Based on what has happened this week, should the Catholic church make changes


Reply
  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2
 
Topic Tools Search this Thread
lizard47 is offline lizard47 Post #1  May 12,2009, 11:05am
lizard47's Avatar

who you surround yourself with tells what you really believe

Veteran

Joined: Apr 2008

Midwest

Posts: 1,630

See profile



The former Milwaukee Catholic Arch-Bishop Weakland has admitted in a new book that is gay. Which to many in Milwaukee is not a big surprise.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519854,00.html





Father Cutie is photographed in compromising position, fora priest, with a women.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519055,00.html


Should the Catholic church consider making changes? I have an ex bf who was studying to be a priest from HS thru college, he did not complete his studies because of the celibacy issue and because there were so many in his opinion gay men hiding out in the priesthood. The stories he told me about what went on in the dorm that was just seminary students shocked me. Let's just say adding them to the stories that a former nun told me, I have to wonder how many priests and nuns are really virgins.


Edit: I am not trying to bash the Catholic faith because franklin I believe that all organized religions have skeletons in the closet.
 
  Reply With Quote
graceventually is offline graceventually Post #2  May 12,2009, 4:40pm
graceventuall…'s Avatar

was married Nov.28, and is no longer active on this site.

Virtuoso

Joined: May 2008

Posts: 3,056

See profile



It's a complicated question, lizard, but it's a tough one, for sure! I know when I was at seminary that I had many talented colleagues who were ex-Catholics. They loved the church, but they were not eligible for the priesthood (they were married men or women) and they wanted to pastor. I think that creates a real "brain drain" out of the church. Not that there aren't many talented, dedicated priests. There certainly are, and the majority of priests have not been accused of anything. But they could have even more priests - gifted, moral, intelligent people - if they would change.


As for all religious organizations having skeletons - well, there's probably some truth to that, but some of us do a lot of work to try to minimize it. United Methodist clergy are subjected to background checks and extensive psychological testing. However, our protocol for getting clergy out of the pulpit if they develop problems later is more uneven. I've seen it handled very promptly, and I've seen it drag on for longer than it should have in a small number of cases.
 
  Reply With Quote
lizard47 is offline lizard47 Post #3  May 13,2009, 11:13am
lizard47's Avatar

who you surround yourself with tells what you really believe

Veteran

Joined: Apr 2008

Midwest

Posts: 1,630

See profile

graceventually wrote :
It's a complicated question, lizard, but it's a tough one, for sure! I know when I was at seminary that I had many talented colleagues who were ex-Catholics. They loved the church, but they were not eligible for the priesthood (they were married men or women) and they wanted to pastor. I think that creates a real "brain drain" out of the church. Not that there aren't many talented, dedicated priests. There certainly are, and the majority of priests have not been accused of anything. But they could have even more priests - gifted, moral, intelligent people - if they would change.


As for all religious organizations having skeletons - well, there's probably some truth to that, but some of us do a lot of work to try to minimize it. United Methodist clergy are subjected to background checks and extensive psychological testing. However, our protocol for getting clergy out of the pulpit if they develop problems later is more uneven. I've seen it handled very promptly, and I've seen it drag on for longer than it should have in a small number of cases.
Grace I guess my point about other denomonations is based on past experiences and exactly what you said, not always being swift in the removal of that individual or just moving that person on to a different congregation without letting them know. I had many friends who were saying well at least we are not like the Catholics because we let our pastors marry, sadly I couldn't say anything other than well no we have our problems too but couldn't give them the concrete facts. PKs and Churchleaders kids know more than we should sometimes.
 
  Reply With Quote
graceventually is offline graceventually Post #4  May 13,2009, 2:16pm
graceventuall…'s Avatar

was married Nov.28, and is no longer active on this site.

Virtuoso

Joined: May 2008

Posts: 3,056

See profile

Sad but true. I don't think we have as many issues in my denomination, but any at all are too many.
In the time that I've been in ministry (13 years), we've removed , I think, 6 or 7 clergy for sexual misconduct. I don't know the details of every case, but in at least 5 cases, it was a matter of adultery between consenting adults. We've had a number of others who have been removed for other reasons: usually, it's been someone who developed some signs of mental illness and was no longer able to adequately function in a pastoral role.
 
  Reply With Quote
EugeneDammrod is offline EugeneDammrod Post #5  May 16,2009, 3:39am
EugeneDammrod's Avatar

must let the music speak for him when words are not enough.

Veteran

Joined: Apr 2009

U.S.A.

Posts: 1,354

See profile

I'm not an expert on Catholocism, so someone more knowledgeable is going to have to help me out. Historically how important is celibacy when it comes to the priesthood? Obviously, it's very important now, but I've read that in the early days it wasn't held to such a stringent standard. Is this something that's up for compromise, or would allowing priests to marry or have relationships be too deviant from the Catholic faith?

Personally, what really made me uncomfortable about all the priest scandals was how it seemed that the Catholic church was trying to sweep the problems under the rug and solve them with money, but as I've mentioned I have limited knowledge about it. It does seem that Pope Benedict is trying a more open and hands on approach to the whole issue, and I greatly appreciate that.
 
  Reply With Quote
angelofmerci is offline angelofmerci Post #6  May 18,2009, 10:19am
angelofmerci's Avatar

loves the feel of the wind blowing in his face while riding the curves

Veteran

Joined: Jul 2008

Posts: 1,302

See profile

Before I was born my parents lived in Michigan. While living there a news story hit the papers that lasted for several days maybe weeks. It seems that a boiler broke down. The repairman while trying to fix it discovered human bones inside of it. He notified the authorities who investigated his findings. It turns out the priests and the nuns were having sex and the bones were the results of aborted fetuses and/or babies. This happened in the late 40's.
 
  Reply With Quote
BuzWeaver is offline BuzWeaver Post #7  May 23,2009, 5:50am
BuzWeaver's Avatar

Researching the cure for liberalism

Veteran

Joined: Mar 2008

Atlanta

Posts: 1,412

See profile

From the stand point that Catholicism is a belief system certainly anything is possible because you have the introduction of human interpretation. Atheist and Skeptics leverage their arguments on the basis that 'religion' is a created ideology to control people, thus 'religion' is a method.

Catholicism is one of the 'Christian' faiths that has a lot of 'interpretation', a good many of which collapses on itself because it tries to uphold its virtue from a vantage point that often exceeds expectation.
 
  Reply With Quote
graceventually is offline graceventually Post #8  May 23,2009, 7:24am
graceventuall…'s Avatar

was married Nov.28, and is no longer active on this site.

Virtuoso

Joined: May 2008

Posts: 3,056

See profile

I won't argue with you there, Buz; except to say that sadly, human sin makes it inevitable that members of every religious group try to uphold standards of virtue that exceed actual performance in many cases. I would never say that my own denomination is immune.
 
  Reply With Quote
chapgirl is offline chapgirl Post #9  May 23,2009, 10:04pm
chapgirl's Avatar

Quick Study

Joined: May 2009

Los Angeles

Posts: 71

See profile

Yes, there are many individuals within the Glbt population within the Roman Catholic Church, priests and nuns. And I know there are gay clergy in other denominations as well. It has been a large debate within many of the denominations about whether or not to ordain gays as pastors. Many of the pastors who have remained in the closet, have given many wonderful years of service to the church, but have remained in secret about their sexuality. I personally find it quite hypocritical that we hold back ordination from gay and lesbians, and yet most of the judicial cases I have sat on in our denomination, for sexual misconduct, have been heterosexual pastors who have had affairs with women in their congregations. They may be removed from the pulpit temporarily while they go through the discipline process, but they rarely have their ordination removed. And yet a gay person cannot even be ordained when they have done nothing wrong. They have been professional, ethical, etc.

Lizard makes a great point about Pastors kids, who see more than they should. Some of the most viscious politics I have seen have been in the church, and unfortunately my son had to witness some of the worst of the church. It's difficult to explain to a child that this isn't how it is supposed to be. It is tragic.
 
  Reply With Quote
hankm25 is offline hankm25 Post #10  May 25,2009, 5:18pm
hankm25's Avatar

Quick Study

Joined: Jan 2008

Posts: 181

See profile

While I'm saddened by the stories presented in this thread, I do not believe the Church needs to make changes. The Church has existed for centuries with celibacy as the primary practice of Priesthood; the church will go on existing with celibacy as the primary practice of Priesthood. If you are not Catholic, I do not expect you to understand nor will I try to make you understand.
 
  Reply With Quote
Reply
  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2


« The Debate on Religion continues.... | Religion & Spirituality | IF you are a "Christian" what does that mean to you? »
Topic Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new topics
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off

Looking for a Great Relationship?

Get started now. Fill out this form and take the questionnaire to receive your matches.

First Name:

I'm a:
seeking

Postal Code:

Country:

Email:

Confirm Email:

Password:


How did you hear about us?


Latest on our Dating Advice Discussion Boards

“ Excellent, thank you. I think I will leave out the first part, I think it is unnecessary information to give him. I'm not interested in putting myself out there like that and it might be a little ... ” –  generallyyou

Join the “Ending a friendship” discussion

“Alfred Hitchcock - 18 Steven Spielberg - 62 *notice what?” –  dmi

Join the “War of the Directors” discussion

“ I would be "certain people" :P The issue isn't a deal-breaker, but a very strong factor preference-wise, for me.” –  ThePriestess

Join the “How much does race play in your dating someone?” discussion

“Love Texas Hold'em!.. I'm thinking of trying another tournament this summer...not sure yet though.. Never entered a tournament before, outside of online ones. Personally I prefer to play with ... ” –  Freezepop

Join the “Favorite Card Game” discussion

“Make that 3! I also had a crush on Donny Osmond. I think I still have a record or two of his. Suzie ” –  legend29

Join the “Robin Gibbs Dead at 62...How Deep is Your Love?” discussion

“Oh, my revised profile can be seen in the forum in the section where you can ask for a profile review. Suzanne” –  SuzanneScorpio

Join the “Photo Review” discussion

“Just remember, everything that you are feeling and/or are capable of he is as well. If he wanted to reach you, he could. Right now he knows that you are hurting, and that this is not what you ... ” –  lynntlb78

Join the “Can I wait and move on at the same time?” discussion

“ Yohio. And the shortened form (Anya) is nice too.” –  ThePriestess

Join the “Where is Becky?!?” discussion



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 9:26am.

Discussion Boards Archive

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0