Are effeminate priests the cause of the vocations shortage?

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This thread subject has come up several times and I am trying to grasp the reasons for it.

Why do “effeminate preists” turn people off? After reading posts on several threads, I am coming to two possible conclusions:

(1) It seems that effeminacy, to some who have posted, gives an inside view of what a man’s sexual preference is…that they might be gay. If that’s the turn off, quite frankly, I would have to say that problem is not with the priest. As they are called to a life of celibacy, why should it EVEN MATTER! Should one be looking at their priests as a possible score? For women, is the turn off that their fantacies will never become realities? Some women (and I think some men) have said that they find their priests sexy/hot and with that they had they met them before they became priests, blah blah blsh etc. C’mon. I mean, we all have wandering eyes but should we be assessing priests this way?. I think it gives some insight to how the quality of a priest is being judged. For men, are you really that insecure with your own sexuality that being around a man that might be gay (even though they are not to act on it and even may not be gay) bother you?

(2) So let’s say that a priest is effeminate in his actions. Why would you judge a priest on that? Why aren’t you looking at this person *as a priest *and assessing more valid traits like his dedication to the parish, his obedience to the pope, what he does for the church etc? It’s such a terrible reason to write someone off for, especially someone who is charged to help you with your spiritual well being, isn’t it?

Did Jesus, when he was picking the apostles, look to see if Peter had a lisp, or displayed so called effeminate actions? Probably not. I’m sure he picked these guys based on more meaningful charatcers. Should we not do the same?

The whole question of effeminacy being the reason for the decline in vocations and the dwindling numbers of men going to church is a pretty weak arguement. We need to stop judging a person so much on these irrelevant characteristics.

-to be continued -
 
Palmas put it well when he said “But I pray that their example of devotion to God and service to man in spite of their human failings as well as their strengths served as an example to others as well as to me.”

Let’s say that your priest is effiminate.Does this mean that the priest is unfit to serve the church, hear your confessions, celibrate mass? Does effeminacy mean that a priest is not courageous, faithful and charitble.

In conlcusion, if one sees effeminacy as a human failing, fine. But when looking at the role of a priest, should how they talk, walk etc even come into play? It’s so meaningless. To do so is disrespectful and unfair.

So, are effiminate priests the cause of the vocations shortage? I don’t think so. There does seem to be a peculiar discomfort with people who have a problem with effeminate priests though.

In the end, a priest is not there to talk sports with you, swear, make you feel sexy, or bolster your male or female sexuality. If that’s what you’re looking for, go hang out with your friends.
 
No offense taken, but I guess you didn’t see the part about the wild game dinner I’ll be putting on (for the people of God.) As Jesus fed the multitudes with loaves and fish, I do it with venison. 😃

God Bless
I am thinking that you are a .30-06 priest. My friends say .243, 7mm or .308 respectively. My g/f says .300 Win Mag, my neighbor .257 Roberts.

Which one of us is closest?
 
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