I am pretty sure that the headline wraps up the whole situation with the Catholic church's new decision to ban homosexuals from entering the priesthood.
"...Homosexuals, even those who are celibate, will be barred from becoming Roman Catholic priests, a church official said Wednesday, under stricter rules soon to be released on one of the most sensitive issues facing the church..."
I would think that this day and age the Vatican would be more concerned with the alarming number of pedo priests running around the Catholic alter boys than how many celibate homosexual priest there are. But hey- that's just me.
Honestly- when it the last time a consenting homosexual sued the Catholic Church due to actions of a consenting priest? I am sure the headlines I have been reading lean towards non consenting minors being molested by pedo priest. But now, the Catholic church has chosen to take it's stand where does that leave us? Are they condoning the years of abuse suffered by children at the hands of their holy men? How many times have we heard where the abuse was simply brushed aside by the Catholic leaders and the offending priest shipped off to another area, often released upon a new church to enlarge his ever growing number of victims?
It's not that I am against the Catholic church- I would just state that their "cleansing" of their members of the priest hood should begin with ridding the Church of pedophiles. I would think that would be a more important move than wiping out celibate or even non celibate homosexuals who- honestly- do not tend to prey upon children. Yes you heard me right. Being a gay priest by no means increases the risk that you are going to be some sicko predator sexually abusing children.
"...The official, said the question was not "if it will be published, but when," referring to the new ruling about homosexuality in Catholic seminaries, a topic that has stirred much recent rumor and worry in the church. The official, who has authoritative knowledge of the new rules, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the church's policy of not commenting on unpublished reports.
He said that while Pope Benedict XVI had not yet signed the document, it would probably be released in the next six weeks.
In addition to the new document, which will apply to the church worldwide, Vatican investigators have been instructed to visit each of the 229 seminaries in the United States.
Although work on the document began years ago under Pope John Paul II, who died in April, its release will be a defining act in the young papacy of Benedict, a conservative who said last spring that there was a need to "purify" the church after the deeply damaging sex scandals of the last several years. (evidently not of pedo's- just of gays)
The church official said the ban would pertain only to candidates for the priesthood, not to those already ordained. He also said the document did not represent any theological shift for the church, whose catechism considers homosexuality "objectively disordered."
Although the document has not been released, hints of what it will say are already drawing praise from some Catholics, who contend that such a move is necessary to restore the church's credibility and who note that church teaching bars homosexuals, active or not, from the priesthood.
Other Catholics say, though, that the test should be celibacy, not innate sexuality, and they predict resignations from the priesthood that can worsen the church's deep shortage of clergy.
"I'm hearing that some men will choose to leave, because if they don't, it would be like living a lie," said the Rev. Robert Silva, president of the American National Federation of Priests' Councils, who opposes a ban because it would be "extremely hurtful" to chaste gay priests who are serving the church.
But the church official who discussed the expected new rules said the document called for barring even celibate men who considered themselves homosexual because of what he contended were the specific temptations of seminaries.
"The difference is in the special atmosphere of the seminary," he said. "In the seminary, you are surrounded by males, not females."
The issue of homosexuality in the priesthood and seminaries has long been a difficult one, which the Vatican appears to be addressing, particularly in the United States, on two apparently connected fronts.
The visits to the American seminaries cover a wide range of concerns, but among those the investigators will be looking for is "evidence of homosexuality" and whether seminarians are being properly prepared to live celibately. Both the document and the investigation come under the authority of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education.
Taken together, the document and visits seem aimed at imposing a stricter standard on both the atmosphere at seminaries and on whom they accept as candidates for the priesthood. Archbishop J. Michael Miller, the congregation's secretary, noted at a meeting in Baltimore last week with more than 100 bishops, priests and lay people that the new rules would come as no surprise because there was an existing Vatican document barring homosexuals from the priesthood, according to two church officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they felt there might be repercussions if they spoke for attribution.
Archbishop Miller appeared to be referring to a 1961 document that recommended against ordaining anyone who has "perverse inclinations to homosexuality or pederasty." (I'd recommend against anyone you has "perverse inclinations to rape or molest children- again that's just my thoughts though!)
But that document has been overlooked by seminaries in the United States for many years. Although practices vary, most American seminaries in recent years have not uniformly rejected candidates with a homosexual orientation, seminary officials say. "
SOURCE HERE
I would suggest that the Vatican look more closely at their policy of "protect and hide" when it comes to their child raping priests than the sexual preference of a celibate priest. Gay or straight- if they keep their hands off kids I prefer them to the pedo priests.
"...Homosexuals, even those who are celibate, will be barred from becoming Roman Catholic priests, a church official said Wednesday, under stricter rules soon to be released on one of the most sensitive issues facing the church..."
I would think that this day and age the Vatican would be more concerned with the alarming number of pedo priests running around the Catholic alter boys than how many celibate homosexual priest there are. But hey- that's just me.
Honestly- when it the last time a consenting homosexual sued the Catholic Church due to actions of a consenting priest? I am sure the headlines I have been reading lean towards non consenting minors being molested by pedo priest. But now, the Catholic church has chosen to take it's stand where does that leave us? Are they condoning the years of abuse suffered by children at the hands of their holy men? How many times have we heard where the abuse was simply brushed aside by the Catholic leaders and the offending priest shipped off to another area, often released upon a new church to enlarge his ever growing number of victims?
It's not that I am against the Catholic church- I would just state that their "cleansing" of their members of the priest hood should begin with ridding the Church of pedophiles. I would think that would be a more important move than wiping out celibate or even non celibate homosexuals who- honestly- do not tend to prey upon children. Yes you heard me right. Being a gay priest by no means increases the risk that you are going to be some sicko predator sexually abusing children.
"...The official, said the question was not "if it will be published, but when," referring to the new ruling about homosexuality in Catholic seminaries, a topic that has stirred much recent rumor and worry in the church. The official, who has authoritative knowledge of the new rules, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the church's policy of not commenting on unpublished reports.
He said that while Pope Benedict XVI had not yet signed the document, it would probably be released in the next six weeks.
In addition to the new document, which will apply to the church worldwide, Vatican investigators have been instructed to visit each of the 229 seminaries in the United States.
Although work on the document began years ago under Pope John Paul II, who died in April, its release will be a defining act in the young papacy of Benedict, a conservative who said last spring that there was a need to "purify" the church after the deeply damaging sex scandals of the last several years. (evidently not of pedo's- just of gays)
The church official said the ban would pertain only to candidates for the priesthood, not to those already ordained. He also said the document did not represent any theological shift for the church, whose catechism considers homosexuality "objectively disordered."
Although the document has not been released, hints of what it will say are already drawing praise from some Catholics, who contend that such a move is necessary to restore the church's credibility and who note that church teaching bars homosexuals, active or not, from the priesthood.
Other Catholics say, though, that the test should be celibacy, not innate sexuality, and they predict resignations from the priesthood that can worsen the church's deep shortage of clergy.
"I'm hearing that some men will choose to leave, because if they don't, it would be like living a lie," said the Rev. Robert Silva, president of the American National Federation of Priests' Councils, who opposes a ban because it would be "extremely hurtful" to chaste gay priests who are serving the church.
But the church official who discussed the expected new rules said the document called for barring even celibate men who considered themselves homosexual because of what he contended were the specific temptations of seminaries.
"The difference is in the special atmosphere of the seminary," he said. "In the seminary, you are surrounded by males, not females."
The issue of homosexuality in the priesthood and seminaries has long been a difficult one, which the Vatican appears to be addressing, particularly in the United States, on two apparently connected fronts.
The visits to the American seminaries cover a wide range of concerns, but among those the investigators will be looking for is "evidence of homosexuality" and whether seminarians are being properly prepared to live celibately. Both the document and the investigation come under the authority of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education.
Taken together, the document and visits seem aimed at imposing a stricter standard on both the atmosphere at seminaries and on whom they accept as candidates for the priesthood. Archbishop J. Michael Miller, the congregation's secretary, noted at a meeting in Baltimore last week with more than 100 bishops, priests and lay people that the new rules would come as no surprise because there was an existing Vatican document barring homosexuals from the priesthood, according to two church officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they felt there might be repercussions if they spoke for attribution.
Archbishop Miller appeared to be referring to a 1961 document that recommended against ordaining anyone who has "perverse inclinations to homosexuality or pederasty." (I'd recommend against anyone you has "perverse inclinations to rape or molest children- again that's just my thoughts though!)
But that document has been overlooked by seminaries in the United States for many years. Although practices vary, most American seminaries in recent years have not uniformly rejected candidates with a homosexual orientation, seminary officials say. "
SOURCE HERE
I would suggest that the Vatican look more closely at their policy of "protect and hide" when it comes to their child raping priests than the sexual preference of a celibate priest. Gay or straight- if they keep their hands off kids I prefer them to the pedo priests.
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