For almost 15 years, I have been saying that homosexual men do not belong in a seminary and that such persons should not be ordained. In fact, in a piece written for The Wanderer some four years ago and entitled "A possibility wrought with dire implications," I wrote: "On October 1, 1986, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published an Instruction entitled 'Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Pastoral Service for Homosexual Persons, signed by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and approved by Pope John Paul II. In this Instruction, Cardinal Ratzinger writes, 'It is necessary to point out that the particular inclination of a homosexual person, though not a sin in itself, nevertheless constitutes a more or less strong tendency to an intrinsically evil behavior from the moral standpoint. For this reason, the very inclination should be considered as objectively disordered.' (No. 3).
This would appear to be especially significant since Canon 1040 of the Code of Canon Law states that: 'Persons who are affected by a perpetual impediment, which is called an irregularity, or a simple impediment, are prevented from receiving orders.' Now, irregularities arise either from defect (ex defectu) or from crime (ex delicto). It seems clear to me that a homosexual inclination, which Cardinal Ratzinger has referred to as "objectively disordered," constitutes an irregularity ex defectu.
In fact, when asked by a Bishop if it is licit to confer priestly ordination to men with manifest homosexual tendencies, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments replied with a letter signed by Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevez which stated that, 'Ordination to the diaconate and the priesthood of homosexual men or men with homosexual tendencies is absolutely inadvisable and imprudent and, from the pastoral point of view, very risky. A homosexual person, or one with a homosexual tendency is not, therefore, fit to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders."
I was ridiculed for saying this. In fact, I have been referred to as "mentally ill" and as being somehow "unstable" for saying this. Now Francis Cardinal George is saying that homosexual men do not belong in the seminary, see this article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0506170149jun17,1,3686079,story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=2&cset=true
I wonder if His Eminence will be referred to as "mentally ill" or "unstable" for asserting what I have been saying for so very many years? I wonder if he will receive death threats as I have? I wonder if he will receive a warning from a police department (as I have) informing him that someone has threatened to shoot him with a high-powered rifle?
I commend His Eminence Francis Cardinal George for confirming what I have been saying for so long now. And I commend my good friends at www.faithfulvoice.com for reprinting the piece which I had written for The Wanderer several years back. The Holy Spirit gives His gift of Fortitude to those who ask for it.
Until next time,
God love you all
Paul Anthony Melanson
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