Vatican Publishes Views on Gay Priests

I believe it's fuschia, darling

Of course there are hypocrites within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Of course there is corruption and ignorance. That is true of every global organization, religious or otherwise. That is why there are those of us who care about the Church doing what we can within the Church itself. It's a lot easier to walk away and say, "The Church is going to hell, and I have no intention of going with it." I prefer to stay and do what little I can to make my Church a home where I can be comfortable. There will always be those within the very same walls who disagree with me, but the Church is no less mine than it is theirs, and I take a stand for my right to be there. I can't eliminate hypocrites and erroneous thinkers, but I refuse to let them drive me away from an institution that has been a refuge to me.

;) right, thanks

*makes straight guy note = pink*

Jacinto, if not for people like you, changes would never come about at all. I respect your efforts to support your beliefs, even if I admit I couldn't do it. I guess if I HAD srtonger beliefs I would care more about defending the church, but I do see it as an important aspect of most people's lives so I am glad there are some who are there to serve as beacons of what could be possible to the rest.

I would like to see a pie chart or something that shows the percentage of members from each particular proffession and religion who are pedos and the like. I willing to place a large bet that the Catholic Church will have the highest rate of kiddy fiddlers. Or maybe second to the Scout movement.

I doubt it for a couple of reasons. The pedophile priest scandals were an American problem, not global. Even with the large population of the US, there is a shortage of priests, and only a small percentage were/are offenders. Granted, there are more pedophiles in the priesthood than there should be, but for every pedophile priest there are thousands who are sincere about their vocation and who find approaching a child in lust to be abhorrent. We hear about pedophile priests in the news because that's what news is about. Who wants to hear about the devout priests out there who care for their parishioners and who do the good works expected of priests? Priests doing what priests should do is not deemed newsworthy. If you want to find pedophiles, look in the professions that deal almost exclusively with children. Most of the workers in those professions would never dream of molesting the children in their charge, but for those who are so inclined, the proximity of the children and the opportunities to be alone with them could prove to be a powerful motivation to act upon unsavoury impulses.

And that is disturbing on SO many levels. What does that really say about American culture, that we're addicted to other people's agony, ill deeds, and such incredible negativity? And what does it say about our society that when someone does something right for the sake of simply doing the right thing (like priests doing what priests should do, as he says), we somehow disdain them for doing so? Suspicion is the best way I can describe it. What's that person trying to get?

Dr. Andrew Weil wrote that everyone in America should go on a news fast. Stop watching, reading, listening to any sort of news. Then after a week see how your perceptions change.

seen on a bumper sticker -

Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers

here's a recent reaction

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NGR6FTHU91.DTL

"There is nothing in this document that would require a change in the current practice," said the Rev. James Bretzke, chairman of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco.

He said that it has long been true that some American bishops and superiors who lead religious orders will automatically disqualify candidates for the priesthood who claim a homosexual orientation, while other bishops will consider them.

"Unless you get a critical mass of bishops and religious superiors who say, now we can't admit any gay men, I don't think it's going to have any discernible effect," Bretzke said. "There are lots of excellent gay priests and seminarians, and we have a priest shortage. We're not exactly in a buyer's market here. If you're not going to ordain gay men, and not going to ordain married men, and not going to ordain women, well then who's left? It's not exactly a big pool."

Estimates of the percentage of priests who are gay have varied from as few as 10 percent to as many as 60 percent. The directive applies only to seminarians -- not to priests who have already been ordained.