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The Great Catholic (Self) Deception: Publicly Straight + Privately Gay


Rome demands straight behavior and gay bishops, priests, and seminarians retreat into queer schizophrenia.

 

“I am suggesting that the reality of bishops’  sexual orientation/behavior and the need to hide it is a significant element in clerical culture and structure that keeps us from facing basic facts about how that culture operates and affects millions of people”. — Richard Sipe

Vatican regulations:

The push is on once again to purge gays from Roman Catholic seminaries. In 2005, the Vatican issued guidelines that would strictly limit the admission of gay men to Catholic seminaries. The guidelines, which supported existing rules that had been widely ignored, were clear and direct. Men who actively “practice homosexuality” should be barred from priestly formation. Seminary rectors were ordered to reject candidates who “show profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture.”

The Vatican followed up in 2008 with a clarification. “It is not enough to be sure that he is capable of abstaining from genital activity,” ruled the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education, which issued the initial guidelines. “It is also necessary to evaluate his sexual orientation.”  

The hierarchical church just doesn’t’ like gays.

In January, the Catholic bishops of Uganda argued against the death penalty for homosexuals but reminded their people that “Homosexuals have the need of conversion and repentance, “ because “homosexual acts are immoral and are violations of divine and natural law.”

In February,  Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, reiterated a condemnation of  “New Ways Ministry” with its a gay-positive advocacy for lesbian and gay Catholics.

In April, during his visit to Chile,  Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, conflated pedophilia with homosexuality.

In May, in Fatima, Pope Benedict stressed that gay marriage is one of the most “insidious and dangerous” threats facing the world today.

The Pope’s Christmas address to the Roman Curia two years ago was even clearer: “saving humanity from homosexuality,” the Pope told the church’s central governing body, was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.  

Today, US Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, continues to reiterate that “homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity… intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life…. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”

Nevertheless, the Catholic reality is increasingly gay.

As Fr. Donald Cozzens has often observed, and several studies have confirmed, about 50% of today’s priests and seminarians are gay. Most recent studies suggest in fact that today’s seminaries, and seminary rectors, are probably closer to 80% gay.

 

In some seminaries in fact, I hear, straight students feel so estranged from seminary life that administrators are offering discussion groups to help them understand gay culture.

If current trends continue, the priesthood of the twenty-first century will likely be perceived as a predominately gay profession.

Gay bishops?

If 50% of Catholic priests are gay, I suspect that more than a couple bishops are gay. Bishops of course try to carefully cover their tracks, especially if they want to advance in the hierarchy. Some, on occasion however, are rather reckless.

A couple years ago when on vacation in Europe I ran into a prominent, incognito-traveling, American archbishop who was having a grand time in Paris with his “nephew.” He nearly had cardiac arrest one morning at the hotel breakfast buffet when I greeted him with a loud “Good Morning Archbishop!”

Then there is the strange case of the homophobic US bishop who was appointed as a “apostolic visitor” to look for signs of homosexuality in US seminaries, when they were all scrutinized in 2005. One of my friends was rector of an examined seminary. A week before the examiner bishop arrived to do his scrutiny, the rector got a phone call from his own bishop. “Be careful,” he told the rector. “Keep all young seminarians away from the apostolic visitor because he is fond of young men and well known for his hands-on-approach.”

To be or not to be?

Being gay is not the issue. Being honest is.

Church leadership has much to learn about human sexuality.

 First of all, however, church leadership has to learn what it means to be honest.

Posted on by Dr. John A. Dick

SEX HURDLES FOR CATHOLIC BISHOPS


 

Helping bishops understand who they are as sexual beings…..

 

I understand that some bishops took offense at my first posting about continuing sex ed for bishops….especially the suggestion that they meditate on the Canticle of Canticles. No offense intended!

Certainly all bishops must understand themselves as “sexual” and how they function as  sexual men.

Today’s episcopal sex ed exercise is rather simple. I would like each bishop to sit down and write a thoughtful essay titled: “I am a sexual bishop.”  

The following points can help get your reflection started and keep it well-focused.

Important points for Episcopal sexuality reflection:

  • understanding your own sexuality means you feel more comfortable with yourself and helps you relate better to others
  • what kind of a sexual person are you?
  • sexuality is more than genital sexual activity – it’s about the whole person, your experiences, your social context, and your relationships
  • how does this affect you?
  • sexuality is a natural and healthy part of living.
  • are you currently living your sexuality in a natural and healthy way?
  • sexuality includes physical, ethical, spiritual, psychological and emotional dimensions.
  • how do you see these dimensions in your life?
  • individuals express their sexuality in a variety of ways.
  • how do you express your sexuality?
  • sexual relationships should never be coercive or exploitative.
  • what does this say to you about your ministry as bishop?
  • sexuality is part of the package you come with when you’re born, and is with you. throughout your life. It’s wrapped around every part of who you are. You’ve already got it, but you may need help in learning how to use it in positive ways.

After you have completed your essay, we will make arrangements for you to meet privately with a psychologist who will go over your essay with you. Some bishops will of course be complimented on their sexual health. Others will be given pointers for further growth. Some bishops will be asked to begin therapy and immediately send their resignations to Rome for “personal health reasons.”

 

 

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A New Reformation the Only Solution


I have no desire to reintroduce the guillotine. Nor do I want to see a Roman Catholic reign of terror… Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church needs a French Revolution.

The revelations about  clerical sexual abuse  in the Roman Catholic Church continue to explode like an Icelandic volcano, spreading ashes of dismay, disgust and anger across the globe…….and all knowledgeable observers agree that we still see just the tip of the iceberg.

In a recent article, sexual abuse expert and church lawyer, Fr. Tom Doyle, summarizes accurately I believe the problem and the solution.

The most common response to revelations of sex abuse of the vulnerable by priests has been denial and blame-shifting soaked in narcissistic arrogance.  The Vatican and the bishops simply don’t get it!  In the early nineties the Pope and his talking heads all distanced themselves by proclaiming that this was an American problem and a salient cause was materialism, secularism and hedonism.  Some of the more psychotic rantings blamed it on the wholesale refusal to obey the 1968 birth control encyclical Humanae Vitae. That was circa 1993.  Then Ireland exploded with the Brendan Smyth affair in 1994.  In 1995 one of John Paul II’s favorite cardinals, Hans Hermann Groer of Vienna was exposed and had to resign.  The revelations continued over the years.  The U.S. bishops organized their defense against the victims, treating them to deceitful pronouncements about how caring they are while at the same time doing everything in their power to avoid any accountability.  Their true colors are obvious…they are afraid to reach out to victims, incapable to comprehending the horror of it all and equally incapable of any form of spiritual healing.

The bishops in the U.S. and elsewhere regularly pontificate that they have made the world safer for children and they have handled the sex abuse crisis in such a superlative way that it’s now over.  The power of the papacy and the episcopacy to change reality and re-write history appears to be waning!  Over the past few months what some predicted was inevitable has happened.  May, 2009 – The Ryan Report reveals systemic torture and sexual abuse in Ireland’s Church-run orphanages and child-care institutions.  November 2009 – The Murphy Report exposes the culture of abuse, denial and dishonesty in Dublin;  February-March, 2010 – revelations of clergy sex abuse in Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and…..The Vatican!

All the pope has to offer is talk…more words, more meetings, more silly press releases and the promise of a special pastoral letter.  The “problem” is not going to be fixed by the pope, the bishops or anyone who works for the institutional Church.  Why?  Because they are the problem.  The light at the end of the long tunnel will remain way out of reach until the very system that produced the dysfunctional clerics and their equally dysfunctional bishops is ended and somehow replaced with not another monarchy but something that one can readily identify with the Body of Christ.

When the Roman Empire in the West collapsed, the Church of Rome wed its structure in sickness and in health. The Bishop of Rome clothed himself in imperial grandeur; and arrogance, domination, and self-preservation replaced the Gospel values of compassion, humility, and ministry to the oppressed.

Posted on by Dr. John A. Dick

New Priests in the USA: Older and More Conservative


While much of the world’s  attention is focused on sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University  has just released a report about the U.S. Catholic ordination class of 2010.

The vast majority (92 percent) of men being ordained to the priesthood this year report some kind of full-time work experience prior to entering the seminary. Most of them in education. Three in five (60 percent) of these new priests completed a college degree before pursuing the priesthood, and one in five (20 percent) has done advanced graduate study.

Nearly one-third (31 percent) of the ordination class of 2010 was born outside the United States, the largest numbers coming from Mexico, Colombia, the Philippines, Poland and Vietnam. Between 20 and 30 percent of ordinands to the diocesan priesthood for each of the last 10 years were born outside the United States.

Two thirds report regularly praying the rosary (67 percent) and participating in Eucharistic Adoration (65 percent) before entering seminary.

The average age of ordinands for the Class of 2010 is 37. More than half (56 percent) are between the ages of 25 and 34. This is approximately the same as it was in 2009 and consistent with the average age of ordination classes for the last five years. Eleven are being ordained to the priesthood at age 65 or older.

This analysis is part of The Class of 2010: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood, an annual national survey of men being ordained priests, conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), a Georgetown University-based research center. The entire report can be found at www.usccb.org/vocations/classof2010, as well as on the new www.ForYourVocation.org which is set to launch on April 25, Good Shepherd Sunday and the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The survey was commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

“One important trend evident in this study is the importance of lifelong formation and engagement in the Catholic faith,” said Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. He noted that, along with their education and work experience, half to three-quarters of the Class of 2010 report they served as an altar server, lector, Eucharistic minister or other parish ministry.

“Most ordinands have been Catholic since birth,” said Cardinal O’Malley, “Four in five report that both their parents are Catholic. Almost eight in 10 were encouraged to consider the priesthood by a priest. This speaks to the essential role the whole Church has to play in fostering vocations.”

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Papal Apology and Resignation


“The Holy See’s obtuse response, combining self-denial with self-pity — it’s all the fault of a gossip-mongering media apparently — has shredded the last vestiges of Vatican credibility,” writes Andrew Bacevich in yesterday’s Boston Globe.  And today’s New York Times has published excerpts from a 1985 letter signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger showing he resisted “for the good of the universal church” pleas  to oust a pedophile priest in Oakland, California. 

World-wide attention is now focused on center stage at the Vatican. The Pope really has to act and act quickly. And I have an action-oriented  suggestion…..

For Pentecost 2010 — At high noon on Sunday May 23rd Pope Benedict XVI should appear at his balcony and issue the following proclamation:

Dear Brothers and Sisters around the world,

Today, Pentecost 2010, I stand before you not to bestow the traditional blessing “urbi et orbi” but to confess my own personal failures and sinfulness. I failed as Archbishop of Munich. I failed as Cardinal Ratzinger in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. And I have failed as Pope Benedict XVI, Peter’s Successor. Through my fault. Through my fault. Through my most grievous fault,  the sins of sexual abuse by members of the clergy went on far too long, hidden in secrecy and unpunished. I put face-saving self-concern and institutional safety ahead of living the Gospel and showing loving concern for the safety of children and young people. A terrible sin and a terrible failure as a leader in the Church of Christ. May the Lord have pity on my poor soul.

Therefore today, Pentecost 2010, I offer no “urbi et orbi” blessing but  my most profound apology for my failures and sinfulness; and at the conclusion of this address will offer at the same time my resignation as Peter’s Successor.

Furthermore, at a special Pentecost Penitential liturgy to be held today at 6:00 pm in St. Peter’s Basilica I ask  Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State; Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals and Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura to kneel with me before the high altar and offer their own resignations effective immediately.

Today, Pentecost 2010, I humbly ask the Holy Spirit to revivify and renew the Church. I ask Catholics and Christians around world to join together in prayer and discussion to chart a new course for the Church of Rome. And for the coming month I ask the heads of all episcopal conferences around the world to send to the Vatican representatives from their conferences – one lay and one ordained – who will comprise an international Roman Catholic leadership team to administer the Church and plan a thorough-going reorganization.

I now resign my office as Pope. For the next thirty days I will retreat to a Franciscan monastery, as a simple priest,  for a time of prayer, penance and interior conversion. May the Holy Spirit be with  us all in  the coming days!

Posted on by Dr. John A. Dick · 1 Comment

Catholic Health Alert


A few days ago I attended liturgy at a college chapel I had not been to in a couple years. I say “attended” because from the moment I walked into the recently “renovated” space I realized I was an observer more than a participant. The altar which used to be at the center of the community is now back against the front wall. The old “sanctuary” – now elevated above the rest of the chapel – has been restored as a place reserved for the ordained. It is strictly off limits for lower-class lay people.

I will not spend much time on the “art” in the refurbished chapel… Suffice it to say that it looks like the conservative chaplain and his student helpers bought-out a couple flea markets specializing in 1950s plaster renditions of  Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

The liturgical language and the language of the young homilist bothered me more than the sappy-sweet statuary. Totally gone today, in contrast to a long tradition in the place,  is any form of inclusive language. Everything was “he… him… his.” Those gathered that day for a special liturgy were about one third women. Yet the young fellow who addressed us began his reflections with “Dear Brothers!” Downhill from there…

Healthy and unhealthy religion… My examination of conscience for people at all levels in the church.

Does a particular form of religious thought and practice:

  1. Build bridges or set up barriers between people? Does it create qualitative classes of people?
  2. Strengthen or weaken a basic sense of trust and relatedness to people and to the universe?
  3. Stimulate or hamper personal responsibility?
  4. Is its primary concern for surface behavior or for the underlying health of the personality?
  5. Increase or lessen the enjoyment of life? Does it encourage a person to appreciate or depreciate the feeling dimension of life?
  6. Handle sexual feelings in constructive or abusive or repressive ways?
  7. Encourage the acceptance or the denial of reality?
  8. Does it foster magical or mature religious beliefs?
  9. Does it encourage intellectual honesty with respect to doubts?
  10. Does it oversimplify the human situation or face its tangled complexity?
  11. Emphasize love (and growth) or fear?
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When Religion Goes Sour


The tsunami of clerical sexual abuse, now flooding the contemporary Roman Catholic Church, highlights the irony of religion. While religion can bring insight, care and redemption, it can also debase, abuse and reinforce, as well, the sinister aspirations of the human spirit. All in God’s name.

It is not surprising that unhealthy religion goes hand in hand with religious fundamentalism which is becoming the hallmark of the current papacy.

Fundamentalism is fundamentally flawed because it takes one element of the truth and proclaims it as the WHOLE TRUTH. Religious fundamentalists place such a high priority on doctrinal conformity and obedience to doctrinaire spokespersons that they sacrifice the very values which are basic to the great religious traditions: love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance and caring. In their overwhelming seriousness about religion, fundamentalists do not hesitate to intervene in political and social process to ensure that society is forced to conform to the values and behaviors the fundamentalist worldview requires.

Writing in the Boston Globe on this Monday after Easter 2010, James Carroll, argues that we need to rescue Catholicism from a fundamentalist Vatican.

“The whole Catholic Church seems to be in crisis,” he writes “but what is really at stake here is the collapse not of Catholicism, but of Catholic fundamentalism.”

Carroll continues:

Fundamentalism is the raising of religious barricades against tides of change. Protestant fundamentalists use the Bible (quoting verses of scripture) as both sword and shield. Catholic fundamentalists use the papacy that way (quoting encyclicals). Today’s Vatican presides as center of a command society with global reach, attempting to exert absolute control over all aspects of Catholic life, from the major (doctrine) to the minor (altar boys). Despite the impression that even many Catholics have, such papal dominance is a modern phenomenon. The Vatican was not always a corporate headquarters, with the world’s bishops as menial regional office managers, priests as messengers, the laity as mere customers…

Surprisingly, no one saw this distortion more clearly than a pope — John XXIII, who called, yes, a council to correct it. His Vatican II (1962-65) aimed to restore the “collegiality’’ of bishops (the pope only as “first among equals’’); to reinvigorate local expressions of belief (hence worship in the vernacular); and to retrieve the “priesthood of all believers’’ as a check on clericalism. Vatican II was a step toward the democratizing of the Catholic Church, which is why Catholic fundamentalists have been seeking to undo it ever since. Fundamentalist-in-chief has been Joseph Ratzinger.

Across three decades, Ratzinger was key to the appointment of bishops whose overriding commitment was the protection of pope-centered clerical authority. Terrified of acting on their own, they had one eye eternally on Rome. “Scandal’’ was their nightmare. Between an abused child and a predator priest, their choice was always simple: protecting the power structure meant protecting the priest. That structure is the problem, which means the pope’s resignation is not the issue.

An example of what must happen now came from the American nuns who recently defied the Rome-obsessed bishops to support President Obama’s health reform bill. The nuns acted as if the reforms of Vatican II are real. Now priests and lay people must do the same, rescuing the Catholic Church from its fundamentalists, including the present pope.