Monday 30 May 2016

"STRAIGHT" MEN IN A GAY PRIESTHOOD

"STRAIGHT" MEN IN A GAY PRIESTHOOD

THE CHANGING FACE OF PRIESTHOOD - DONALD COZZENS

"THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IS NOW A GAY PROFESSION" is a statement that is often heard nowadays and many priests would agree that the statement is perfectly true.


Father Donald Cozzens


If the statement is true - and I am one of those who think it is - then the whole topic needs urgent, rational and compassionate addressing by the Catholic Church and all of us who are interested in Catholic Christianity and Christian ministry. 

That means that we do not need hysterical right wing Catholics going bananas and demanding that every gay priest should be expelled from the priesthood and that every gay seminarian should be expelled from the seminary.




It also means that we do not need hysterical gay activists screaming that we are guilty of homophobia for even discussing the issue.




In fact, in recent days, I have had to restrict comments on the Blog to "followers" after receiving threats and personal abuse from so called "members of the gay community" for having an open discussion on these topics. I introduced these restrictions after a couple of conversations with members of the PSNI and other advisers.

You will find one of the very best bits of writing on the topic of straight men and a gay priesthood in pages 97 to 110 in Father Donald Cozzens book THE CHANGING FACE OF THE PRIESTHOOD.

The topics that need discussion are:

1. Is there now a gay sub culture in the Catholic priesthood and in Catholic seminaries?

2. Is that gay sub culture aggressive and abusive and does it try to isolate and persecute, intentionally or unintentionally, heterosexual priests and seminarians?

3. Is the Catholic priesthood a place where insecure and self hating gay men think they will find a safe refuge?

4. What are the emotional and spiritual effects on heterosexual seminarians and priests of existing in a gay sub culture?

5. How is celibacy being lived in the Catholic priesthood at present and are both straight and gay priests indulging in the hypocrisy of sexually promiscuous lifestyles?

6. Would it not be more healthy for all if heterosexual priests were able to date and marry openly and if homosexual seminarians and priests could date and form committed partnerships that were recognised and blessed by the Church?

7. What should be done about all forms of sexual harassment in the Church and seminaries?

8. Does the Church and seminaries need to provide gay seminarians and priests with specially focused support and spiritual formation so that they can integrate their orientation into their personal, prayer and ministerial lives?

At the moment all these questions are simply been swept under the carpet and ignored. The result of that is a lot of unhappy people. 

WE as Church need to realise that in this 21st century we need to have a much more open discussion about all these things so that everyone in the Church can be themselves as God created them and that everyone can bring their gifts to the service of the Gospel and the world.

In the meantime read Father Cozzens book. You will get it on Amazon in both printed and Kindle formats.   


DATE OF BIRTH: May 17, 1939.
TITLE: Writer in Residence, John Carroll University.
EDUCATION: Ordained, St. Mary Seminary, Cleveland, 1965; master's of religious education, University of Notre Dame, 1973; doctorate in counselling psychology, Kent State University, 1976.
EXPERIENCE: Priest, Diocese of Cleveland; Diocese of Cleveland religious personnel administrator; president-rector, St. Mary Seminary; Writer in Residence, John Carroll University.
BOOKS: The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest, 1997; The Changing Face of the Priesthood, 2000; Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church, 2002; Faith That Dares to Speak, 2004; Freeing Celibacy, 2006.

12 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Replies
    1. Dear "Not Out" - no one needs to care.

      But some of us who believe that the Christian Church and Christianity is important do care.

      For that reason I would like the priesthood to be more representative of humanity, society etc.

      But of course I respect your opinion :-)

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Is anyone else having problems posting on this site? Cos I sure as hell am!

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  5. My guess is that the priesthood has had a 'pink sub-culture' much longer than anyone suspects. But it is not so afraid to show itself now, with the growing acceptance of LGBT justice and equality issues.

    The problem is that some of those gay priests and seminarians are showing their sexuality with more tart than taste.

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  6. Pat, I think you have ruined your blog site by giving in to the bullying of a few screaming queens of the gay mafia. Your site was a place people could sound off anonymously. It is noteworthy that it is the gay taliban who have been threatening you and not right-wing Catholics. I don't beleive that Catholics want to ban gay priests and expel gay seminerians by the way. They just want them to behave like Christians and not debached sex crazed perverts.

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    1. I'm inclined to agree with you.

      Pat, I don't know the nature of the threats you received, but it does look as if these anonymous cowards have triumphed. They have damaged freedoom to comment on your wonderful blog.

      Delete
    2. I have taken your opinion on board and am returning to OPEN COMMENTS on the blog :-)

      As for the ass holes - that's what the DELETE button is there for :-)

      Delete
    3. This morning I have deleted 39 abusive, personalised and obscene comments that came in overnight.

      Its good to be getting up the noses of these morons.

      Many of them are indeed from the Gay Taliban.

      Most gay people are good, intelligent and rational men and women.

      Delete
  7. Old guys like me cannot handle all this tech-no-pop-ology!
    Bishop, we disagree on a host of subjects - nevertheless - good to have you back.
    Pip

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  8. Glad this blog is up and running again. I think its time to move away from sexual orientation as a central element of priesthood and concentrate on the essentials of the job

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