The Problem in the Church? It's Homosexuality in the Priesthood!

I had a long talk with Fr. Haley a few days ago. What is it he wants from the Church? What drove him to stir up the wrath of Bishop Paul Loverde over the homosexual problem in the Diocese of Arlington? What led to his excommunication and persecution?

The answer: He called for the proclamation of moral truth! Isn't that what ALL OF US should want? Isn't proclaiming the truth the purpose of the Church? Jesus told the apostles to go forth AND TEACH? What were they to teach? THE TRUTH so that, knowing the truth, we could embrace it and be saved!

Fr. Haley wants the Church to proclaim the truth on the morality of same-sex attracted men being ordained to the priesthood. Let me put it in the form of a question:

Can, in fact, a same-sex attracted man (a homosexual), even if he doesn't act on his disordered inclination, re-present Christ to the world? Can he be the groom to the Bride of Christ, Holy Mother Church?

There is NO formal moral teaching -- no canon law, no entry in the catechism, no encyclical -- teaching that same-sex attracted men cannot be ordained.

There are certainly scriptural passages that condemn homosexual activity. There are entries in the catechism, letters, statements, and instructions that call homosexuality "disordered" and recommend that men with deep-seated homosexual tendencies not be ordained; but there is NO DEFINITIVE MORAL TEACHING. Nowhere can you find a doctrine or even an encyclical that proclaims it wrong and actually sinful to ordain homosexuals to the priesthood.

And, in fact, there are many bishops and clergy stating the exact opposite -- that ordaining homosexuals is no problem and even a moral good!

Which led me to this thought:

If, in fact, there is nothing wrong with ordaining a homosexual to the priesthood as long as he doesn't act on his disordered inclinations... if, as some claim, homosexual priests are actually to be admired and have special gifts because of their homosexuality... then may one believe (as some suggest) that Christ Himself was homosexual? After all, He surrounded Himself with men and clearly had a special relationship with Peter, James, and John, the youngest of whom even leaned up against him during the Last Supper.

Sooo.....may one hold the belief that Jesus was homosexual?

I find such a thought abhorrent, blasphemous in fact. Does it also disturb you?

It should.

Homosexuality calls into question the reality of eros, the nature sexual love. It calls into question the truth of the body and the male and female spirit and why God created us, male and female. It calls into question the nature of marital love, the conjugal union, and even parenthood.

Homosexuality defined as same-sex attraction is, in fact, a distortion of creation, of the Genesis reality that "God created them; male and female he created them," and that he created men and women and instituted the sacrament of marriage to bring forth children out of a holy union of love.

If it matters whether Jesus was homosexual, and it clearly does in my opinion, how can one say that there is no problem with ordaining homosexuals to the priesthood? They act in persona Christi. How can a man whose sexual desires draw him to arousal by other men, even if he doesn't act on those depraved desires, re-present the man Jesus whose love for the Church is so often imaged as the bridegroom for his bride? 

Fr. Haley and I don't agree on everything, but I believe he is absolutely correct on this matter. 

We need a moral teaching that states the truth that those with the disordered inclination of same-sex attraction (i.e. homosexuals) cannot and must not be ordained. 

The same is true of women and the religious life. What disunity is introduced into the clergy and into religious life by allowing those with same-sex attraction to enter and add what can only be described as discord that makes com-unity difficult, if not impossible.

The laity need to focus on this central reality avoided and denied by homosexuals in the clergy, particularly in the hierarchy. 

Pedophilia is not the problem! Pederasty is not even the central problem. The problem is not primarily the McCarricks and abusive clergy. While their actions are absolutely vile, it is homosexuals in the priesthood -- active or inactive -- that is the problem! 

That's not to say that men and women with same-sex attraction cannot be saints. They bear a difficult cross and are challenged like all of us to be chaste in their state of life as they work out their salvation in fear and trembling. Every inclination to sin is disordered. There is a difference however in the disordered inclination of a man lusting for a woman versus a man lusting for another man.

It is unfair to men attracted to other men to allow and even invite them into an on-going occasion of sin from the moment they enter the seminary. Additionally, it is unfair to the people of God. We have a right to "fathers" who have truly given up marriage and family as a sacrifice to be husbands of the Church and fathers of the flock. 

Let us, as faithful laity, proclaim the truth and pray and work for a definitive moral teaching on this. 

Lord Jesus, High Priest, have mercy on us.

Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us.