toledo_jesus Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Jesuit Official Rips Expected Ban on Gays By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer 2 hours, 35 minutes ago NEW YORK - A top Jesuit official has been contacting leaders of the Roman Catholic Church to protest a soon-to-be-released Vatican document that is expected to reinforce the teaching that gays are not welcome in the priesthood. The Rev. Gerald Chojnacki, head of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, said in a letter to his priests that he was asking bishops to tell Vatican officials who are drafting the policy "of the great harm this will cause many good priests and the Catholic faithful." Chojnacki wrote in the letter, dated Monday, that he had participated in the funerals of several gay Jesuit clergy over the last few years. "I find it insulting to demean their memory and their years of service by even hinting that they were unfit for priesthood because of their sexual orientation," he wrote. Chojnacki said he would be working with the Conference of Major Superiors, which represents leaders of religious orders in the United States including the Jesuits, Franciscans and others, and with bishops to fight "for the opportunity of a gay person to say yes to God's call in celibate service of priesthood and chaste religious life." A priest who supports the protest provided the letter to The Associated Press. A spokesman for the New York province did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A Vatican official said last week that the upcoming "instruction" from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education will reaffirm the church's belief that homosexuals should not be ordained. In recent decades, Vatican officials have stated several times that gays should not become priests because their sexual orientation is "intrinsically disordered" and makes them unsuitable for ministry. A Vatican-directed evaluation of all 229 U.S. seminaries is underway, and is looking for "evidence of homosexuality" in the schools among other issues, such as whether their instruction keeps with church teaching. The evaluation was organized in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis. Priests in religious orders throughout the country said in interviews that anger is building among their members about the prospect of a ban on gay seminarians. Some have said clergy are considering staging a strike on a Sunday, to show how critical gay priests are to serving the church. Priests who had not disclosed their sexual orientation to parishioners are now thinking about coming out and denouncing the idea of a ban. Others have talked about signing their names to a protest letter to the Vatican. Estimates of the numbers of gays in the priesthood vary from 25 percent to 50 percent. About one-third of the 42,500 U.S. priests are members of religious orders. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow. Striking priests. Something so totally wrong with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Didacus Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 [quote name='toledo_jesus' date='Sep 30 2005, 02:03 PM'][snip] Estimates of the numbers of gays in the priesthood vary from 25 percent to 50 percent. About one-third of the 42,500 U.S. priests are members of religious orders. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow. Striking priests. Something so totally wrong with that. [right][snapback]742276[/snapback][/right] [/quote] I would most strongly scrutinize the stats saying that as much as 50% of clergy are homosexual. And yes, there seems to be something drastically wrong with protesting priests. Makes me want to cry inside. Can't wait until this storm is over and done with. God help us, Micheal protect us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 [quote]Estimates of the numbers of gays in the priesthood vary from 25 percent to 50 percent. About one-third of the 42,500 U.S. priests are members of religious orders.[right][snapback]742276[/snapback][/right] [/quote] Umm, it would be nice to know where exactly these estimates are coming from and who is making them up. That seems ridiculously high to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloysius Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 [quote name='toledo_jesus' date='Sep 30 2005, 03:03 PM']Jesuit Official Rips Expected Ban on Gays By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer 2 hours, 35 minutes ago NEW YORK - A top Jesuit official has been contacting leaders of the Roman Catholic Church to protest a soon-to-be-released Vatican document that is expected to reinforce the teaching that gays are not welcome in the priesthood. The Rev. Gerald Chojnacki, head of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, said in a letter to his priests that he was asking bishops to tell Vatican officials who are drafting the policy "of the great harm this will cause many good priests and the Catholic faithful." Chojnacki wrote in the letter, dated Monday, that he had participated in the funerals of several gay Jesuit clergy over the last few years. "I find it insulting to demean their memory and their years of service by even hinting that they were unfit for priesthood because of their sexual orientation," he wrote. Chojnacki said he would be working with the Conference of Major Superiors, which represents leaders of religious orders in the United States including the Jesuits, Franciscans and others, and with bishops to fight "for the opportunity of a gay person to say yes to God's call in celibate service of priesthood and chaste religious life." A priest who supports the protest provided the letter to The Associated Press. A spokesman for the New York province did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A Vatican official said last week that the upcoming "instruction" from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education will reaffirm the church's belief that homosexuals should not be ordained. In recent decades, Vatican officials have stated several times that gays should not become priests because their sexual orientation is "intrinsically disordered" and makes them unsuitable for ministry. A Vatican-directed evaluation of all 229 U.S. seminaries is underway, and is looking for "evidence of homosexuality" in the schools among other issues, such as whether their instruction keeps with church teaching. The evaluation was organized in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis. Priests in religious orders throughout the country said in interviews that anger is building among their members about the prospect of a ban on gay seminarians. Some have said clergy are considering staging a strike on a Sunday, to show how critical gay priests are to serving the church. Priests who had not disclosed their sexual orientation to parishioners are now thinking about coming out and denouncing the idea of a ban. Others have talked about signing their names to a protest letter to the Vatican. Estimates of the numbers of gays in the priesthood vary from 25 percent to 50 percent. About one-third of the 42,500 U.S. priests are members of religious orders. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow. Striking priests. Something so totally wrong with that. [right][snapback]742276[/snapback][/right] [/quote] correction to my previous statement: maybe we will have some defrockings. and some excommunications. I'd rather there be no one calling themself "catholic" in the entire country than have a church full of such catholics-in-name-only who would refuse to consecrate the eucharist in order to promote an inclination towards sin :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socrates Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 [quote name='Aloysius' date='Sep 30 2005, 03:34 PM']correction to my previous statement: maybe we will have some defrockings. and some excommunications. I'd rather there be no one calling themself "catholic" in the entire country than have a church full of such catholics-in-name-only who would refuse to consecrate the eucharist in order to promote an inclination towards sin :angry: [right][snapback]742345[/snapback][/right] [/quote] Defrock 'em all, I say! Let God sort 'em out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Didacus Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 [url="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/10/03/a_catholic_moment_of_truth/"]http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...oment_of_truth/[/url] A little anti-catholic article. Didn't read it all myself. i just wish they would stop picking on us so much. Makes me want to scream! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 [quote name='Didacus' date='Oct 3 2005, 12:13 PM'][url="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/10/03/a_catholic_moment_of_truth/"]http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...oment_of_truth/[/url] A little anti-catholic article. Didn't read it all myself. i just wish they would stop picking on us so much. Makes me want to scream! [right][snapback]744492[/snapback][/right] [/quote] someone should rationally and patiently respond to that man's assertions and generalizations. First major point I'd make is that Cardinal Law is in a dead end position usually given to Cardinals older than he. Second, that in predominantly Catholic African countries the AIDS rate is not even approaching that in condom promoting countries, indicating that the Catholic policy of abstinence before marriage tends to WORK. To call 2000 years of Catholic teaching (added onto the centuries of Jewish teaching) immature is in fact immature to the nth degree. Third, most of the abusive priests were pederasts, not pedophiles. They were homosexual. And, there exist in large number those places known as 'pink palaces' where seminarians are exposed to a homosexual subculture completely at odds with Catholic teaching. Someone else should write this letter, because I tend to use words like "malcontent," "unfaithful," "so-called Catholics" and the like. Someone with more charity, please respond to this idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dspen2005 Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 would terms like 'excommunicant', 'heretic' be better??? or more charitable? The church thinks so to those who dissent from Church teaching out of willful action or inaction. I think it is up to you to take on this task -- afterall, what would happen if we left the task of responding to something that attacks the Faith to others, who in turn leave the task to others, and to more others, until we are resolved to an infinite regress... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 [quote name='dspen2005' date='Oct 3 2005, 03:30 PM']would terms like 'excommunicant', 'heretic' be better??? or more charitable? The church thinks so to those who dissent from Church teaching out of willful action or inaction. I think it is up to you to take on this task -- afterall, what would happen if we left the task of responding to something that attacks the Faith to others, who in turn leave the task to others, and to more others, until we are resolved to an infinite regress... [right][snapback]744716[/snapback][/right] [/quote] blast it...I'll try to e-mail him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 RE: Catholic Moment of Truth- James Carroll To whom it may concern, Mr. Carroll's bitter and rather vitriolic editorial regarding the Catholic Church's probable ban on the ordination of homosexuals was characterized by a number of baseless assertions. A first point of contention is his treatment of Cardinal Law. It should be known that the Cardinal's position as archpriest at the Basilica of St. Mary Major is anything but influential. It often has gone to those of more advanced years than Cardinal Law. Those who are possessed of a less charitable and forgiving nature would be happy to learn that it is in effect a dead-end job. Secondly, there are studies which indicate that in predominantly Catholic African countries, the rate of HIV/AIDS is dramatically lower than those with a minority of Catholics. It would seem that promoting abstinence has an effect where condoms do not. Further, to continually assert that the Church's stance on sexual ethics and birth control is "immature" is in fact devoid of any adult mentality. In effect, centuries of Jewish teaching combined with two thousand years of Catholic teaching have been labeled as the product of juvenile, sexually stunted morons. Which is the immature attitude? Finally, a glancing study of the priest abuse cases will indicate that the majority of cases involved pederasty, not pedophilia. We have sexually mature boys being molested by predatory homosexual men. A word of caution: Those Catholics who do not unite themselves to the teachings of the Catholic Church put themselves into a state of latae sententiae excommunication. Dissent is not a virtue. While the effect of this policy remains to be seen, we have seen the effect of relaxing the standards to which we hold our priests accountable. Neal Dewing Smithfield, Virginia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dspen2005 Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 (edited) :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: Edited October 4, 2005 by dspen2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Didacus Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Most excellnet Toledo! Long live the church faithfuls!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now