The John Jay Report, as well as a load of anecdotal accounts seem to indicate that the victims were not necessarily pedophiles or ephebophiles–the behavior in question often didn’t fit the patterns seen in pedophiles elsewhere.
Another important thing to consider is something Pope Benedict XVI states very clearly in the Light of the World interview on the difficulty of genuine priestly celibacy as a fully-identified homosexual:
Are you trying to claim that teens cannot be gay, as they not adults?
Now we come across a crossroads: what is the more important question here?–(1) the gravity of the abuse or (2) being able to handle those clerics who are abusers?
A careful reading of the document shows that it is EXACTLY what it says.
In the first instance, there is no real distinction between a homosexual or a heterosexual. If either man is sexually active, they are going to be barred from the priesthood. Similarly, a man who supports the gay culture - whether homosexual or heterosexual - is properly barred from holy orders in the Catholic Church because that lifestyle is in direct conflict with Church teaching. The only remaining bar is to men with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” - in other words, homosexual men who struggle deeply with an impulse towards unchastity. Those same “deep-seated” impulses in a heterosexually oriented man would also bar him from admission to the priesthood.
C’mon. Don’t both sides here agree that pedophilia is a mental disorder? Wouldn’t a declaration stating that pedophiles are excluded from the priesthood be akin to a mandating a warning label on a box of nails stating, “Do not eat.”
I can see what you are saying here and part of me does feel that chaste homosexual men should be able to be priests.
It would be helpful to know what your specific issue(s) may be, as well as your direct interest in this subject. None are apparent from your posts. Perhaps with better understanding we can be of better service to you.
I am not sure who ‘we’ is in your post, but I am not trying to antagonise anyone. I am interested in Catholic belief, and have some views on the Church’s actions in a small number of areas. are people like me welcome on CAF or not?
Indeed, contrary views are welcome - they are expressed even between Catholics that post here! The “small number of areas” on which you seemingly focus IMO happen to be the most controversial. However, it is enlightening to now know that you are genuinely interested in Catholic belief, and hope that helps lead you to a “believing” Christian state of being.
Idk, Hokomai, I don’t subscribe to the whole ‘stay and don’t **** us off, or get out’ mentality, but the only time I see your posts is on some of the more contentious stuff. Is this really the best way to learn about the Catholic Church: our positions on gay marriage, feelings towards atheists, &c.?
Thanks for your response. I know quite a bit about Catholic teachings themselves. What I am interested in is the way individuals come to believe them, and how they reconcile them with other beliefs or facts which appear to me to be contradictory. On the abuse issue I think I have offered as much praise of the Church as I have criticism on CAF, because overall I think the response has been good, and the abuse no worse than other institutions. But I do probe the fact that many on these forums believe that the Holy Spirit actively guides the Church in some areas but not in others. I also probe areas in which Catholics seem to accept moral relativism and situation ethics: crimes committed by Church people in the past. recently, for example, I pointed out the irony that a Catholic organisation promoting religious freedom was named for a person who used to burn people for practicing it. The chorus of “that was then, this is now” was pretty loud, as Catholic posters attempted to show that situations changed morality. I do admit to being less than charitable in some areas such as my inability to not comment on the pious people who believe in in-corrupt saints, bodies and similar things. On the comment that I only get involved in controversial issues - well, I guess that is true, but my efforts to do otherwise, such as the erudite thread I started on whether true idolatry exists don’t seem to attract much interest. Anyway, thanks for having me!
Its the sexually charged society we live in today. Many people think all priests are pedophiles or have secret wives or girlfriends because those people think everyone is sex crazed today and its impossible to live without having sex. Homosexuality especially is all about sex. Just look at how sexually charged gay pride parades are. The homosexual agenda today is about the sexuality. If you take that out, then its an attack on their very being.
Mustang,