In contrast to Bishop Robert Baker of Charleston, whose statement I excerpted down below, Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, president of the USCCBureaucracy, claims that the new Instruction actually allows for the ordination of gays.
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said yesterday that under a new Vatican directive on homosexuality, men with a lasting attraction to members of the same sex can still be ordained as priests, as long as they are not “consumed by” their sexual orientation.
Not buying it. The beauty of the Instruction is that it is concise, to the point, and devoid of the blather you typically find in documents written by committees. And thus, when someone intentionally misreads it as Skylstad is doing, his agenda is transparently obvious to all.
Get this ridiculous statement:
“Absolutely, it cuts both ways. ... I think if the orientation dominates one’s personality, whether that be homosexual or heterosexual,” then the candidate is not suitable for ordination, Skylstad said.
So ... priests are supposed to be androgynous? Again, this directly contradicts the document which says that men should be able to exhibit spiritual fatherhood and be able to properly relate to men and women alike. Notice also how the bishop equates homosexuality and heterosexuality. He glosses over the fact that homosexuality is disordered, that it is not natural, that it leads away from God, and that heterosexuality is ordered toward the divine plan for our human nature.
Since he speaks with authority for the USCCB, I presume the press will be quoting him. Which means that Catholics who do not follow Catholic news on the web will be getting the wrong information.
I think we are in for some bumpy weather ahead.
Can we expect that others of a similar persuasion will be following suit? In large numbers considering some of the statistics about the number of priests who are homosexual? Perhaps moving on to set up their own church and calling it Catholic? The potential for rival churches does seem to be hinted at in some recent news concerning Mary Rammerman’s parish, and now this announcement.
As B16 told us, we should prepare for a smaller Church. Could this be what he had in mind?
I’m delighted that this man has left but it gives me chills to think of what he’s been doing in that parish all this time. What kind of advice has he given? What kind of counseling did he offer in the confessional?
Dom,
It seems very likely that the guy is homosexual (he said he felt like a Jew in a Nazi uniform, not a draftee and he gave an interview to the Advocate in an impressive hurry) but where exactly is it that “he admits he is gay”?
On the other bench, we find Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington: in line with the latest Instruction. If you note, it says, “Applicants…must fully embrace, through belief and action, the Church:comment_author_url>
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2005-11-30 19:58:56
2005-11-30 23:58:56
“Do you think perhaps in past years the former Bishop of Phoenix, and perhaps the former vicar general, were distracted by other matters?”
You mean running people over with their Buicks? (=
From the article: “This new Vatican document says we’re not fit to serve,” Walker said. “How could I, with any integrity, continue to serve when they take this kind of hostile and aggressive position?” said Walker, who is gay.
This is what I was alluding to yesterday in a post to another topic.
To this priest and others like him who can’t handle that the orthodox letter of Vatican II is being more tightly enforced (instead of the zeitgeist called the “spirit of Vatican II”), I say once again, “Good bye and don’t let the door hit you on the way out—no pun intended. Have fun in the Episcopal Church where you and your ilk belong!”
I’m all in favor of a smaller Church as long as she is faithful.