Robert Schneider
A reply to the article about Cardinal Burke and the "manly" Church
- Shared publicly
It
would seem that the current lack of priestly vocations in the US is
more likely an issue arising from the celibate clergy's arrested sexual
development, revealed in the priest sexual abuse crisis. Blaming
homosexuals or even altar girls! sounds more like the old practices of
'denial and attack' of the victims that led to the $1B loss exposure
in the first place. There is nothing manly in that course of action.
Most seminarians presumably are not sexually active after a certain time in High School Seminary. None-the-less, a sexually active homosexuals development would not be drawn back to an adolescent level. They moved on.
From what I have read in the press, most of the victims of the sexual abuse crisis were adoloscent violations in scope. This is more likely the result of a sexually arrested adult, driven to return, as Maslow defined, to 'his level' in order to continue development. Add alcohol and...
Pederasty is a different illness entirely, focused on much younger children. I have seen little evidence to support either pederasty or homosexuality as a root cause to the priest sexual crisis, nor the shortage of vocations. Far more likely, these now very public violations, which arise from a celibates arrested sexual development, have driven potential candidates to other non-celibate life styles in church ministry. Would you take a job working with youth that could mean termination, humiliation, isolation, legal or criminal penalties just based on a single accusation? Zero tolerance means immediate supension while an investigation takes place. Priests who today virtuously work with youth show great courage, since they risk much. That does not sound like 'feminization' (sic).
Arrested development is no less serious a flaw, nor is it a less a terrible violation of a person's body, a communities trust and the vocation of the priest himself, when it leads to sexual abuse. Let's admit as well that adult woman are also abused.
Priest candidates who may have been sexually abused as children may themselves be drawn to become the next generation of abusers; but they do not carry a 'marker'. Neither did the Multi-phasic psycholical testing that priest candidates underwent in the 80's diagnose that mental state. The sexually abused person represses such experiences deeply. Worse, strongly learned sexual behaviors, when repressed, are very difficult to change. Isolation from youth may be a social remedy for the community. Confession may be good for the individual's soul, but healing an individuals deeply hidden obsessions is far more complex.
No, the priest shortage is more likely due to the thousands of married priests who have left celibacy in order to live a healthy hetero-sexual life. It is clearly a crisis of virtue, where in the past, Church leadership abandoned their moral authority to 'Bully' legal firms and psychological counseling.
When Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago attempted to head off this crisis in the 80's during the National Conferance of Catholic Bishops, the then head of the NCCB derided his concerns as a "Chicago" issue. Apparently, in his own Archdiocese of Boston, he was hiding a few problems of his own.
If today, Cardinal Burke wants to find the source of the priest shortage, he should look in the Episcopal mirror.
Most seminarians presumably are not sexually active after a certain time in High School Seminary. None-the-less, a sexually active homosexuals development would not be drawn back to an adolescent level. They moved on.
From what I have read in the press, most of the victims of the sexual abuse crisis were adoloscent violations in scope. This is more likely the result of a sexually arrested adult, driven to return, as Maslow defined, to 'his level' in order to continue development. Add alcohol and...
Pederasty is a different illness entirely, focused on much younger children. I have seen little evidence to support either pederasty or homosexuality as a root cause to the priest sexual crisis, nor the shortage of vocations. Far more likely, these now very public violations, which arise from a celibates arrested sexual development, have driven potential candidates to other non-celibate life styles in church ministry. Would you take a job working with youth that could mean termination, humiliation, isolation, legal or criminal penalties just based on a single accusation? Zero tolerance means immediate supension while an investigation takes place. Priests who today virtuously work with youth show great courage, since they risk much. That does not sound like 'feminization' (sic).
Arrested development is no less serious a flaw, nor is it a less a terrible violation of a person's body, a communities trust and the vocation of the priest himself, when it leads to sexual abuse. Let's admit as well that adult woman are also abused.
Priest candidates who may have been sexually abused as children may themselves be drawn to become the next generation of abusers; but they do not carry a 'marker'. Neither did the Multi-phasic psycholical testing that priest candidates underwent in the 80's diagnose that mental state. The sexually abused person represses such experiences deeply. Worse, strongly learned sexual behaviors, when repressed, are very difficult to change. Isolation from youth may be a social remedy for the community. Confession may be good for the individual's soul, but healing an individuals deeply hidden obsessions is far more complex.
No, the priest shortage is more likely due to the thousands of married priests who have left celibacy in order to live a healthy hetero-sexual life. It is clearly a crisis of virtue, where in the past, Church leadership abandoned their moral authority to 'Bully' legal firms and psychological counseling.
When Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago attempted to head off this crisis in the 80's during the National Conferance of Catholic Bishops, the then head of the NCCB derided his concerns as a "Chicago" issue. Apparently, in his own Archdiocese of Boston, he was hiding a few problems of his own.
If today, Cardinal Burke wants to find the source of the priest shortage, he should look in the Episcopal mirror.
No comments:
Post a Comment