Gay pride event in our town

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I think a lot of the “psychological baggage” actually stems from not having an outlet for the natural desire to serve God and be connected to Him through a family. Just think about what it means to be gay for a minute. You can’t have a normal marriage, You can’t have children of your own. That’s pretty devastating. Secular gays attempt to get around this and seek some sort of happiness with same sex marriage and adopting children or even hiring women to custom make children for them, but it isn’t the same as the family we are naturally wired to want. I think that’s where a lot of the mental unrest comes from. But if they were shown a true vocation early on. If they had a community that brings them closer to God rather than separates them from Him, I propose that we would see much less discontent and mental illness. I know several gay people from different walks of life. Two of my gay friends have devoted their lives to teaching. That is their vocation and their family. They both seem to do very well in the mental health department. My friends that run around seeking hook-ups and throwing themselves into “gay culture” are perpetually unhappy and seem to get into one crisis after another. I don’t think the psychological needs of gay people are any different than those of straight people. They simply require a different outlet to meet them.
 
Allegra said:
However, there are some theological arguments that a homosexual man shouldn’t represent Christ in that way.
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It seems to me that those theological arguments must rely on the notion of homosexuality as a mental illness, which is a view that the Church has not endorsed. If homosexuality is merely a temptation, combined with a lack of desire for some objective good, it’s hard to see how any theological argument of the sort you mention could make sense. We do not forbid people from becoming priests because they are tempted to violence or because they don’t enjoy prayer.

The real reason for the discipline was that people in the Church were terrified of “pedophile priests” - which were actually, in most cases, same-sex attracted priests who preyed on adolescent boys. But the people who made this rule overcorrected, in my estimation. When seminaries in the 1970s became inundated by sexual immorality, that was a huge problem. But central to that problem was that people were entering the seminary for the wrong reasons – in order to become molesters, in some cases! Those individuals have essentially nothing in common with well-intentioned young men who want to follow the Lord with their whole lives despite an unchosen sexual attraction to men.
 
Allegra said:
Just think about what it means to be gay for a minute
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I am attracted to the same sex so I do know what you are talking about

Also yes people need fellowship whether gay or straight and a vocation is not bad. The Stigma for no gay priests as @Prodigal_Son said arose from the fear of pedophilic priests and other things.

A person, whether attracted to the same sex or not, can have a vocation in many areas of the Church
 
Prodigal_Son said:
The real reason for the discipline was that people in the Church were terrified of “pedophile priests” - which were actually, in most cases, same-sex attracted priests who preyed on adolescent boys. But the people who made this rule overcorrected, in my estimation. When seminaries in the 1970s became inundated by sexual immorality, that was a huge problem. But central to that problem was that people were entering the seminary for the wrong reasons – in order to become molesters, in some cases! Those individuals have essentially nothing in common with well-intentioned young men who want to follow the Lord with their whole lives despite an unchosen sexual attraction to men.
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I should also mention, on this topic, that the well-intentioned men with SSA who entered the seminary were given no support for following the Lord and resisting temptation. Instead, they were propositioned sexually.

I know a leading gay rights advocate who was one such young man, in his youth. He wanted to be holy and good, and it was PRIESTS who told him to “embrace his sexuality” and leave the Church.
 
Um, I was talking about people who are gay or bisexual. And I’m bisexual myself. So chill. :roll_eyes:
 
Allegra said:
The Church’s teaching is that homosexuality excludes a man from the priesthood.
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I believe you mean the Church’s current discipline rather than a doctrinal “teaching”.

In fact when I went through around 40% of the seminarians would have been homosexual in orientation, many of them probably didn’t realise it at the time.
 
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resolute said:
There is a demonic spirit behind homosexuality. I
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Really? Seems you know more than Holy Mother Church.

From the CCC, bold mine:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained.
 
resolute said:
There is a demonic spirit behind homosexuality.
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Because, you know, it’s angels that originate the other sins. :roll_eyes:

More seriously: If there are demons, there are demons prompting us to steal, to lie, to fornicate, to kill, to gossip, to be prideful, to be lazy, and, yes, to commit sodomy (whether we are straight or gay). The common canard is to throw out “homosexuality is demonic” as if other sins aren’t.

But you see, the insistence on distinguishing oneself as a better type of sinner than other sinners is also just as demonic as any other sin.
 
The thought about “think what it means to be gay for a minute”, sounds very sensitive to their situation. They realize they’re different in the aspect of family life, and must feel at times isolated.
They may or may not have mental illness; but like with your two friends, they found another way to make their lives work.
 
margaret42 said:
It would seem like the “gay priest” would just be setting himself up for trouble. Living with other men, and mostly being with other men anyway.
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Where exactly do you say that gay men should live? With women?

I suspect you haven’t thought about it much.
 
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margaret42 said:
What i meant is that the gay priest could very easily be attracted to another priest, both being men. My thought is that they stay single, and pursue other church vocations
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I understand the potential for attraction, but I don’t see that as a problem. People are attracted to other people all the time; chastity is handling such attractions well. I’m a man with SSA, and I spent almost a decade rooming with other men – I never had any trouble with that.

Also, my question is quite serious: who are men with SSA supposed to live with, for the rest of their lives? Must they live alone?
 
margaret42 said:
No they don’t have to “live alone”. Just be celibate. What is the current teaching of the Catholic church about SSA men becoming priests?
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There is no teaching. There is a policy of not admitting men with “deep-seated” homosexuality into seminaries. I think that policy is a bad policy, even though I think great care should be taken in such admissions.
 
The ‘pride event’ takes place in September. I think a time of adoration and prayer might be the best response. I have read through 230 responses on a Catholic forum, and I can feel the heat. If other factions share their points of view as well, I dread to think of the feelings that would be expressed.

I think it might be best to close this thread.
 
I think you can message the moderators to close the thread if you want.
 
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