You are a Priest For Ever
The Roman Catholic Church needs to change its tune on priests right now. Rather than excluding men with homosexual tendencies from the cloth, they need to crack down on paedophiles in the ranks and weed them out. Discouraging gay men from the priesthood would worsen an already bad shortage of Catholic priests in the United States, where a very large minority (proportionately much larger than the general population) of priests anonymously self-identify as gay. Remember this: Gay does not mean paedophile, and paedophile does not mean gay. They aren't mutually exclusive groups, but they do not correlate.
The RCC must also update its policies on married priests and female priests. The perspectives that these groups can offer to congregations is invaluable and needed.
If the Church believes in the full equality of women as believers, then the exclusively male hierarchy must open its doors to the half of humanity that gives us birth and more than half of our DNA. The inequality is staggering; a church that is mostly women has never been ruled by a woman. The RCC has several religious positions for men: acolyte, deacon, monk, priest, (arch)bishop, cardinal, pope. If a Catholic woman wants to serve God's Church she can be a nun or an acolyte. Pope John Paul II hailed Darwin's Theory of Evolution and its subsequent alterations as a great achievement for science. If the Vatican can be open-minded about modern scientific observation and theory, it can embrace women as full partners and co-inheritors of the Church. As one of my friends said, "If you're a Catholic you get seven sacraments. If you're a woman, you get six." Let's demand more sacramental grace for our sistren.
What about married priests? Converts who were already married ministers upon initiation into the RCC have breached the 890-year-old celibacy requirement. Some rites of the Catholic Communion (e.g. the Maronite Catholic Church) already offer marriage to priests, with policies similar to that of the American RCC on married deacons. Allowing more diversity into the priesthood can only strengthen it.
The RCC must also update its policies on married priests and female priests. The perspectives that these groups can offer to congregations is invaluable and needed.
If the Church believes in the full equality of women as believers, then the exclusively male hierarchy must open its doors to the half of humanity that gives us birth and more than half of our DNA. The inequality is staggering; a church that is mostly women has never been ruled by a woman. The RCC has several religious positions for men: acolyte, deacon, monk, priest, (arch)bishop, cardinal, pope. If a Catholic woman wants to serve God's Church she can be a nun or an acolyte. Pope John Paul II hailed Darwin's Theory of Evolution and its subsequent alterations as a great achievement for science. If the Vatican can be open-minded about modern scientific observation and theory, it can embrace women as full partners and co-inheritors of the Church. As one of my friends said, "If you're a Catholic you get seven sacraments. If you're a woman, you get six." Let's demand more sacramental grace for our sistren.
What about married priests? Converts who were already married ministers upon initiation into the RCC have breached the 890-year-old celibacy requirement. Some rites of the Catholic Communion (e.g. the Maronite Catholic Church) already offer marriage to priests, with policies similar to that of the American RCC on married deacons. Allowing more diversity into the priesthood can only strengthen it.
posted by Day at 4:40 PM
2 Comments:
Hey, Day. I'm one of Joe's friends and I've heard so much about you. I'm very glad to finally meet you, even if it's just online.
I agree with you about allowing people with homosexual tendencies into the priesthood. If they are living a moral life according to the scriptures, their human desires are superseded by their desire to serve Christ and the Church. I think it strange that so many faults are allowed in ministers, unless the minister doesn't fit the mold of "acceptable sins" like gluttony, drunkenness, gossip, or a judgmental heart. In my denomination it's nearly impossible to be hired as a pastor if you've been divorced - no matter the situation around the divorce. We also have the opposite problem as the RCC that it is very difficult for single men to become senior pastors. It seems that our churches do not share Christ's attitude of whomever will, let them come.
I also agree with you that the Church should disciplin those who are blatantly not living out their vows. Every denomination struggles to deal with mercy and justice, but there are some things like acting on paedophilia that can not be tolerated in the church. It's just too dangerous and hurtful for everyone involved. The thought breaks my heart. Not only should that not be allowed as leaders in the church, they should be prosecuted as the criminals they are. I wish that seminaries would mandate that students go through psychiatric counseling so that issues may be dealt with or at least uncovered before they/we are in a position of authority.
As for women in ministry, as a women in seminary (though not Catholic), I thank you for your stand for equality. This is always a tricky thing for me. There are essential places for women in the church. However, the scriptures make it clear that over all, a leader among men should lead a whole group. This does not mean all men are our betters, it simply is a role that masculine people fit better.
What does this mean in your Church? I'm praying about that. The RCC has been living under the assumptions of men's supremacy for hundreds of years. I pray that God would take down the walls and lies in all the churches so that we may serve God and man the way He wishes.
I look forward to reading you blogs in the future. Very interesting stuff.
Amy, thanks for responding. You read very carefully, and I appreciate that! Obviously, the RCC has turned around in the past couple of years and really begun rigorously testing seminarians' mental states. It's an improvement, but it does not make up for the criminal activity of sexual molestors and their supervisors who cover it up. Tragic all around, really.
About women in the priesthood... Well, the way I heard it, priests are supposed to act in the place of Jesus Christ. And that's supposed to be enough of a reason for excluding women. Another "reason" is that the male hierarchy doesn't know if it would be proper (surprise!). To me, it's enough that God chose Mary to be the vessel of the Christ. Her important role in the Gospels even after Jesus' birth makes her special. She is a priest. I have to check my catechism now.
But then Catholics rely on tradition more than other Christians do. When it comes to the Christian Scriptures it seems that Paul was against the idea, but I don't think that's the case. I do know, however, that women held positions of ministry like deacon, but I don't remember the book chapter:verse. Help?
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