'I’m gay and I’m a priest, period.’

[CatholicFireman]

Why do I have this feeling that the liberal press thinks that if they keep printing this garbage, the Pope will change the church’s attitude/policy?

I’m getting so sick of this.

 

[zamyrabyrd]

Why do I have this feeling that the liberal press thinks that if they keep printing this garbage, the Pope will change the church’s attitude/policy?
I’m getting so sick of this.

I’m past saturation. I really do not like people talking about private subjects in public. There used to be a concept such as “propriety”. There is nothing gained by airing dirty laundry for everyone to see.

 

[Havard]

I have same-attractions, and have lived with other guys in college. I currently have a roommate. And, I’m sure that I’ve never treated them any differently than a straight roommate would have. Like, what kind of horror story are you envisioning? I’ve never made any advances on anyone, or made anyone I’ve lived with uncomfortable in any way.

If this is the only underlying argument, its a pretty weak one.

EDIT: Just saw AKDee’s post. Completely agree.

I’m not envisioning anything, I’ve seen it firsthand many times.

I won’t post any details publicly, but feel free to PM me.

 

[phil19034]

I have same-attractions, and have lived with other guys in college. I currently have a roommate. And, I’m sure that I’ve never treated them any differently than a straight roommate would have. Like, what kind of horror story are you envisioning? I’ve never made any advances on anyone, or made anyone I’ve lived with uncomfortable in any way.

If this is the only underlying argument, its a pretty weak one.

EDIT: Just saw AKDee’s post. Completely agree.

It’s the same reason why you don’t allow 18 year old girls to share a dorm room with an 18 year old boy.

Co-ed dorm rooms are bad because EVEN if no one physically does anything because sinful or undesired thoughts can creep in or develop.

For example: 1) accidentally seeing roommate naked or partly naked. 2) Unintentionally falling in love with the roommate. 3) developing romantic or lustful feelings for roommate’s good friend who comes to visit

Just because you have not fallen in love with or been secretly attracted to your roommate for your roommate doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen.

This is less about what you do and more about the struggles that go on inside.

Also, if it’s OK for a gay man to share a room with a straight man, then the argument becomes that it’s OK for a straight woman to share a room with a straight man. It’s not, but logically it flows. As someone who used to work with the Boy Scouts and was trained in Youth Protection, this is the exact issue I have with allowing gay boys to join. Who do they share a tent with when camping? They can’t share a tent with another gay boy because that would be like having a girl and boy sleep in the same tent. And they can’t have them share with a straight boy because that is still the same as sharing with a girl (at least one way). And a gay boy still can’t share with a girl (if a girl was present via a Venture Crew team) because you risk chances of the girl seeing boy parts and the girl is still sleeping with a boy. So the only chaste rooming situation is for a gay boy/man to have a single dorm room.

In college, young gay men often interact with girls (not always, but often have girls to interact with too). In the seminary, they don’t. It can be difficult for a chaste gay man to only be around men, just like it could be difficult for a straight, chaste man to be in a school only with women.

 

[marymary1975]

I think homosexuality should be disqualification for priesthood because it is a disorder in the eyes of the church and any disorder should be disqualification for priesthood. This is the case is other countries. In my country of origin for example any disorder would disqualificate someone from priesthood and the seminar does quite an intensive job of psychological and psychiatric evaluations to all candidates and they will disqualificate anyone with any kind of disorder including homosexuality.

 

[Thorolfr]

A pedophile would go after children at or below the age of 11, but that is not the case here. The majority of victims were male adolescents between the age of 11 and 17. Here is an article concerning this.

Nevertheless, 73.6% of the victims were 14 or younger. The fact the most of the victims were male probably has more to do with the fact that a priest would have easier access to young male children than to female children.

Someone I know was sexually abused by the Monsignor who ran the Catholic school he attended. Sometimes the abuse took place in the Monsignor’s office. But it also happened at his home during school hours. He would tell his staff that he had forgotten some papers at home and would take this young student with him, something which the staff didn’t question. If the student had been a young girl, at that time back in the 1970s it would probably have raised more red flags.

 

[Little_Sheep]

I think homosexuality should be disqualification for priesthood because it is a disorder in the eyes of the church and any disorder should be disqualification for priesthood. This is the case is other countries. In my country of origin for example any disorder would disqualificate someone from priesthood and the seminar does quite an intensive job of psychological and psychiatric evaluations to all candidates and they will disqualificate anyone with any kind of disorder including homosexuality.

Yet homosexuality is not considered a psychiatric disorder, but rather a normal variation of sexuality that occurs is a very small portion on the population.

 

[JimG]

I don’t understand why a priest would feel compelled to make a statement of his sexual tendencies. Would he say, I’m a priest and I like women, period? It’s too much information, either way.

 

[CatholicFireman]

Sounds sort of vain if you ask me. A priest is to serve/administer to the people. From this I get that, “Look at me, look at me” feeling.

Sorry if this sound gossipy. It just annoys me to no end.

 

[marymary1975]

Yet homosexuality is not considered a psychiatric disorder, but rather a normal variation of sexuality that occurs is a very small portion on the population.

Before the 70’s homosexuality was considered a disorder and medically was changed by pressures of the gay lobby. Regardless of that the Catholic Church, as psychiatry did prior to the 7p’s, currently considers homosexuality a disorder. Here we are talking about seminars that the Catholic Church has so from this point of view it is a disorder and should be a disqualification.

 

[adowcday]

Yes, it is. They are surrounded by men throughout their formation and their ministry, so they will have a very difficult time remaining pure. It has been seen that homosexuals are largely responsible for the many sex abuse cases and many priests and even Bishops have died of AIDS and currently have HIV because they have found other homosexual men in the priesthood or outside of it. This, in addition to harming the priests themselves, is costing the Church a lot of money. They also have psychological problems that hinders their ability to guide their parishioners well.

I don’t agree with your arguments. Gay men are surrounded by other men just about everywhere they go. Heterosexual priests are surrounded by more women than men in most parishes, and they are expected to remain chaste. Moreover, the notion that gay priests are responsible for the clergy sex abuse crisis has been thoroughly debunked. As for whether gay men have more psychological problems than heterosexual men, I have no idea. Do you have any data to support that assertion?

In recent years, there have been attempts to screen out gay men from diocesan seminaries. I can’t comment on the success of these efforts. I do know from personal experience (I was a Jesuit for 5 years although never ordained) that there are a lot of gay men in the priesthood and religious life.

I don’t understand why homosexuality should disqualify someone from religious life and priesthood, although I do think that anyone who vows/promises celibacy should remain celibate, whatever their sexual orientation.

 

[Inisfallen]

Whenever I hear people say that gay men cannot or should not be priests, I think of Father Mychal Judge, who died a hero on September 11, 2001, ministering to the men of the New York City Fire Department who were injured, and who died, during that attack.

So I say it’s nonsense that gay men can’t be priests. We could use more men like Father Judge.

 

[Abynissa]

I don’t have a dog in this fight but…

Some comments on here are too parochial. This affects the Catholic church worldwide so citing the John Jay report may not be appropriate when considering abuse in other countries such as Ireland (where the whole nation was shocked by the scandals) or Australia, Germany as listed in Wikipedia.

Pope Francis alluded to a ‘Gay Lobby’

Candidates to the Seminary who have strong homosexual tendencies are not always excluded as cited in this report
Confessions of an Ex-Priest: How Catholic Seminary Forms Victims and Forces False Forgiveness
Huffington Post

Ohio seminarian sought young child for sex, officials say
CBSNEWS

 

[ssa_fellow]

The document you quoted makes clear what deep seated tendencies mean. If the homosexual tendencies were temporary or have been cured three years before entering the seminary, they are not considered deep seated since they are gone by the time the man enters seminary. The Church doesn’t want homosexual priests, but it is fine with having men that had homosexual tendencies in the past but have been cured of them.

Wrong again. The Catholic Church specifically doesn’t endorse “conversion therapy”. Your interpretation of the Vatican documents is simply wrong. And I’ve never encountered a single priest who has ever repeated this. Every orthodox priest I know actually knows the Church teaching. Conversion therapy is not and has never been endorsed by the Catholic Church.

Your words contradict Church teaching. I would go and ask a priest, who will set you straight. No pun intended.

 

[ssa_fellow]

It’s the same reason why you don’t allow 18 year old girls to share a dorm room with an 18 year old boy.

Co-ed dorm rooms are bad because EVEN if no one physically does anything because sinful or undesired thoughts can creep in or develop.

For example: 1) accidentally seeing roommate naked or partly naked. 2) Unintentionally falling in love with the roommate. 3) developing romantic or lustful feelings for roommate’s good friend who comes to visit

Just because you have not fallen in love with or been secretly attracted to your roommate for your roommate doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen.

This is less about what you do and more about the struggles that go on inside.

Also, if it’s OK for a gay man to share a room with a straight man, then the argument becomes that it’s OK for a straight woman to share a room with a straight man. It’s not, but logically it flows. As someone who used to work with the Boy Scouts and was trained in Youth Protection, this is the exact issue I have with allowing gay boys to join. Who do they share a tent with when camping? They can’t share a tent with another gay boy because that would be like having a girl and boy sleep in the same tent. And they can’t have them share with a straight boy because that is still the same as sharing with a girl (at least one way). And a gay boy still can’t share with a girl (if a girl was present via a Venture Crew team) because you risk chances of the girl seeing boy parts and the girl is still sleeping with a boy. So the only chaste rooming situation is for a gay boy/man to have a single dorm room.

In college, young gay men often interact with girls (not always, but often have girls to interact with too). In the seminary, they don’t. It can be difficult for a chaste gay man to only be around men, just like it could be difficult for a straight, chaste man to be in a school only with women.

I mean, the alternative is that gay men never spend time with men. Would you rather gay boys join the girl scouts? Or just not join at all?

I was a cubscout. Never a boy scout. But, it’s not like I’ve ever been “out” anyways.
Should gay male college students live in girls dorms?

Where does it end. That’s just a really paranoid position. And if carried out to its fullest extent (the test of finding truth), the results are completely ridiculous and unmanageable. G.K. Chesterton destroyed heresies in Everlasting Man by carrying them to their fullest extent.

So, do you want gay men using female restrooms?

 

[ssa_fellow]

So the only chaste rooming situation is for a gay boy/man to have a single dorm room.

In college, young gay men often interact with girls (not always, but often have girls to interact with too). In the seminary, they don’t. It can be difficult for a chaste gay man to only be around men, just like it could be difficult for a straight, chaste man to be in a school only with women.

Yeah:

1. Gay suicide is already a big problem. And I guarantee you that if you want every gay person to live by themselves, that’s going to be a worse problem. I’ll say it more bluntly: more gay people will kill themselves in college if they took your advice.
2. That is seriously discrimination. Its a lot more expensive to find apartments or living arrangements in college. College students are already broke. Now you’re forcing all the gay ones to be forced to get their own house or apartment, which again… are always the most expensive. Around here, a single apartment is typically $850-1050 a month, for one person. Whereas you can find a 3 bedroom apartment for as low as $250-350 a month per person. That’s actual descrimination.
3. I never hang out with girls. I think its so stereotypical to say that gay men should hang out with girls. I have friends who are girls, but I spend far less time with them. Most of my friends are other guys, and they’re very good friends.

Put yourself in my shoes.
Your philosophy about how gay people should live, just because of their attractions is not only totally impractical, but its contrary to Church teaching. Ok?

Why don’t you share these ideas with your priest, and see if he feels that they fully respect the dignity of the human person.

 

[CatholicFireman]

Whenever I hear people say that gay men cannot or should not be priests, I think of Father Mychal Judge, who died a hero on September 11, 2001, ministering to the men of the New York City Fire Department who were injured, and who died, during that attack.

So I say it’s nonsense that gay men can’t be priests. We could use more men like Father Judge.

I’m not against priests who have SSA. Or gays at all. I work with them in fact (yes…in the fire department). It’s not that that bugs me. It’s the fact that they feel the need to broadcast it (as in this article). Not just priests, but in society also. I think the media is to blame mostly. More like *in-your-face, what are you gonna do about it *attitude. I read the book about Fr. Judge and they made a point of bringing his SSA out. Is that necessary?

 

[Thorolfr]

I’m not against priests who have SSA. Or gays at all. I work with them in fact (yes…in the fire department). It’s not that that bugs me. It’s the fact that they feel the need to broadcast it (as in this article). Not just priests, but in society also. I think the media is to blame mostly. More like *in-your-face, what are you gonna do about it *attitude. I read the book about Fr. Judge and they made a point of bringing his SSA out. Is that necessary?

I guess we shouldn’t have straight people broadcasting their sexual orientation either. No pictures of spouses on the desk at work, no talking about grandchildren or wives or husbands.

 

[CatholicFireman]

I guess we shouldn’t have straight people broadcasting their sexual orientation either. No pictures of spouses on the desk at work, no talking about grandchildren or wives or husbands.

:yawn: There’s always one in the crowd. I should have set my watch.

 

[Thorolfr]

:yawn: There’s always one in the crowd. I should have set my watch.

I’m just pointing out the silly pretense that I see so often that most heterosexual people keep everything about their sexuality private.