I Have a Story for Pope Francis about Priestly Celibacy
NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times
February 13, 2020
By Mimi Bull
Who pays the price when a priest breaks his vow?
Want the human story on priestly celibacy? Talk to someone who’s paid the price.
I am bitterly disappointed by the news that Pope Francis will not be relaxing priestly celibacy rules in remote parts of the Amazon. The idea — intended to make it easier to recruit priests in underserved areas — was supported by a Vatican conference in October, but in his papal document, released on Wednesday, Francis ignored their suggestion.
My interest in this isn’t the mild curiosity of a lapsed Catholic. I am the child of a priest who broke his vow of celibacy and left a legacy of secrecy that was devastating to him, to my mother and particularly to me.
To hide my father’s broken vow, I was told that I was adopted. I did not know until I was 35 that my “adoptive mother” was actually my grandmother and my “adoptive sister” was, in reality, my mother. But even then, I wasn’t told the whole truth. At the time, I was told my father had been a businessman from Pennsylvania.
New York Times
February 13, 2020
By Mimi Bull
Who pays the price when a priest breaks his vow?
Want the human story on priestly celibacy? Talk to someone who’s paid the price.
I am bitterly disappointed by the news that Pope Francis will not be relaxing priestly celibacy rules in remote parts of the Amazon. The idea — intended to make it easier to recruit priests in underserved areas — was supported by a Vatican conference in October, but in his papal document, released on Wednesday, Francis ignored their suggestion.
My interest in this isn’t the mild curiosity of a lapsed Catholic. I am the child of a priest who broke his vow of celibacy and left a legacy of secrecy that was devastating to him, to my mother and particularly to me.
To hide my father’s broken vow, I was told that I was adopted. I did not know until I was 35 that my “adoptive mother” was actually my grandmother and my “adoptive sister” was, in reality, my mother. But even then, I wasn’t told the whole truth. At the time, I was told my father had been a businessman from Pennsylvania.
Sad but effective commentary on the former cruel demand of "secrecy" imposed on those who leave an ecclesiastical jurisdiction to add to their vocation to ministry the vocation of loving a woman. Many who left later, recognized that the secrecy did not bind one to lie about their status and continued in ministry. The demand for secrecy about being ordained does not jive with the injunction of the Gospel Jesus, along with his compassionate response to people forced into a bind with religious authority, to let our "yes" be "yes" and our "no" be "no."
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