Even the secular, liberal newspapers are getting it. The Washington Post had an editorial the other day that said that the US bishops’ conference cannot simply present the John Jay and National Review Board reports and call it a day, or as Bishop Wilton Gregory said, “It is history.”
The newspaper said two more things need to be done: bishops must be held accountable and the names of pervert priests who are still alive and have credible allegations must be listed. Unfortunately, the only ones who can do anything about bishops are the bishops themselves. They need to apply public pressure to their brethren who sheltered abusers and who may be sexually deviant themselves to resign and repent. The newspaper quotes Cardinal McCarrick:
I guess I was looking for an outright endorsement of the “Belvilaqua position” from Bishop Dolan..that’s why I was shocked. I like Bishop Dolan, he’s a man’s man. I, too, figured maybe he just wasn’t up to saying anything explicit on national tv but chooses to reserve his criteria for rejecting priestly candidates to himself.
This is no time for middling language in my opinion.
Three cheers to Bishop Bruskiewicz (sp?) for refusing the meddling of laity acting with out any canonical rights. The Diocese belongs to the Bishop. The Bishop works for the Pope.
Al,
On the one hand, a priest who remains faithful to his promises of chastity and obedience is to be preferred to one who does not, whether he has same-sex attraction or not. If the priest does have SSA but does not act on it at all, how do we know he has it?
On the other hand, if a priest minces about the altar and displays homosexual characteristics (I know it’s politically incorrect to say it, but I’ve seen it and know it to be true), then it will surely drive away men who are looking for real leadership and manly virtues to emulate.
MC,
We know what the Scriptures say about homosexual acts. But a chaste homosexual is no more sinful than a chaste heterosexual. He may have a disorder, but as long as it’s kept in check, it’s not a sin. The question is whether it is prudent for such men to be in the seminary and the priesthood.
Stephen,
I’m not saying get rid of bishops and we will run the Church ourselves. I’m saying that setting up the Dallas policy and writing this report has not brought justice to those actually responsible for a large portion of the Scandal. One bishop has resigned after acknowledging he shuffled perverts among parishes, allowing them to harm others again and again. One!
As I said on Sunday: I await the day a single American bishop stands up and says re not capable of uttering one syllable of moral language.
Raymond Arroyo quickly turned the whole issue toward the homosexual activity..some panel members were clearly unsettled.
Do you think if we started using the Biblica term: Sodomites, people might understand the problem.
Bill,
I am making a new blog entry with the two key Vatican references. Look for them at the top of today’s page.