Homosexuality and the sex scandals
(NB: The article I'm linking to might make some people really angry. As a Catholic I am called to love everyone, my neighbors and my enemies. And to face this crisis down, we must be honest and open and examine everything. So if you are angry, please don't comment in anger, just state your opinion in a dispassionate way. Not that anyone is commenting here anyway. LOL. It's probably a moot point.)
Here's an article by a priest who is very un-pc and calls homosexuality the main cause of the scandals. Please read it in its entirety. It is true homosexuality does seem to be a prominent feature of the scandals. And it does seem logical to think that the reason why the bishops excluded themselves from the Dallas Charter might have been because the homosexual networks were so deeply ingrained it would render the Church's organization unsustainable to weed out every homosexual bishop or priest.
I am trying to think through all this. My natural inclination is to question the idea that homosexuality is the reason for the predation. I think it is more complex than that. And the reason I question this is that I am a woman and have had several Me Too encounters in my life. Women have always had to live with the fact that men can be sexual predators. In fact, men have been sexual predators since forever. We've been reading Greek literature lately in our home school. Recall how Achilles and Agamemnon's spat starts when Agamemnon's war prize-concubine gets reclaimed by her father. He then demands Achilles booty, Brisies. Achilles kind of liked his sex slave and resents Agamemnon claiming her for his own. The context of all this is that when men are victorious in battle, they get to claim the women they find desirable as their sex slaves.
Think of the rape of the Sabine women.
Think of all the African American descendants of slaves who are discovering they have European DNA. That's because their ancestors' masters acted on lust for their women slaves. We'd like to think that occasionally this might have been a mutual liking, but most likely the woman was trapped and she was used for sex against her will.
Right now human sex trafficking is at an all time high.
Sex and power go together. They shouldn't, but they do. Men are fallen. They have always had this sinful tendency of making sex into a power trip. Of course many good men avoid this sin, but nevertheless, it is an extremely common sin that is reflected in history and cultures.
Because seminaries are places that are usually populated by young men and because celibacy can provide a cover, these places have the conditions to allow for the growth of homosexual networks. Men, once again, used sex as a power against weaker beings. This time not women, but men under their control.
Woman can do this sort of thing too of course, but usually this is more of a problem with men.
Now there does seem to be an awful lot of male predation of young boys. This too goes back to the Greeks. And we sometimes hear about it in Middle Eastern cultures (see The Kite Runner for example). It's in other cultures too. For instance the Ugandan martyrs like Charles Lwanga and his friends who refused to submit to the king's lechery. So it might be that homosexuality is more prone to predation than heterosexuality.
But, on the other hand, there's plenty of heterosexual predation going on too. All the time, all over the place. And there always has been.
I am completely orthodox when it comes to the Church's teaching on sex. I agree that the reason for sex (which by the way is short for sexual intercourse) is to create new life, and the bonding coupling of man and woman serves to provide the offspring a family, an optimum situation, in which the child can be raised.
But I can see where sexual development can go astray and turn into homosexuality. As the catechism says we don't know why some people have same sex attraction. Often it seems to relate to traumatic predation when victims are young, but not always. It could have to do with their relationship with their fathers as some psychological theories have it, probably considered outdated currently. I think personally we live in such a polluted world where the environment is laced with endocrine inhibitors. Our sex hormones are of course intricately a part of our endocrine system. It could be that as a child develops they may get too much estrogen or somehow their endocrine system is affected so that perhaps this winds up confusing them sexually. Or it could be that some people when they develop sexual desire as adolescence approaches, are too shy emotionally to really feel a connection to the other sex. Maybe close friendships at this time when exploration can be almost compulsive could tempt people to experiment. These might be powerful emotional experiences that then make the person think they must be gay. I think it really is complex and maybe slightly different for each individual.
But what I don't think is that having same sex attraction makes one incapable of being a priest. I think if a man truly believes what the church teaches and vows to live a chaste and celibate life, whether he is opposite sex attracted or same sex attracted, I don't see why he can't become a good and holy priest.
Thus, I don't think I agree with Father Scanlon's characterization of same sex attraction being so deeply seated that it renders the person incapable of celibacy. However, I do agree with his conclusion that it would be a really good idea to avoid masturbation and dwelling on sexual thoughts for a year before entering the seminary. This has to do with 'continence,' that is, in the spiritual sense, the ability to control one's impulses. I also think that if you are same sex attracted, living in a dorm with lots of other young men might be really problematic. Just as if you are heterosexual, living in a dorm with lots of women would also be tempting.
I really question the whole idea of dorm living anyway. I always had problems with it even when in school. I mean, this is why college campuses are so fraught with carousing, drinking, sexual misconduct and rape. I think it is far more maturing and really reflects actual life, to live in the world doing meaningful work and then doing classroom studies on the side. We should, all of us, mix every day with people of different ages, backgrounds, ethnicity, etc. I don't like bubble living. Dorm life is often bubble living, and it too often becomes an occasion of sin. It seems to lend itself to unwholesome interactions.
So my conclusion: some people are same sex attracted. We don't know why. But Jesus still loves them. Jesus still died for them. Jesus still wants them to be with Him in heaven. Jesus came to save sinners. They have an extra heavy burden in trying to be holy. They must make a great sacrifice, but they can still live beautiful and holy lives. They still have much to contribute. They can do much that is admirable. They can teach us much. Just as heterosexual priests who remain celibate can do as well.
Unfortunately, evil forces took hold of the formation of priests in our seminaries. Men who were not continent; who did not believe in the Church's teachings, who took advantage of the cover of celibacy to create a network of predation, abuse and collusion. These men are hollow men. They have sold their souls to the devil. May God have mercy on them. They need to be gone from leadership in the Church. They need to live out the rest of their lives in penitence and reparation and obscurity.
It is better to have fewer truly devout priests and bishops, then many corrupted, hypocritical or sociopathic ones.
Update: Rebecca Hamilton of Public Catholic at Patheos wrote a great article that echoes much of what I am saying here. She backs things up with stats and facts.
Here's an article by a priest who is very un-pc and calls homosexuality the main cause of the scandals. Please read it in its entirety. It is true homosexuality does seem to be a prominent feature of the scandals. And it does seem logical to think that the reason why the bishops excluded themselves from the Dallas Charter might have been because the homosexual networks were so deeply ingrained it would render the Church's organization unsustainable to weed out every homosexual bishop or priest.
I am trying to think through all this. My natural inclination is to question the idea that homosexuality is the reason for the predation. I think it is more complex than that. And the reason I question this is that I am a woman and have had several Me Too encounters in my life. Women have always had to live with the fact that men can be sexual predators. In fact, men have been sexual predators since forever. We've been reading Greek literature lately in our home school. Recall how Achilles and Agamemnon's spat starts when Agamemnon's war prize-concubine gets reclaimed by her father. He then demands Achilles booty, Brisies. Achilles kind of liked his sex slave and resents Agamemnon claiming her for his own. The context of all this is that when men are victorious in battle, they get to claim the women they find desirable as their sex slaves.
Think of the rape of the Sabine women.
Think of all the African American descendants of slaves who are discovering they have European DNA. That's because their ancestors' masters acted on lust for their women slaves. We'd like to think that occasionally this might have been a mutual liking, but most likely the woman was trapped and she was used for sex against her will.
Right now human sex trafficking is at an all time high.
Sex and power go together. They shouldn't, but they do. Men are fallen. They have always had this sinful tendency of making sex into a power trip. Of course many good men avoid this sin, but nevertheless, it is an extremely common sin that is reflected in history and cultures.
Because seminaries are places that are usually populated by young men and because celibacy can provide a cover, these places have the conditions to allow for the growth of homosexual networks. Men, once again, used sex as a power against weaker beings. This time not women, but men under their control.
Woman can do this sort of thing too of course, but usually this is more of a problem with men.
Now there does seem to be an awful lot of male predation of young boys. This too goes back to the Greeks. And we sometimes hear about it in Middle Eastern cultures (see The Kite Runner for example). It's in other cultures too. For instance the Ugandan martyrs like Charles Lwanga and his friends who refused to submit to the king's lechery. So it might be that homosexuality is more prone to predation than heterosexuality.
But, on the other hand, there's plenty of heterosexual predation going on too. All the time, all over the place. And there always has been.
I am completely orthodox when it comes to the Church's teaching on sex. I agree that the reason for sex (which by the way is short for sexual intercourse) is to create new life, and the bonding coupling of man and woman serves to provide the offspring a family, an optimum situation, in which the child can be raised.
But I can see where sexual development can go astray and turn into homosexuality. As the catechism says we don't know why some people have same sex attraction. Often it seems to relate to traumatic predation when victims are young, but not always. It could have to do with their relationship with their fathers as some psychological theories have it, probably considered outdated currently. I think personally we live in such a polluted world where the environment is laced with endocrine inhibitors. Our sex hormones are of course intricately a part of our endocrine system. It could be that as a child develops they may get too much estrogen or somehow their endocrine system is affected so that perhaps this winds up confusing them sexually. Or it could be that some people when they develop sexual desire as adolescence approaches, are too shy emotionally to really feel a connection to the other sex. Maybe close friendships at this time when exploration can be almost compulsive could tempt people to experiment. These might be powerful emotional experiences that then make the person think they must be gay. I think it really is complex and maybe slightly different for each individual.
But what I don't think is that having same sex attraction makes one incapable of being a priest. I think if a man truly believes what the church teaches and vows to live a chaste and celibate life, whether he is opposite sex attracted or same sex attracted, I don't see why he can't become a good and holy priest.
Thus, I don't think I agree with Father Scanlon's characterization of same sex attraction being so deeply seated that it renders the person incapable of celibacy. However, I do agree with his conclusion that it would be a really good idea to avoid masturbation and dwelling on sexual thoughts for a year before entering the seminary. This has to do with 'continence,' that is, in the spiritual sense, the ability to control one's impulses. I also think that if you are same sex attracted, living in a dorm with lots of other young men might be really problematic. Just as if you are heterosexual, living in a dorm with lots of women would also be tempting.
I really question the whole idea of dorm living anyway. I always had problems with it even when in school. I mean, this is why college campuses are so fraught with carousing, drinking, sexual misconduct and rape. I think it is far more maturing and really reflects actual life, to live in the world doing meaningful work and then doing classroom studies on the side. We should, all of us, mix every day with people of different ages, backgrounds, ethnicity, etc. I don't like bubble living. Dorm life is often bubble living, and it too often becomes an occasion of sin. It seems to lend itself to unwholesome interactions.
So my conclusion: some people are same sex attracted. We don't know why. But Jesus still loves them. Jesus still died for them. Jesus still wants them to be with Him in heaven. Jesus came to save sinners. They have an extra heavy burden in trying to be holy. They must make a great sacrifice, but they can still live beautiful and holy lives. They still have much to contribute. They can do much that is admirable. They can teach us much. Just as heterosexual priests who remain celibate can do as well.
Unfortunately, evil forces took hold of the formation of priests in our seminaries. Men who were not continent; who did not believe in the Church's teachings, who took advantage of the cover of celibacy to create a network of predation, abuse and collusion. These men are hollow men. They have sold their souls to the devil. May God have mercy on them. They need to be gone from leadership in the Church. They need to live out the rest of their lives in penitence and reparation and obscurity.
It is better to have fewer truly devout priests and bishops, then many corrupted, hypocritical or sociopathic ones.
Update: Rebecca Hamilton of Public Catholic at Patheos wrote a great article that echoes much of what I am saying here. She backs things up with stats and facts.
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