals is
simply false.
In
many ways it appears that the Archbishop and others in
the Hierarchy of the Church are currently looking for
a scapegoat to lay the blame of the child abuse scandal
on. . It is estimated that anywhere from 15 to 45 percent
of ordained Roman clergy in the United States are homosexuals.
The vast majority of these men are dedicated, hard- working
individuals who have given their lives to Christ and
his church. There is no proof that their struggles with
celibacy are any more difficult than any of their brother
priests.
Archbishop
O'Brien states that there is a danger in having them
in an all male environment where the temptation would
be too great for them. Using that logic, since most parishes
have all female staffs, heterosexual men would be bad
candidates because women surround them all day.
Priests
fall in love. It is simply a fact of life. I have and
others have and you simply pray for the grace of God
to know what to do. That dilemma has lead nearly ten
thousand men to leave the priesthood in the United States
in the last forty years. The conferral of the Sacrament
of Holy Orders is not a magic bullet that eliminates
human emotion or desire. If anything it should open the
human heart to the deeper realities of love.
Celibacy
is a choice made, not a mystical gift of the Spirit that
makes it easier to be isolated or alone. Homosexuals
are no different in this than heterosexuals; in the words
of St. Thomas, human beings are made to love. However,
since the language of the Church recognizes that homosexuality
itself is "intrinsically disordered," this must mean
that they are unsuitable for the priesthood.
Well,
we are all intrinsically disordered; we have all been
touched by original sin and will never be fully whole
until we achieve perfect union with Christ. If the Church
pursues its present course in this matter how far can
we/should we take it? Should we ban any individual that
may have had a sexual relationship in their life?
Archbishop
O'Brien has said even homosexual men who haven't been
active should be banned. Do we remove the men, who may
be homosexual, who have already been ordained? Those
individuals would obviously present a threat. In one
brief statement the Archbishop has managed to insult
and devalue all those men in active ministry who have
been celibate and faithful to the teaching of the Church.
And
if they are truly looking for the root causes of the
scandal then perhaps they should dissect a dysfunctional
and top-heavy organization that has tried to protect
its reputation more than it tried to protect its children.
Not an easy reality to face but one that has to be addressed.
To
use any group of individuals as scapegoats, ban them
from the Church, and then say we are all better now simply
won't work.
There
was an old saying in the Church; error has no rights.
Whenever the Church found itself in positions of power
it has pulled this concept out to defend its position.
Now it must realize that the saying applies to the Church
too. The responsibility for the crisis cannot be swept
under the rug or shifted to a "homosexual subculture," whether
one exists or not.
I
am not a major advocate of gay rights. However, I cannot
stand by and watch the Church use homosexuals as a scapegoat
for a scandal that had more to do with ignorant or arrogant
prelates. The hierarchy of the Church was fully informed
to the depth and nature of this scandal almost 20 years
ago. In the early 90's they had to deal with this scandal
and the National Bishops Conference assured people that
it was taken care of.
No
one in a position of power in the Catholic Church can
say that they didn't know. After 1992 the people who
had the priest personnel files did know and simply did
little or nothing that was effective. It appears now
that they may have found a different way to shift the
blame; ban homosexuals and we can get back to having
a safe church. If they go through with this, they may
find that they will lose much more than they know.
The
fact of the matter is that the child sexual abuse scandal
has nothing to do with either homosexuality in the priesthood
or celibacy. For the Vatican or Archbishop O'Brien, or
any other person in a position of authority to shift
the focus to those issues simply illustrates the point
that they have failed to grasp the issue.
If
we continue to make the outside of the cup and dish look
clean without truly cleansing the inside then we have
failed at a true chance at renewal and reconciliation
with our people and our God.
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