Homosexuality & the priesthood
AM EXCHAMCEOF VIEWS HOMOSEXUALITY & THE PRIESTHOOD READERS RESPOND TO RICHARD McBRIEN Why & wherefore Washington, D.C. To the Editors: Richard McBrien has raised a significant, if exhausting,...
...I would suggest that the ecclesiology of Christ's presence and promise are far more reliable than two professors at universities who are not in daily contact with the vibrant life of a local church...
...We will have the largest entry groups both at our outstanding minor seminary and at our superb theologate than we have had in almost twenty years...
...Those who both talk about and prepare for a "priestless church" in this country have long ago lost their faith in the presence and power of Christ in and with his church: "And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world" (Mt...
...J. WILLIAM STEWART because of psychological compulsion to seek affection and affirmation in the wrong places...
...Come on, Richard McBrien, you can do better than this ["Homosexuality & the Priesthood," June 19...
...American bishops cannot be...
...Why does McBrien insist on making us appear so separate and different from the rest of the human family to which we belong...
...Beg the harvest master to send out laborers to gather his har-vest'"(Mt...
...10:2...
...True enough, for the future...
...The editors of Commonweal asked Father McBrien for his "ecclesial reflections...
...Recall what Father Andrew Greeley discovered in his study of young adult Catholics just a few years ago: he found Laying blame Pine Hill, N.J...
...it often hurts even our own best causes...
...Fortunately, Jesus Christ does give us counsel about the shortage of workers to assist in the''harvest'':' 'Jesus said to his disciples: 'The harvest is good but laborers are scarce...
...To the Editors: Rev...
...We have an outstanding presbyterate, men of deep faith, men committed to their discipleship with Jesus Christ in its deepest context — including imitating the Lord's celibacy...
...JOHN RYAN that 10 percent of all young adult Catholics gave serious consideration at one time or another in their lives to serve the church in committed ministry...
...Let me repeat that the questions raised here are, for the most part, good ones...
...We are on the threshold of one of the great eras of the Catholic church in the United States...
...It makes little difference that the cause is a good one...
...While I am sure all of the questions cannot be answered, there is one which, if answered, might assist us in ascertaining the scope of the problem...
...it's quite another to say "yes" to the reality of a different style and type of priestly ministry...
...If a married clergy is such a panacea, why has it created so many grave problems with other Christian clergies...
...The issues surrounding priest shortages throughout the world and the church's disciplinary regulations regarding celibacy are equally serious and have their own set of disturbing questions...
...It is a curiously 493 "soft" psycho-social hypothesis and a "safe" premise for later argument...
...I offer a modest addition to his remarks...
...some have even counted McBrien among the more balanced advocates of such a re-visioning in the church...
...McBrien quotes from a study done by Dean R. Hoge, a fine religious sociologist at the Catholic University of America...
...Speaking from the reality of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest local church in the country, I am pleased to share a much different reality...
...Or a woman in order to work for greater rights for women...
...But to confuse or conflate the issues into a single picture, only adds fuel to an already overheated and often frankly homophobic reaction in many church circles...
...Here, as elsewhere, we can only understand the moral law to the extent that we understand the nature of the gift/grace...
...JOHN ALLAN LOFTUS, S.J...
...The Brazilian bishops are no less Catholic for engaging John Paul II when needed...
...RICHARD P. McBRIEN September 1987: 497...
...I prefer to place my confidence in Christ's promise and his abiding presence among us...
...He then concludes that "obligatory celibacy is the most significant negative factor in the recent decline in vocations to the presbyteral ministry...
...We began a special prayer program here in the archdiocese just about a year ago...
...Prayer brings men clamoring to serve Los Angeles, Calif...
...With the questions, I have little quarrel...
...I find those reflections extremely (Continued on next page) (Continued from previous page) wanting...
...We now foresee significant increases in vocations to our archdiocesan seminaries and to several religious communities here between now and the turn of the century...
...In McBrien's effort, the very persuasive arguments about the church's need to reexamine its position on mandatory celibacy get confused with embarrassing innuendo about gay priests and seminarians...
...Do I detect a hidden agenda in his letter as well...
...Furthermore, his charge that Dean Hoge and I are out of touch with pastoral realities is one thing, but his suggestion that I have "lost [my] faith in the presence and power of Christ in and with his church" is a classic example of rash judgment...
...To the Editors: Richard P. McBrien in his "Homosexuality & the Priesthood" [June 19] raises a number of questions about the presence of homosexual men in our seminaries, in the ranks of our priests, and even among the episcopate...
...Could not a vowed religious order priest push as hard, even knowing that one's own life choice would not be affected fundamentally one bit...
...I am convinced that the single most important source for advancing our understanding of homosexuality is neither single nor multiple scientific disciplines, but the gay community...
...A final note: when McBrien questions the vocational decisions of all homosexual persons as potentially ambiguous because of the "occupational respectability and freedom from social suspicion" that1 ministerial priesthood presently offers, he sounds painfully prejudiced...
...When he further suggests that we could secure the ultimate litmus test for "presbyteral ministry for the sake of the church" in optional celibacy, he sounds invincibly naive...
...The future of the church in our country is bright and full of promise — formed in the image of Christ and the Gospels, and following the tradition upon which we were established...
...If McBrien could learn to become emotionally honest with himself, I think he would discover his own hidden homophobia...
...Why is McBrien unable (or unwilling) to see that the clergy shortage is due to the moralism and emotional rigidity of its (mostly non-gay) churchmen...
...9:37^38...
...I do hope the questions raised in McBrien's essay receive a thorough and critical airing: as questions...
...For example, to suggest that it is "not inconceivable'' that gays are drawn into a safe haven in ministerial priesthood regardless of any serious attraction for ministry but simply because it "will always pose a particular attraction" does not sound like the conclusion of a disinterested ecclesiologist...
...Maybe we should all be more careful of simple logic...
...The option to marry should equally apply to both, or the present unfair (sinful) double standard remains...
...And nowhere did I even suggest, much less assert, that "a person's psycho-sexual oriejntation must be a final arbiter in deciding which 'causes' to support in advancing church reform...
...REV...
...28:20...
...public relations advance men to the pope without courting the heresy of Ultramontanism, which denies episcopal collegiality and responsibility...
...Apparently Dr...
...Does one, after all, need to be a Jew in order to abhor the Holocaust...
...Over 200 parishes are now participating in this outpouring of prayer...
...The National Council of Churches and other bodies have both statistics and case studies depicting the enormous pressures and difficulties upon the wives of ministers, as well as upon their children...
...I see the same generous spirit throughout the seminaries of Latin America, Asia and Africa — where I have had the good fortune to visit within the past three years...
...To the Editors: Bearing the burden of church disunity and an absence of strong clerical leadership is tough enough...
...I hope both Archbishop Laghi and the American episcopacy will ponder McBrien's disturbing questions to the extent that both will have the pope and Vatican bureaucrats understand that the current church discipline must be debated openly, honestly, and fully...
...And the results...
...For that too, according to traditional Catholic moral teaching, is wrong precisely because it is "unnatural" and is "the...
...JOHN W. GLASER Discussing the non-discussable Bayside, N.Y...
...That sounds like prayer to me — and maybe 494: Commonweal even fasting and penance...
...Letters of not more than 250 or 300 words naturally have a better chance of being published...
...I have been impressed with Charles Curran's careful effort to construct a theology of compromise on this delicate issue, but, of course, we see what he got for his trouble...
...Although I have deep respect for Dr...
...McBrien seems to claim that marriage as an option for priests is an answer to the priest shortage...
...Our "Called by Name" vocation awareness program is helping all our people understand that their ordained and non-ordained ministers are their responsibility, not just that of the bishop or seminary officials...
...When we challenge our young people with the total Gospel of Jesus Christ, with the same call to commitment and to sacrifice, they are eager to respond...
...RAYMOND B. KEMP Ambiguities & the author's hidden agenda Aurora, Ontario To the Editors: Richard McBrien's essay on homosexuality and the priesthood performs a valuable service by asking many questions in a public forum that usually receive only a hushed — and often markedly prejudicial — voice these days...
...To the Editors: I have heard gay people blamed for many things but for the perpetuation of the discipline of celibacy...
...How many of our clergy have resorted to a gay lifestyle or homosexual behavior Drawing parallels Poland, Maine To the Editors: In his article on "Homosexuality & the Priesthood" Richard McBrien suggests that the solution to this problem for the church is to drop its mandatory law of celibacy...
...Their seminaries and religious houses are overflowing for one reason: the church is alive and energetic, the full demands of discipleship are both taught and lived out, the notion of sacrifice and commitment are held out to young people...
...Speaking of simple logic, why is it that only the "actively gay priest sends a morally mixed message to the church and to the wider human community, to say the least" (emphasis mine...
...I should leave it to the Catholics of Los Angeles, both inside and outside the clergy, to let their archbishop know if they agree or disagree with his defiantly rosy assessment of their local church,, its presbyterate, and its seminary system...
...frustration of a natural act...
...The option for, a married clergy will support and strengthen a celibate clergy...
...I agree with John W. Glaser that the church needs more dialogue with the gay community itself...
...Richard McBrien ["Homosexuality & the Priesthood," June 19] polarizes all his questions/ considerations in terms of "them" (gays) and "us" (non-gays) instead of realizing that it is basically a matter of the same difference — with a great deal more of sameness, in fact, than difference...
...This does a serious disservice to the issues and persons involved in the discussion of homosexuality in the church...
...How many of our priests have exhibited a disordered or maladjusted pattern of homosexual activity in an unfree, compulsive, or obsessive manner...
...Three readers engage in the age-old practice of putting words in the mouth of those with whom they disagree...
...While both McBrien and Hoge rest their cases solely upon the "Wisdom of the age," they fail to point out some serious problems with their "away with celibacy" approach...
...they are working here in Los Angeles...
...What's the difference and who determines that difference...
...Contrary to John Ryan's suggestion, I did not propose a married clergy as a' 'panacea'' for this problem, or any other...
...His cheapest shot is his subtle and implied blaming of gay persons for the present and future shortage of seminary admissions...
...Rome can't give every diocese a coadjutor...
...I know that Christ's ways work...
...I heartily agree with him that priests should be able to choose marriage or celibacy, and I know that there are as many gays who would agree as there are non-gays who would disagree...
...Fine...
...And third, why do not our Catholic authors share with us the enormous problems experienced in other Christian denominations with their married clergies...
...I simply don't have the same confidence in sociological studies, popularity polls, and similar "modern devices...
...Amazing things are happening, and young people are responding with eagerness to the invitation from their parish communities to discern if they might have a vocation to service in the church...
...Married clergy would certainly be no panacea for the question of gay persons in the ministry...
...The ranks of our priests are not filled with homosexuals...
...Neither is characteristic of McBrien's dedication to the church or his typically open and responsible theologizing...
...FRANK C. ARRICALE Only questions Millbrae, Calif...
...JAMES R. MURRAY Richard McBrien replies: James B. Murray (and perhaps J. William Stewart also) objects that I did not place homosexual and heterosexual behavior on an exactly equal moral footing, endorsing even homosexual marriages...
...Why does McBrien allow for heterosexual priests to marry and thus be sexually active, while for homosexuals to be similarly sexually active "sends a morally mixed message to the church and the wider Christian community...
...But I also hope that some of the curious and spurious conclusions of McBrien's essay will be seen for what they are: premature attempts to secure a very good end by the use of highly questionable means...
...this year we had 140 fine young men from the broadest cross-section of our archdiocese...
...It is also, in fact, a pre-judgment of the sort that normally would embarrass McBrien, and rightly so...
...Does one have to be a heterosexual diocesan priest in order to' 'push for'' optional celibacy...
...What kind of "simple logic" are you using...
...We Commonweal welcomes letters on subjects treated in its pages...
...Both gays and non-gays, on balance, have similar mixed motives for seeking any life work...
...Sometimes alcohol gets the blame for such a disorder...
...When I see churches filled with fine lay Catholics on their knees before the Blessed Sacrament "praying to the Lord of the harvest," then I am encountering the type of ecclesiology that leaps from the pages of the Acts of the Apostles...
...Gay persons, like their non-gay counterparts, generally feel the same affection or ambivalence or dislike for their families, relatives, and male and female friends...
...However, after I read Richard McBrien's article, "Homosexuality & the Priesthood" [June 19], in which he situates the question within the context of mandated clerical celibacy, my upset turns to grave concern...
...who are homosexual have the identical need for close, intimate, self-affirming, life-enriching relationships as do those who are heterosexual...
...I hope McBrien's contribution will be valued by all who can restore health and credibility to our priesthood...
...It is precisely in mining the ore of grace that we grasp the law...
...I write as a psychologist and priest who has spent the better part of ten years working almost exclusively with clergy and religious populations...
...Hoge will tell us in his study that the shortage of priests in this country is not a spiritual problem, but an institutional problem...
...At times, it verges on the insulting...
...Let's not dilute that promise and that future with short-sighted, panicky, quick-fixes...
...In my opinion McBrien is greatly out of touch with the local, pastoral realities in dioceses which are having a much different experience from the negative and grave picture he portrays...
...My only concern is their constant tendency to work too many hours without adequate rest...
...Hoge and his work, I must disagree with this "purely scientific" approach and findings...
...There is a "better way," and that way was given to us by Jesus Christ himself...
...Although many of us applaud the courage of our bishops in standing up to presidents, governors, and senators in their defense of peace, the poor, life, and justice, we'd be more edified if they fulfilled their episcopal ordination and periodically stood up to the pope in dialogue...
...McBrien suggests it is "simple logic'' that no gay person would push for fundamental change in the present discipline of obligatory celibacy...
...Unfortunately, that may be more difficult now than both of us would have hoped, given some of our pastoral leaders' current determination to block even the celebration of Eucharist for largely gay congregations...
...There will surely exist a celibate clergy who number among themselves the hetero-, the homo-, and the bisexual...
...A stronger church is anticipated when we squarely face our sexuality situation and utilize the research of Dean Hoge and others...
...As a Catholic moral theologian I have many regrets concerning my community's handling of homosexuality: we have failed to recognize, rejoice in, and benefit from the experience of the gay community...
...Rather, they are well-adjusted heterosexual men who love Christ and the church, men who give of themselves in fullest generosity to the service of their people...
...Loftus detects "a not-so-hidden agenda" in my essay: the restoration of optional celibacy...
...They forget to mention three extremely important points: first, will our Catholic faith communities really welcome a married clergy which, of necessity, will have much more limited time to be of service to the parish community...
...Who needs it...
...We have an American Eastern rite cardinal...
...I did not intend to break any new doctrinal or ethical ground, nor could I have responsibly attempted to do so in such a brief essay...
...I write this response on the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul...
...To the Editors: In our diocesan paper an interview of Pio Laghi was carried in which the pro-nuncio cited mandatory celibacy for Western rite clergy as one of the non-discussable and non-debatable issues with Pope John Paul II...
...Richard McBrien's homosexual discourse ["Homosexuality & the Priesthood," June 19] only poses questions, renders the clergy suspect, and subverts the institution he represents...
...Does not the actively straight priest do the same under present circumstances...
...Last year we had 80 applicants to the minor seminary...
...One of the correctives surely is to call to orders those who have demonstrated personal integration, a beginning of a holy life, and a competence in ministry which is demonstrated over time...
...ARCHBISHOP ROGER MAHONY Grace & law Santa Ana, Calif...
...REV...
...Our screening processes, both at the entry level and throughout the man's years of formation, have proven most adequate to identify and dissuade the homosexual from entering or progressing through our seminary system...
...Ah, but one would argue, straight priests would not in the future if the church were to alter its position...
...Their lives give eloquent testimony to the form of church which I pray for here in our country: a church unafraid to be counter-culture, a church committed to the total message and example of Jesus Christ, a church that is strong and courageous in the heroic lives of its members...
...Unfortunately, there is also a not-so-hidden agenda in the essay that, I fear, belies McBrien's contention that he speaks only as an ecclesiologist who merely wants to ask questions...
...Finally, contrary to Archbishop Mahony, whose letter rivals my article in length, but clearly surpasses it in fervor, I did not say, nor even suggest, that the church would have "no more priests available" unless obligatory celibacy were eliminated, nor did I "rest [my] case solely upon the 'wisdom of the age,'" whatever that is...
...His exposition strikes me as more polemic and classically apologetic in tone — albeit with regard to an entirely different topic, that of optional celibacy...
...Lesbian women would . . . cause a similar problem if women were ordained because they too would take over, driving out the non-gays...
...Second, 45 percent to 55 percent of all marriages end in separation, dissolution, and divorce...
...First of all, neither our seminaries nor our pres-byterate is filled with homosexuals...
...He leaves one with the impression that with obligatory celibacy put aside, the church would have enormous numbers of fine, dedicated young men clamoring to serve as priests in the church...
...McBrien's "simple logic" here has become caught up in a polemic...
...I find myself disagreeing with most of what McBrien states in his essay, and especially with his conclusion that there will be no more priests available for the future to serve the church unless his recommendations are followed...
...My hunch is that the system of priestly formation and existence can provide a cover for a furtive and fruitless search which might cause one to consider himself "gay" when, in fact, he may be very straight...
...Parishes choose one day a month for special prayer for vocations to the religious life and to the priesthood...
...Maybe this is the time to raise with the Vatican the disastrous policy of demanding celibacy for some Eastern rite Americans ordained in this country...
...The same will be true in this country...
...However, there have been those who have been suggesting just such a rethinking and re-visioning of church teaching with regard to homosexual orientation and behavior as well...
...As to the editorial staff of Commonweal, can you find no one in the Catholic church who can speak directly and comfortably to the gay question without dancing ecclesiastical circles around the subject...
...It's one thing to respond to someone's questionnaire by saying they would welcome optional celibacy...
...It raises the old and dangerous specter of moral rectitude based only on narrowly personal gain...
...To the Editors: Richard McBrien has raised a significant, if exhausting, set of questions in "Homosexuality & the Priesthood" [June 19...
...The reason few came forward was because no one in the church community asked them to consider whether the Lord was calling them...
...Or a layperson in order to work for greater participation for laity at all levels in the church...
...Such logic may be simple but it remains fundamentally flawed — and frighteningly so...
...I hope, further, that social scientists, historians, and theologians will continue their efforts to shed light on the terrain, each from within a specialized arena of inquiry...
...I suggest you hit the gay ghetto and inquire about the married men who engage in frequent gay encounters...
...let him lead in that part of the issue which in the immediate past led to schism and today leads to anger and confusion...
...The questions raised concerning homosexuality and priesthood deserve to stand on their own as questions a bit longer than McBrien would allow...
...However," Loftus writes, "there have been those who have been suggesting just such a re-thinking and re- vision-ing of church teaching with regard to homosexual orientation and behavior as well...
...Nor did I say, as John A. Loftus contends, that "it is 'simple logic' that no gay person would push for fundamental change in the present discipline of obligatory celibacy" (emphasis mine...
...JOHN THACKER 496: Commonweal Note the similar Bronx, N.Y...
...Elsewhere, the suggestion is made that a person's psychosexual orientation must be a final arbiter in deciding which "causes" to support in advancing church reform...
...At first reading, I was upset that a transitory disciplinary measure of one part of the church was being raised to a quasi-doctrinal status by such an attitude...
...Where, then, is the more ontic evil — in committing acts repeatedly that are not open to the transmission of life or in committing repeatedly acts that deepen love in a homosexual relationship...
...They go to the heart of the credibility of a celibate clergy in these uncelibate times...
...But that gives birth to a new question: would married priests be required before ordination to promise that they would not practice birth control...
...To the Editors: Thanks to Richard McBrien for the exploration of homosexuality and the priesthood...
...How will the parish community handle this new problem, a problem that will create far more difficulties within a parish than that of a priest suffering from alcoholism or some other difficulty...
...The same phenomenon will occur among a widespread married clergy as well...
Vol. 114 • September 1987 • No. 15
