The Forbidden Question
Why is Fr. Haley really in trouble? What did he do that was so wrong?
HE ASKED THE FORBIDDEN QUESTION:
Is it prudent, moral, and good for the Church to ordain homosexual men to the priesthood?
Seems pretty clear to me as a mom and gramma. You don't put a kleptomaniac in charge of the jewelry store and you don't hire an alcoholic as a bartender. So, for the same reasoning, you don't put men with same-sex attraction in an environment where they will be forced to live in close proximity with other men, socialize with them, attend recreation and retreats solely with them, etc. -- all in secret.
Homosexual priests live a continual lie. Parishioners believe they gave up a wife and family for a life of sacrifice dedicated to their Church family. But in reality, the homosexual gave up nothing. He entered a sheltered sheltered, secure community where he will receive false honors, false respect for his penitential life, and has all the benefits of enjoying the fellowship of men whom he prefers. Is this right, holy, and good? No, it's an occasion of sin.
Consider what happens with a homosexual in the seminary. He lives in close quarters with other young men, some of whom are what the girls call, "Fr. What-a-waste" because they are so handsome. What a temptation!
Let's role play. You are a normal, manly candidate for the seminary. Your roommate is a homosexual which you figure out pretty quickly. Undressing in your room becomes very uncomfortable for obvious reasons. The communal bathroom where nudity is inevitable is even a bigger problem and sometimes it's pretty obvious why. Do you get dressed in the closet or the toilet stall?
You go to the rector and he asks for proof that there is a problem. Has your roommate "acted" on his homosexuality?
You don't know, but you argue with the rector that it is wrong to put someone with same-sex attraction in this type of environment. In theology classes you are discussing penance and occasions of sin and the necessity to tell penitents they must avoid them and get out of them. How can a homosexual living his entire life in close and intimate proximity with other men not be in a constant occasion of sin, you ask?
The rector demurs and you ask him if you may live in a convent of nuns (some of whom are young and beautiful and filled with passionate zeal), share a bathroom, eat all your meals together, spend your hours of recreation with them, etc. The rector laughs.
And nothing happens. Your homosexual roommate and the other homosexuals at the seminary continue their studies toward ordination.
Now let's flash forward five years. Father homosexual has tried to be chaste, but he lives with a fellow priest whom he finds sexually attractive. He is tempted to seek opportunities to spend as much time as possible with this priest and he occasionally engages in self abuse using pornography on the internet. He confesses his sexual temptations and his falls from grace. His confessor tells him he has to get out of the situation, it's untenable.
What next? Father goes to the bishop and asks to be moved for personal reasons. So he goes to another parish. Maybe there he is tempted by the male youth director and some of the teenage altar boys. His porn collection grows. Say he becomes a pastor and the bishop sends him newly ordained priests including Fr. "What-a-waste." What happens next?
Is this a life of holiness or stupidity and continuous temptation? If it isn't holy and heroic for a heterosexual priest to live in a convent full of nuns, how can it be holy and heroic for a homosexual to live in continuous proximity with other men? Especially when he is living a lie.
So...how would you answer Fr. Haley's question? Is it prudent, right, moral, and good for the Church to ordain homosexuals? It's not a complicated question. What's the answer?
NB. There is no doctrine in the Catholic Church that states a homosexual may not be ordained. Homosexuality is not listed in Canon Law as an impediment. There is nothing in Canon Law that gives a bishop recourse if he discovers one of his priests is homosexual. It was rumored that on the day he died, Bishop John Keating, Loverde's predecessor, who was in Rome for his ad limina visit, asked in a meeting, "What can I do about my homosexual priest problem?" Unfortunately, his death occurred before the question was answered. But the laity is still asking. What, Holy Father, can be done about the homosexual priest problem? And why is Fr. Haley out in the cold for asking the question while homosexual priests still fill our rectories?
HE ASKED THE FORBIDDEN QUESTION:
Is it prudent, moral, and good for the Church to ordain homosexual men to the priesthood?
Seems pretty clear to me as a mom and gramma. You don't put a kleptomaniac in charge of the jewelry store and you don't hire an alcoholic as a bartender. So, for the same reasoning, you don't put men with same-sex attraction in an environment where they will be forced to live in close proximity with other men, socialize with them, attend recreation and retreats solely with them, etc. -- all in secret.
Homosexual priests live a continual lie. Parishioners believe they gave up a wife and family for a life of sacrifice dedicated to their Church family. But in reality, the homosexual gave up nothing. He entered a sheltered sheltered, secure community where he will receive false honors, false respect for his penitential life, and has all the benefits of enjoying the fellowship of men whom he prefers. Is this right, holy, and good? No, it's an occasion of sin.
Consider what happens with a homosexual in the seminary. He lives in close quarters with other young men, some of whom are what the girls call, "Fr. What-a-waste" because they are so handsome. What a temptation!
Let's role play. You are a normal, manly candidate for the seminary. Your roommate is a homosexual which you figure out pretty quickly. Undressing in your room becomes very uncomfortable for obvious reasons. The communal bathroom where nudity is inevitable is even a bigger problem and sometimes it's pretty obvious why. Do you get dressed in the closet or the toilet stall?
You go to the rector and he asks for proof that there is a problem. Has your roommate "acted" on his homosexuality?
You don't know, but you argue with the rector that it is wrong to put someone with same-sex attraction in this type of environment. In theology classes you are discussing penance and occasions of sin and the necessity to tell penitents they must avoid them and get out of them. How can a homosexual living his entire life in close and intimate proximity with other men not be in a constant occasion of sin, you ask?
The rector demurs and you ask him if you may live in a convent of nuns (some of whom are young and beautiful and filled with passionate zeal), share a bathroom, eat all your meals together, spend your hours of recreation with them, etc. The rector laughs.
And nothing happens. Your homosexual roommate and the other homosexuals at the seminary continue their studies toward ordination.
Now let's flash forward five years. Father homosexual has tried to be chaste, but he lives with a fellow priest whom he finds sexually attractive. He is tempted to seek opportunities to spend as much time as possible with this priest and he occasionally engages in self abuse using pornography on the internet. He confesses his sexual temptations and his falls from grace. His confessor tells him he has to get out of the situation, it's untenable.
What next? Father goes to the bishop and asks to be moved for personal reasons. So he goes to another parish. Maybe there he is tempted by the male youth director and some of the teenage altar boys. His porn collection grows. Say he becomes a pastor and the bishop sends him newly ordained priests including Fr. "What-a-waste." What happens next?
Is this a life of holiness or stupidity and continuous temptation? If it isn't holy and heroic for a heterosexual priest to live in a convent full of nuns, how can it be holy and heroic for a homosexual to live in continuous proximity with other men? Especially when he is living a lie.
So...how would you answer Fr. Haley's question? Is it prudent, right, moral, and good for the Church to ordain homosexuals? It's not a complicated question. What's the answer?
NB. There is no doctrine in the Catholic Church that states a homosexual may not be ordained. Homosexuality is not listed in Canon Law as an impediment. There is nothing in Canon Law that gives a bishop recourse if he discovers one of his priests is homosexual. It was rumored that on the day he died, Bishop John Keating, Loverde's predecessor, who was in Rome for his ad limina visit, asked in a meeting, "What can I do about my homosexual priest problem?" Unfortunately, his death occurred before the question was answered. But the laity is still asking. What, Holy Father, can be done about the homosexual priest problem? And why is Fr. Haley out in the cold for asking the question while homosexual priests still fill our rectories?
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