The Gay Priest

Okay, the picture has nothing to do with the post but I don't have any pictures of gay priests to share with you. In Rome a priest that admitted to having a relationship with another man "came out" in a loud and clumsy manner that was designed to embarrass the Church at the start of the synod on the family.  This priest was a member of the very powerful congregation charged with keeping the faith pure.  Much has been made of the fact that this man is homosexual.  Let's examine a few things about this case.

The man is a priest. He has taken a vow of chastity and by his own lips he has broken that vow.  It matters not if he broke it with a man, woman, or animal. He broke his vow.  Here in the Chicago area we have a very respected priest, pillar of the Latino community accused of the same sort of offense - he too was dismissed from his job because of his very inappropriate conduct.  In both cases the offenders were partnered with a man.  But their offenses would be no less grievous if  they had sinned with a woman.  A vow broken is a vow broken.   

A priest needs to be an example to others.  Neither of them could or would live up to what they had promised.  The priest in Rome is more guilty than the priest in Des Plaines Illinois.  Not because of what they did.  They both are equal in that respect, but rather the circumstances that they were in made a difference. 

The Church can be accused of being "homophobic" and you know what maybe it is!  I do not see anything wrong with that.  Gay people are welcome in the Church and there are probably many of them including priests, deacons, and maybe even bishops and cardinals who through no fault of their own are attracted to members of their own sex. The difference between them and the two priests we are speaking about here is that they do not engage in homosexual acts with other men, they honor their commitment to God and are a shining example of chaste behavior.  It is not easy for a man to remain chaste in this world today.  Only with much prayer and devotion to God can these men fulfill their commitment to the Lord. 

What about "forgiveness?"  Does the dismissal of these two priests from their jobs fly in the face of our duty to forgive?  No, not at all. In the case of the priest in Rome, he is not interested in forgiveness. His actions were calculated to explode on the scene at a time when it would do the most harm to the Church, the devil was busy at work in this man's soul.  The priest here in Des Plaines, I don't know if he is seeking forgiveness.  He wants his job back and his congregation wants him but the diocese has a zero tolerance policy where it comes to inappropriate sexual behavior by its employees so we will have to see what happens in this case. 

We will stop our discussion here and take it up again once we learn the fate of the miscreants.  

I will answer questions about the Catholic faith and Christianity in general. Hate mail will go unanswered.  Be safe and walk in the light of Christ this day, go with God.