Who Needs Men Anyway?

in Catholic Church, Women in Church 18 Comments Tags: , ,

Occasionally churchmen (and churchwomen) notice the lack of male involvement in the various Christian churches and try to think of ways of getting men involved, but the more common reaction is seeking to make the church ever more and more a women’s club.

 

U.S. Catholic celebrates the feminine triumph in the Church:

It’s lunchtime at St. Clement Parish in Chicago, and although some of the city’s best restaurants are within walking distance, most of the staff members instead opt for microwaved leftovers and conversation with colleagues around the conference table. The building engineer and associate pastor stop by for a quick bite, but otherwise this makeshift lunchroom is Estrogen Central.

A large parish of 4,000 mostly middle- and upper-class families, St. Clement boasts 12 full-time, well-educated lay employees. Only two are men.

St. Clement is a great place to be a woman in the church. The pastor is open and collaborative. Women are visible in leadership and liturgy, and they are accepted and respected by parishioners. Older women mentor the younger ones. And the flexible hours, reasonable salaries, and decent benefits make it possible for women to do the meaningful work they were trained and feel called to do.

Nor is this a peculiarity of St. Clement’s.

Women virtually run the church in the United States. They make up the majority of parishioners, volunteers, and staff at the parish level, and make up at least half of employees at most diocesan offices. A third of Catholic students pursuing advanced theological degrees are women—and most plan to use their education in service to the church.

At the parish level even more employees are women:

Parish employees—as many as 80 percent of whom are women.

The triumphant march of women through the Church will be completed (many of the female employees hope) when ordination is opened to women, and the last vestiges of male presence in the Church are swept into the dustbin of history, and the Bride of Christ will be composed almost exclusively of women – a process that is almost complete in the mainline Protestant churches.

 

As to the men – well, there is sports, war, crime, and other diversions – if the women are lucky. Fascism and Nazism replaced Christianity for many men in Europe in the twentieth century.

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David Berger on Himself

in Catholic Church, homosexuality 9 Comments Tags:

Tom put this in a comment box below, but it is so important I thought I would highlight it in a separate blog. As Berger points out, traditionalists priests are disproportionately homosexual, and traditionalist laity are homophobic – a bad combination.  This is from Pray Tell.

 

I have read with interest the lively discussion at Pray Tell about my book Der heilige Schein. Als schwuler Theologe in der katholischen Kirche. (“The Holy Illusion. Being a Gay Theologian in the Catholic Church,” 3 reprints within 4 weeks). After reading through all the comments, I thought it might be helpful to respond to some of the main points raised, and to expand upon the reporting provided so far.

Am I trying to discredit traditionalists by linking them to homosexuality? No, not at all.

First, there is no reason for me to get even. I have benefitted greatly from my academic career with traditionalists. They generously opened their publishing media to me and made possible my habilitation (a sort of second doctorate – Ed.). I owe my knowledge of classical philosophy and theology, especially Thomas Aquinas, to conservative clergyman.

Second, for me homosexuality is no devaluation of the person. Every person has an inalienable dignity apart from their sexual orientation. Indeed, I have observed that homosexual males have particular gifts which have very much benefitted Catholic liturgy, sacred music, and the liturgical arts in general. To say that there are many homosexual men in the Tridentine scene is, if anything, a compliment.

Homosexual Priests and Laymen

Do I really think there are more troubled homosexuals in traditionalist liturgical circles than elsewhere? Yes. All my experiences tell me that this is the case.

For one thing, this is endemic to traditional liturgy, in which one can sublimate homosexual feelings very well. This is a technique that even the Catechism of the Catholic Church seems to suggest to homosexually oriented men. When these men sublimate in this way, this is nothing reprehensible from the Church’s perspective. This has happened throughout history. Much mysticism is animated by such sublimation.

For another thing, these conservative circles cultivate an extreme homophobia. This leads people not only to sublimate their orientation, but also to hide it and to live it out in anonymous situations. This way of living it out falls victim in turn to repression, and this repression gives birth in turn to homophobia for these people.

I should be clear that I am speaking more about homosexually oriented clergymen here than laymen. The proportion of homosexual laymen who prefer the old liturgy is only a bit higher than in the general population. But among clergymen it’s about half of them. This is tied to the reality that in traditional Catholic families there is only one way out for dealing with the shame of a homosexually oriented son: becoming a priest. Thus one makes a virtue of necessity. Repeatedly people in these circles said to me, often with a smug smile, “You’re still not married? You should become a priest. That would be wonderful!”

My Credibility

Why should anyone think I’m a trustworthy source of information? It is true, as some of my critics have pointed out, that my book is merely anecdotal and not based on rigorous social research. It is a report of my experiences. However, this report attains a certain credibility because of two aspects:

1. For over ten years I was completely at home in every possible traditional quarter. I edited German’s most important traditionalist journal, Theologisches, for seven years. Internationally, I had close contact with the Opus Dei university in Pamplona and also, through my position as corresponding professor of the Papal Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, with the Vatican. (This is not the Angelicum, as an American traditionalist site mistakenly portrayed it!) During this time most everyone knew of my homosexual orientation, which opened my path into traditionalist gay circles.

2. Since my outing and the appearance of my book, I have received basketfuls of letters and numberless emails from Catholic priests, seminarians, and religious from all parts of the world. 95% of the submissions confirmed to me that my story from my book is very representative. Some have even written to me, “You have portrayed everything much too mildly. The reality is much more extreme!” Even to the point of a tale of two homosexual priests who were “married” in the traditionalist rite, with exchange of rings and the whole business. I have been pleased that my book found affirmation from the commentators in all the large (inter)national German language newspapers. They pretty much were in agreement in their judgment, which was pointedly expressed by the Tages-Spiegel (Zurich): “The promise in the book’s blurb to offer the key to the scandals of the Roman Church is almost an understatement. It offers the key to the Ratzinger pontificate as a whole.”

The Way Forward

What advice would I give to the hierarchy to address the problems I discuss in my book? How can the Church be made more healthy and holy?

The Vatican document of 2005 which states it is impossible for a homosexually oriented man to become a priest must be replaced as soon as possible and shelved. It has practically dogmatized dishonesty and lying among the clergy. Nowhere are there as many lies as when seminarians are asked if they are homosexually oriented.

The Church must finally face the reality that it has a very large group of homosexually oriented priests. Only when we allow these priests to speak about their orientation without fear or condemnation can we offer them help, so that they can hold to their celibacy the same way that their heterosexually oriented brother priests can. Only then will we have that honesty which the Pope has made the highest commandment in connection with abuse cases.

Pope Benedict’s Legacy

Above all history will speak of a tragic Pope who, because of his love for the aesthetic of the traditional liturgy and its milieu, and for whatever deeply personal reasons, lavishly pulled extreme forces to the very center of the Church. For this he has accepted that Catholicism in Europe and the U.S. is increasingly transformed into a fundamentalist sect, a “holy remnant,” and distances itself ever more from the rest of society.

Where I Am Now

I have as much admiration as ever for the great tradition of the Catholic Church. It is most amazing how the Church was able through the centuries, right up until the Enlightenment, to adapt itself and to play a role in the development of art and culture. Only with antimodernism did the Church lose this capability.

I am as fascinated as ever by the magnificent philosophical-theological synthesis of Aquinas – although I have increasingly learned to read this synthesis from a historical-critical standpoint and not as a timelessly valid intellectual structure.

I still attend the traditional liturgy, but only in places where nobody knows me. After several murder threats from traditionalist quarters, I have been advised to stay away from such liturgies for security reasons.

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Death Comes to the Molester

in clergy sex abuse scandal 8 Comments Tags: ,

I went to Calvert Hall College High School from 1963-1967. We had a few odd teachers, but fortunately I missed the Rev. Lawrence Brett, who was chaplain there for a few years, 1970-1973, of his long career of molesting teenage boys.

 

He was on the lam from police and living under an assumed name in Martinique. He died on Christmas day after falling down a flight of stairs.

 

His victims at Calvert Hall remember his modus operandi. 

Hired as Calvert Hall’s chaplain and religion teacher in 1970, Brett became known among students and faculty at the school for his sharp mind and hip coolness, former students and colleagues said.

“He would hold court, literally, in his office,” said Charles T. LoPresto, a Calvert Hall graduate who returned there in 1969 as a young teacher and quickly became friends with Brett. “These boys would just clamor to be part of that inner circle with him.”

In his courses, Brett exposed students to a variety of religious doctrines, said Dembeck, who had Brett as a religion teacher for two years.

“He taught us about all the major world religions,” he said. “He taught us a bunch of stuff that was way outside the box of Catholicism that I grew up with.”

Yes, indeed, “out of the box.”  What exactly was Brett teaching? – the most advanced doctrines of proportionalism, perhaps, as a prelude to introducing teenage boys to sex.

 

Molesters use whatever approach works – Maciel used traditionalist Catholicism, Brett hip Catholicism.

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German Data Needs Clarification

in clergy sex abuse scandal, Germany, homosexuality 1 Comment Tags: ,

As Rick noted in his comment, the German article on sexual abuse needs some clarification.

 

It did not specify whether the previous research that showed that in general sexual abuse victims were 25% male and 75% female was done in Germany or world-wide. I presume it was done in Germany. In the United States the percentage of male victims of priests is much higher that the percentage of female victims.

 

Another point that needs clarification: the article says that the high (for Germany?) percentage of male victims indicates that the circles of homosexuals should be looked at for possible perpetrators.

 

But:

 

The percentage overall is 50-50 male female, although homosexual abuse is higher in the boarding schools.

 

Zimmer (the head of the project) thinks that neither celibacy nor sexuality is the source of the abuse, but rather a desire for control and power (Gewalt und Macht).

 

He says this

 1. Because the perpetrators are typically older priests, not recently ordained, young priests in whom the sexual drive is presumable stronger and

2. Because the perpetrators carry out careful plans of gain in the confidence of children and parents and carry on the abuse over a long period.

 

From my study of the American cases, I think that Zimmer is largely correct. It may be that the type of homosexual (and heterosexual) attracted to the clergy is characterized by extreme narcissism and a desire to control people. This would explain the disproportionate number of perpetrators who have also been liturgists. The joke is “What is the difference between a terrorist and a liturgist? – You can negotiate with a terrorist.”

 

I will keep an eye open for further articles about the German data; I may write Zimmer to ask for clarification.

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Sexual Abuse Analysis from Germany

in clergy sex abuse scandal, Germany, homosexuality 8 Comments Tags: , ,

In March 2010 the head of a Jesuit school in Germany had begun receiving allegations of sexual abuse by Jesuit teachers in the school. He contacted alumni about it, and received numerous allegations of abuse by priests

 

In response to this situation, the German bishops set up a hotline (telephone and e-mail) in Trier. The first day it was opened, the telephone line froze because of the volume of calls it received. It is still getting 50-70 calls a week.

 

The Germans, being orderly, have collected and analyzed the data from these calls in 1,100 sheets of statistics and have come up with interesting and unexpected patterns that contradict previously-held beliefs about sexual abuse. FAZ reports:

 

·        There were 18,500 attempts to reach the hotline the first week alone.

·        90% of those calling in are Catholic.

·        A third were not abused in Church environments but wanted to seek help from the Church.

·        Many called in the hope that their reports of sexual abuse would help prevent it in the future.

 

Reports by victims indicate that:

 

·        Only 16% reported one incident of abuse; in all other cases, there were multiple incidents of abuse.

·        The abuse that was reported occurred mostly between 1950 and 1980. [my observation: this may represent a real spike in abuse or the later victims may not be able to talk about the abuse yet]

·        Half of the victims were male.

 

But the sex of the victims varied by environment:

 

·        In family situations more girls than boys were abused

·        In church environments, including the confessional, abuse victims were equally male and female.

·        The risk for boys was double in the Internat (boarding schools) whether these were church- or government-run.

 

As to the predators:

 

·        Most were not young priests, but respected priests of mature years.

·        The predators wormed their way into the trust of parents and children.

·        The abuse was not a sudden response to passion but was carefully planned and carried out and involevd multipel occasions of abuse.

 

Criminologists are extremely interested in these reports because sexual abuse of children is one of the hardest crimes to investigate and prevent.

 

Prior to this inflow of information, all other research had shown that 25% of the child victims of sexual abuse were male and 75% female; but these reports showed that males were abused as frequently as females.

 

These statistics lead to a controversial conclusion: 

The victims and their relatives, who have confided in the hotline, contradict these proportions [25% male, 75% female]. And more: they show a significantly different picture of the almost entirely male perpetrators. Because of the high number of male victims it is observed that the perpetrators far more than previously should be looked for in the circle of men with homosexual inclinations. It appears to these men that the settings, in which they live in constant proximity to other homosexuals and encounter children and youths from a superior position, offer a nearly-perfect environment in which they can be active as pederasts .

Die Opfer und deren Angehörige, die sich der Hotline anvertraut haben, widerlegen diese Proportion. Mehr noch: Sie zeichnen auch ein signifikant anderes Bild der nahezu ausschließlich männlichen Täter. Denn von der hohen Zahl männlicher Opfer aus betrachtet sind die Täter wohl mehr als bisher im Kreis der Männer mit homosexuellen Neigungen zu suchen. Ihnen scheinen Einrichtungen, in denen sie in dauernder Nähe zu anderen Homosexuellen leben und Kindern und Jugendlichen aus einer überlegenen Position heraus begegnen, einen nahezu idealen Raum zu bieten, um sich als Päderast zu betätigen.

The perpetrators were not young priests who couldn’t be celibate.

The typical perpetrator, as he appears in the reports of the victims, is not the young priest who acts from emotion or out of frustration, but rather a respected man of advanced years.

Therefore it will not do much good to look for seminarians with tendencies to pedophilia; the problem is with older priests.

The head of the project concluded “that in my opinion the key theme is neither sexuality nor celibacy, but control and power (Gewalt und Macht).”

The child victims were helpless:

Again and again the counselors heard that the victims as children or youths were not were able to express in words the control to which they were exposed. And when they spoke of it, the parents did not take their side.

Because of statutes of limitations, almost all perpetrators, even if they are still alive, cannot be punished.

Few of the victims have left the Catholic Church. The most long lasting damage they have suffered is problems in relationships. Sexual abuse has “often deadly consequences for the development of sexuality and for the ability to form relationships.”

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Gussie Fink-Nottle and the Scripture Knowledge Sharks

in Liturgy 9 Comments Tags:

Newspapers are publishing The Year in Review. Because I was on the Camino, I missed the stories about the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey that came out in September.

45% of Catholics believe the Eucharist is merely symbolic, and not the real body and blood of Christ. 

Of Catholics 40% could name the four Gospels; of Hispanic Catholics, only 15% could name them. 

After Vatican II, factual catechesis and memorization disappeared from the Catholic Church and was replaced with a lot of felt banners, gushiness, and social action 

Although Catholics win the booby prize for religious illiteracy, Protestants don’t do badly either. 

45% of Protestants do not know that Martin Luther set the Reformation going and only 19% knew that Protestantism teaches salvation through faith alone (although I admit this is a tricky point, you would think that most Protestants would at least recognize it as distinctively Protestant). 

We are not talking about technical definitions of the hypostatic union; we are talking about the religious equivalent of 2+2=4. 

I would have liked to see questions about the Trinity – on second thought, I am glad they didn’t ask them, the results would have been too depressing. Nestorius and Arius probably have won their battles posthumously. 

Mormons and Jews do better than Christians in general religious and atheists do best of all – know thy opponent seems to explain this result. Also, Catholics and Protestants seem to be surprisingly well informed about Mormonism – those Mormon missionaries are having an impact. 

When I was at the University of Virginia all professors and graduate students had to teach the freshman writing course. All the instructors met to discuss approaches. We agreed the freshman couldn’t write, and the consensus was that they couldn’t write because they couldn’t read. They could read the words on the page but they had no clue to what allusions and cultural references meant. Students from Virginia – Virginia! – did not get the reference to Appomattox. 

E. D. Hirsch, one of my professors, developed this writing discussion into a cottage industry to promote cultural literacy: What Every First Grader Needs to Know, What Every Second Grader Needs to Know etc. 

In the 1980s my wife was on a charitable donations committee and was occasionally able to direct money to worthwhile causes. We had developed a simple test of Catholic literacy for our parish’s Sunday School program to give the teachers an idea of what the students knew. Again, this was not atomic physics. The multiple choice questions were things like: Who was the mother of Jesus?  What do we celebrate on Easter? And so on. 

We approached the education department of the Archdiocese of Baltimore to see whether they would like to develop a pilot program to test religious literacy among Catholic students, again to give teachers an idea of what students knew and needed to know. The archdiocese was NOT INTERESTED – even if money was offered to pay for the program.  

Why does the baloney fear the grinder? 

Explicit verbal instruction, although fitting for rational beings, is not the only way of conveying doctrines. 

I also saw a poll some years ago that showed that more Catholics than Lutherans chose a Zwinglian, purely symbolic interpretation of the Eucharist. I doubt that Lutheran catechesis is any better than Catholic, but in the Lutheran churches I have been to there has been a far stronger sense of decorum and reverence in administering the sacrament. Too often in Catholic churches I have had to receive communion from a mini-skirted young woman while people are strolling up and down the aisles and chatting to one another. At least in the Lutheran services I have been too, the elements have been administered by ordained ministers to kneeling recipients.  

Outward gestures can also to some extent teach doctrine, especially if the doctrine is embodied in propositions that no one has ever learned.  

I don’t know what could change the situation. Catholic schools are vanishing, and religious instruction outside of them is almost nonexistent. So the Catholic Church in the U.S. has managed to do away with the best methods of transmitting its doctrines: religious schools and a liturgy that conveys a sense of sacred realities. The vernacular and wordiness of the new liturgy may have been intended to instruct in doctrine, but the new liturgy fails to do so because the atmosphere too often contradicts the words on the page. Lex orandi, lex credendi. Sloppiness and informality at the Eucharist = weak sense of the Real Presence.

(PS: Title of this blog refers to Right Ho, Jeeves, Chapter 19 and the Scripture knowledge award fiasco)

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Felicem Diem Natalem Domini

in Uncategorized No Comments

Puer natus in Bethlehem. Alleluia
unde gaudet Hierusalem. Alleluia, alleluia

In cordis iubilo Christum natum adoremus
cum novo cantico

Assumpsit carnem Filius. Alleluia
Dei Patris Altissimus. Alleluia, alleluia

In cordis iubilo Christum natum adoremus
cum novo cantico

In hoc natali gaudio. Alleluia
benedicamus Domino. Alleluia, alleluia

In cordis iubilo Christum natum adoremus
cum novo cantico

Laudetur Sancta Trinitas. Alleluia
Deo dicamus gratias. Alleluia, alleluia

In cordis iubilo Christum natum adoremus
cum novo cantico

 

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The Darling of the World Is Come

in Uncategorized 2 Comments

Most modern English church music is on the shrieky side, but John Rutter has taken perhaps the loveliest Christmas poem in the English language and set it to music that can heal the heart. Here is the King’s College choir.

What sweeter music can we bring
Than a carol, for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?
Awake the voice! Awake the string!

Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
And give the honor to this day,
That sees December turned to May.

Why does the chilling winter’s morn
Smile, like a field beset with corn?
Or smell like a meadow newly-shorn,
Thus, on the sudden? Come and see
The cause, why things thus fragrant be:
‘Tis He is born, whose quickening birth
Gives life and luster, public mirth,
To heaven, and the under-earth.

We see him come, and know him ours,
Who, with his sunshine and his showers,
Turns all the patient ground to flowers.
The darling of the world is come,
And fit it is, we find a room
To welcome him. The nobler part
Of all the house here, is the heart.

Which we will give him; and bequeath
This holly, and this ivy wreath,
To do him honour, who’s our King,
And Lord of all this revelling.

What sweeter music can we bring,
Than a carol for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

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The Shepherds of Spain

in Spain, Uncategorized No Comments Tags: ,

RETABLO DEL NACIMIENTO o DE LA ADORACIÓN DE LOS PASTORES
Gregorio Fernández (Hacia 1576, Sarria, Lugo – Valladolid 1636)1614

Madera policromada

Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales, Valladolid

Unlike the other figures, the infant Jesus is naked, which emphasizes his full humanity and his vulnerability. He also is lying in the same position that he is shown in after the crucifixion when his body is lying on the stone of anointing.

The sacrifice is emphasized by the shepherd who is kneeling and offering a lamb to the Cordero de Dios.

 The Counter-Reformation sought for a model of Christian manhood for the layman. Joseph is therefore shown as a vigorous, mature adult, not the wizened old man in the corners of medieval and Byzantine nativities.

 I especially like the shepherds. I saw many young men in Spain (I walked through Sarria on the Camino) who could have served as a model for the kneeling shepherd.

 The baby is restless and playful. The reason he is not sleeping is shown by the shepherd who has just finished playing the gaita, the Galician bagpipe, and is looking at the Child to see how he reacts. Very few babies will sleep when a bagpipe is played in the immediate vicinity.

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José and the Ham – or – Eurabia and España

in Islam, Spain 3 Comments Tags: , ,

 

You can’t make these things up:

 

A teacher in the secondary school Institute Menénez Tola has been denounced by the family of a Moslem student for talking about ham in class.  

Un profesor de secundaria del Instituto Menénez Tolosa…ha sido denunciado por la familia de un alumno musulmán por hablar de jamón en clase. En concreto, el docente impartía clase de Geografía cuando, al hacer referencia a los distintos climas de España, comentó que el frío propio de Trévelez, en Granada, favorecía la curación del jamón.

Fuen ese momento cuando un alumno de origen musulmán consideró que el ejemplo era una ofensa para su credo. Tras la denuncia interpuesta por la familia del menor, la Policía se personó en el Instituto para interrogar al profesor.

The teacher was lecturing about climate and mentioned that the climate of a Spanish city favored the curing of hams.

 

A snotty Moslem kid (13 years old – what else) took offense at the word “ham,” raised his hand, told the teacher that he was not to use that word in class, the teacher told the snotty kid off, the kid then told his parents, the parents went to the police,  the police went to the school and interrogated the teacher.

 

José Reyes Fernández, the teacher, was livid. He said the denunciation to the police was “ridiculous, intolerable, and grotesque,” and that the mother had resorted to “defamation, lies, and calumny.” She had attacked “his honor, his image, and his professional ethics.”

 

The local school officials supported the teacher, who still has a police complaint on his record.

 

Two points —  one minor, one major – you decide which  is which.

 

The Spanish may have abandoned Catholicism, but they are still devoted to ham. There are ham shops throughout Spain, I walked past a Museum of Ham in one city, and my wife tried the ham ice cream in Madrid.

 

The snotty Moslem kid may have known his complaint wouldn’t get far, but he put teachers on notice that they had better not say anything offensive to Moslems. How do teachers talk about Spanish history, the Reconquest, or terrorism?

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The Pope and Proportionalism

in clergy sex abuse scandal, Moral Theology, Pope Benedict 19 Comments Tags: , ,

In his Christmas message to the curia, Pope Benedict lamented sexual abuse and said the church must reflect on what went wrong. He, as a theologian, thought that distorted moral theology in the 1960s and 1970s contributed to the abuse. 

In order to resist these forces, we must turn our attention to their ideological foundations. In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children. This, however, was part of a fundamental perversion of the concept of ethos. It was maintained – even within the realm of Catholic theology – that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a “better than” and a “worse than”. Nothing is good or bad in itself. Everything depends on the circumstances and on the end in view. Anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances. Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist. The effects of such theories are evident today.

John Allen tends to poo-poo this and finds experts who are dubious.

Among specialists, however, there are serious reservations as to whether proportionalism really is to blame.

First, moral theologians say that proportionalism reached its high-water mark in the 1970s and has been in retreat ever since. Focusing on it now, they say, risks fighting yesterday’s battles.

Second, Redemptorist moral theologian Fr. Brian Johnstone of the Catholic University of America said in the wake of the pope’s 2008 remarks that he’s not aware of any serious Catholic moralist who ever invoked the theory to justify the sexual exploitation of minors.

Johnstone, an Australian who over the years has been critical of proportionalism, said he’s “totally unconvinced” of any connection between proportionalism and the abuse crisis.

Third, statistical studies of the crisis may not support a link to a defective moral theory.

Margaret Smith, data analyst for a John Jay study of the “causes and context” of the sexual abuse crisis commissioned by the U.S. bishops, likewise said in 2008 that research found incidents of sexual abuse as far back as 1950, the very beginning of the time frame the bishops asked them to consider (1950-2000). Those earlier acts of abuse probably cannot be explained by proportionalism.

Smith added that changing attitudes towards authority in the ’60s and ’70s, as well as a growing individualism in the broader culture, may well have played a role in the crisis – and that, she said, was perhaps the point Benedict “was reaching for” in 2008. Nonetheless, Smith said, her hunch is that when all the data is in, proportionalism will not loom large.

“This is behavior much more deeply embedded in the personality of individuals than a particular theory of moral action,” Smith said. “I think the analysis of causes will have more to do with things like preparation for living a life of celibate chastity, and how to understand and deal with intimacy.”

While the specific theory of proportionalism may not have been the main culprit, there were plenty of influential theologians around who contributed the climate of sexual laxity, especially about homosexual behavior.

The reports of true pedophilia (small children, under 10 or so) were a small portion of the abuse committed by priests and in fact declined slowly after 1950.

Terrible abuse has long occurred in the Church, but at least in the US there is a big spike in the reports of abuse of boys 12-18, abuse that occurred in the 1960s and 1970. Abusers showed older boys books by theologians who said that homosexual sex could be ok.

The Rev Anthony Kosnick in the Catholic Theological Society of America book, Human Sexuality: New Direction in American Catholic Thought (1977) concluded that

“at this time the behavioral sciences have not identified any sexual expression that can be empirically demonstrated to be of itself, in a culture-free way, detrimental to full human existence.”

Any sexual expression – any.

 

 

Of course society is not as enlightened as Catholic theologians, and it criminalizes certain behaviors, so Kosnick advised that until society realizes that there is no sexual expression that is in itself harmful,

“enlightened and well-integrated individuals might well free themselves of conflict by simply reflecting on the relativity of their society’s sexual ethic and proceed discreetly with their sexual project.”

 

And so several thousand Catholic priests proceeded with their sexual project.

Of course unenlightened parents would sometimes object.

 

 

Rev. Andre Guindon, who is still held up as a progressive theologian, had taught in The Sexual Language, a book that the abuser Rudy Kos used in his seminary, that

“the most recent studies tend to disprove that lasting hurt comes from pedophiliac contact itself. Rather, the trauma comes from the familial panic which is the usual response to the incident.”

The children are hurt not by sexual contacts with priests, but by parents who make a fuss about it – so taught a leading theologian, and such seemed to be the attitude of the bishops.

Perhaps some of Benedict’s suspicions are justified

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Light of the World: Benedict on Maciel

in clergy sex abuse scandal, Maciel, Pope Benedict 25 Comments Tags: , , ,

 

As bad as the sexual abuse in the Church has been, the official misjudgment about Maciel is even more serious. Benedict called Maciel “a false prophet” (p. 39) and such he was.

 

But this psychopathic incestuous child molester and thief not only fooled tens of thousands of Catholics, he deceived the pope. Pope John Paul II called this false prophet “an efficacious  to youth.” But Maciel did not deceive everyone. Jason Berry was right in his judgment; John Paul wrong.

 

Therefore the pope’s discernment of a religious founder and the movement he sets in motion is not reliable. In fact, it is worth nothing. Catholics must rely on their private judgment as to whether a religious figure is doing the work of the Holy Spirit or an evil spirit.

 

When the False Prophet comes at the end of the world, will he too deceive the pope and receive approbation from the Vatican? It is a chilling thought to those who take seriously the sayings in the New Testament about the end of the world.

 

 

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

 

For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

 

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Lord of the Kings and the Star

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Los reyes siguen la estrella,

la estrella sigue al Señor,

y el Señor de ellos y de ella

sigue y busca al pecador.

 

Teniendo de Dios noticia

buscan con divino celo,

la estrella el sol de justicia,

los Reyes al Rey del cielo.

 

Guiados son de una estrella,

la estrella de su Señor,

y el Señor de ellos y de ella

sigue y busca al pecador.

 

Buscan al Rey soberano

los reyes para adorarle,

y el rey traidor y tirano

le busca para matarle.

 

Siguen los tres a la estrella,

la estrella sigue al Señor,

y el Señor de ellos y de ella

sigue y busca al pecador. 

..follows and seeks the sinner

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