Rochester,NY City paper/Bishop supports gay priests in writing

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Bishop supports gay priests in writing

Clark asserts in weekly column that diocese still welcomes them

Marketta Gregory
Staff writer

(November 15, 2005) — While the world awaits a controversial Vatican document that could ban gays from the priesthood, Bishop Matthew Clark assured gay priests and seminarians on Sunday that they are welcome in Rochester’s Roman Catholic diocese.

The content of Clark’s column doesn’t come as a total surprise to those who have watched his ministry for years. He celebrated a Mass with gays and lesbians, something he is still criticized for years later. He defended the Rev. Charles Curran, a priest whose writings on abortion and homosexuality drew attention, and eventual censure, from the Vatican — in particular from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI. Also in the mid-1980s, Ratzinger’s office ordered Clark to remove his imprimatur from a book, Parents Talk Love: The Catholic Family Handbook About Sexuality, saying that it differed from the church’s teachings by adopting a more tolerant attitude on homosexuality, contraception and masturbation.

Read more…

Bishop’s article here
 
That pleases the Rev. James Schwartz, pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Penfield and director of seminarians for the diocese.

“I know Bishop Matthew and I know his genuine pastoral care for everyone,” he said. “We really need to speak pastoral support to people who are gay. We need to affirm them and not to do otherwise.”
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Rev. James Schartz’s name is on this list of 35 priests from Rochester, NY in

**AN OPEN LETTER TO THE HIERARCHY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH REGARDING THE PASTORAL CARE OF GAY AND LESBIAN PERSONS **
 
A link that does not require registration needs to be posted if this thread is to remain open.

Preemptive warning:

Charity.

Facts.

Charity.

Opinions identified as such, not stated as fact.

More charity.

Non-judgemental.

And finally, CHARITY.

You can discuss this all you want but, be warned, my patience is wearing thin. Keep it clean.

Thanks,

Walt
 
Bishop supports gay priests in writing
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This lays it on the line doesn’t it?
Clark seems to be telling Rome he won’t obey.
I’m wondering how much Benedict will take before his patience grows thin?
 
Once again we’re damning His Excellency Bishop Clark for something you think he might do based on what he said in possible response to a document that has not yet been published. Too much speculation.

John
 
Correct me if I’m wrong…but it appears, in my opinion, that Clark himself is speculating what the document will say and is anticipating his own reaction to that outcome.
 
What Bishop Clark says is that the ordinary is in charge of his seminaries. That’s true. He determines who is admitted, he determines who is ordained.

John
 
Original Quote by John Higgins
Once again we’re damning His Excellency Bishop Clark for something you think he might do based on what he said in possible response to a document that has not yet been published. Too much speculation.

John
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Title of OP newsarticle
Bishop supports gay priests in writing

Clark asserts in weekly column that diocese still welcomes them
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Paragraph 1 of OP newsarticle
While the world awaits a controversial Vatican document that could ban gays from the priesthood, Bishop Matthew Clark assured gay priests and seminarians on Sunday that they are welcome in Rochester’s Roman Catholic diocese.
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Paragraph 2 of OP newsarticle
“We deeply value your ministry,” Clark wrote in his weekly column in the Catholic Courier, referring to priests who are gay and dedicate their lives to service. And to gay men considering becoming priests: “We try to treat all inquiries fairly. You will be no exception.”
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Paragraph 5 of OP newsarticle
“I was really stunned that the bishop is basically saying that he is going to defy the Holy See,” said Andrew Dick, a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist in Rochester who believes the document may state that gays can’t be priests. “(The bishop is) obligated and all Roman Catholics are obligated to follow the directions of the pope. The thing that really struck me is he’s pretty much saying, ‘I’m not going to do that.’”
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Lorarose maybe responding to what she read in the OP article or the Bishop’s article . She does not clarify it here. Maybe if and when she returns she will determine that for us.
 
Lorarose maybe responding to what she read in the OP article or the Bishop’s article . She does not clarify it here. Maybe if and when she returns she will determine that for us.
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I am responding to both articles.

I am also responding to this statement…
What Bishop Clark says is that the ordinary is in charge of his seminaries. That’s true. He determines who is admitted, he determines who is ordained.
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Which I believe is an oversimplification of the situation.
The quotes selected by contemplative from the article nicely summarize what it is I find troubling.
 
John Higgins:
What Bishop Clark says is that the ordinary is in charge of his seminaries. That’s true. He determines who is admitted, he determines who is ordained.

John
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Yes he does. And he has said this in advance of the document:

"* homosexual priests who spend themselves each day in faithful, loving ministry to God’s holy people. We deeply value your ministry.
  • to gay young men who are considering a vocation to priesthood. We try to treat all inquiries fairly. You will be no exception."
What happens if the document does indeed ban homosexual seminarians?
 
John Higgins:
Once again we’re damning His Excellency Bishop Clark for something you think he might do based on what he said in possible response to a document that has not yet been published. Too much speculation.

John
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Thoughts and action. What’s the difference. It shows what the person believes.
 
The good padre thinks homosexuals can make a fruit-ful contribution to his diocese. Better watch out. There could be a double meaning in that.
 
Walt Oliver:
A link that does not require registration needs to be posted if this thread is to remain open.

Preemptive warning:

Charity.

Facts.

Charity.

Opinions identified as such, not stated as fact.

More charity.

Non-judgemental.

And finally, CHARITY.

You can discuss this all you want but, be warned, my patience is wearing thin. Keep it clean.

Thanks,

Walt
Click to expand...
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have this sudden desire to be very charitable.
 
Catholic Schism Being Revealed as Homosexual Priest Document Readies for Release

By John-Henry Westen

VATICAN, November 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As the publication of the new Vatican document on homosexuality and the Catholic priesthood is about to be published at the end of the month, several Catholic leaders including an American bishop have publicly stated their views against the long-standing Vatican position against ordaining men with homosexual inclinations to the priesthood. Rochester, NY, Bishop Matthew H. Clark, was the latest to come out in favour of homosexual priests in a column in his diocesan paper Saturday. Read more at Lifesite
 
John Higgins:
Once again we’re damning His Excellency Bishop Clark for something you think he might do based on what he said in possible response to a document that has not yet been published. Too much speculation.

John
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“By their fruits you will know them.” Look at the devastation to the Catholic People over the last 20-years or so in the Rochester area. Look at what the Bishop allowed to happen… especially to the Cathedral that Bishop Sheen presided over. Look at the schism that began under his watch… we know what he is capable of doing and it SCARES :crying: us.
'”By their fruits you will know them "
Pray for him…
 
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JCB:
Look at the schism that began under his watch… we know what he is capable of doing and it SCARES :crying: us.
'”By their fruits you will know them "
Pray for him…
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Don’t be frightened JCB. Fervently ask God for intercession in this matter.

These ‘fruits’ go way back…even further back than this 1997 Homily Bishop Clark delivered to a congregation of gay & lesbian Catholics.
 
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