It appears that the previous post about the Bishop Zavala hit a nerve. There are a few interesting comments.
I copy one here in order to address their question. The reader addresses me as Melchizedek....good one.
"...this comment was supposed to go here and was for Melchizedek
So.....how do you propose to address your points? If you just bring them to light without some way to admonish/allow the Holy Spirit to enter this bishops life, then it is nothing more than judgement.......right? "
Nope.
My only 'point' was this: The fact that these kids had an absent father wasn't because he was a bishop but because he didn't have the guts to make a commitment to being a dad. The fact that he was a bishop simply gave him another life in which to hide--and that is what is pathetic.
You know deep down what he lived was wrong on so many levels. Shame on him for perpetuating a life that undermined the foundational standards of husbands, dads, priests, and bishops.
Yes I judge the act--but I am not judging the person. Knowing that something is wrong does not equate me with judging that person's soul.
Nor will I get into setting up some sort of admonishment--not my area.
As to a 'way to allow the Holy Spirit'---well, I think that may have already occurred.
A great light has been shone on this man's life. One can only hope that the truth will now set him free.
Here is what I think--
Pray for the kids, and the mother, and him. Pray that somehow they don't leave the church. And lastly, pray for his brothers who are probably very confused, hurt and angry.
So, you ask what my proposal is?
Prayer
and while you're at it a day of fasting--for husbands, dads, priests, and bishops.
(seriously--this Friday 1/13)--you in?
Showing posts with label celibacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celibacy. Show all posts
Friday, January 13, 2012
Friday, July 29, 2011
Celibacy--Oh Well
Today I heard of a priest who recently left the ministry. News like this tends to find me--must be the inactive priest magnet that I ontologically inherited.
Now, having been down the road of leaving the active diocesan priesthood years ago, I want to dismiss this blog from all rumors, slanders, and accusations which I am sure surround the specific situation. After all it really doesn't matter who or where or even how....does it?
What was interesting was where my brief conversation lead--the issue of celibacy.
The person asked me "Having been on both sides of the ministry" (He was speaking not only of my being a Roman Catholic priest, but a married Episcopalian for a stint) "...what do you think? Should the Roman Catholic Church allow it's priests to be married?"
"Nope."
I didn't have to think one second.
My lived experience was all I needed.
I used to believe that mandatory celibacy was one of the roots of many evils in the Church--and the uneducated media and issue driven (often angry) people want you to believe such.
Don't even go down the sexual perversion route--last I checked marriage was not seen as a cure for sexual predators.
Getting rid of celibacy is not the answer to any evil in the church or the world.
Last I checked there are other faiths where celibacy is not mandatory for it's ministers and their formation programs are not all filled to capacity.
When I was a Roman Catholic priest--I had no concerns over getting the family to church or dealing with the opinions of parishoners if your family preferred going to an earlier service or if your child didn't smile at someone else's kid or if it was your family's turn to provide cookies after the service--and that's just one Sunday. Not to mention when you come home on that same day getting called out to the hospital while your family was heading in a completely different direction, or getting the house painted and cutting the grass-------i'm just saying when I was a Roman Catholic priest I didn't have those 'little' concerns.
I have heard all the arguments--theological, social, historical, financial, and cultural--I put alot of effort into trying to convince people for years that the church needed to change and grow..
That's like marrying someone thinking you can make them into someone else.
On occasion a priest who is thinking about leaving will contact me. Right away I will ask them if they are in an intimate relationship and they answer 'yes'. At that point I cut right to the chase. They owe it to themselves and their love to discern properly. Don't even start giving me the arguments for relaxing celibacy and don't complain to me about the way the Church needs to grow and change. It is just wasted energy and it deflects from the real discernment that the 'couple' will need to enter into.
I figured they called me so I have nothing to lose by coddling them.
If you are in love then great--you'll grow deeper into God. If you aren't in love and are just lonely and ticked--well that is a whole other issue.
So my opinion on celibacy is not what one would expect to hear from a 'married' priest.
Oh well.
Now, having been down the road of leaving the active diocesan priesthood years ago, I want to dismiss this blog from all rumors, slanders, and accusations which I am sure surround the specific situation. After all it really doesn't matter who or where or even how....does it?
What was interesting was where my brief conversation lead--the issue of celibacy.
The person asked me "Having been on both sides of the ministry" (He was speaking not only of my being a Roman Catholic priest, but a married Episcopalian for a stint) "...what do you think? Should the Roman Catholic Church allow it's priests to be married?"
"Nope."
I didn't have to think one second.
My lived experience was all I needed.
I used to believe that mandatory celibacy was one of the roots of many evils in the Church--and the uneducated media and issue driven (often angry) people want you to believe such.
Don't even go down the sexual perversion route--last I checked marriage was not seen as a cure for sexual predators.
Getting rid of celibacy is not the answer to any evil in the church or the world.
Last I checked there are other faiths where celibacy is not mandatory for it's ministers and their formation programs are not all filled to capacity.
When I was a Roman Catholic priest--I had no concerns over getting the family to church or dealing with the opinions of parishoners if your family preferred going to an earlier service or if your child didn't smile at someone else's kid or if it was your family's turn to provide cookies after the service--and that's just one Sunday. Not to mention when you come home on that same day getting called out to the hospital while your family was heading in a completely different direction, or getting the house painted and cutting the grass-------i'm just saying when I was a Roman Catholic priest I didn't have those 'little' concerns.
I have heard all the arguments--theological, social, historical, financial, and cultural--I put alot of effort into trying to convince people for years that the church needed to change and grow..
That's like marrying someone thinking you can make them into someone else.
On occasion a priest who is thinking about leaving will contact me. Right away I will ask them if they are in an intimate relationship and they answer 'yes'. At that point I cut right to the chase. They owe it to themselves and their love to discern properly. Don't even start giving me the arguments for relaxing celibacy and don't complain to me about the way the Church needs to grow and change. It is just wasted energy and it deflects from the real discernment that the 'couple' will need to enter into.
I figured they called me so I have nothing to lose by coddling them.
If you are in love then great--you'll grow deeper into God. If you aren't in love and are just lonely and ticked--well that is a whole other issue.
So my opinion on celibacy is not what one would expect to hear from a 'married' priest.
Oh well.
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