From the La Salette Journey archives:
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Priesthood as vocation
Before entering into any state of life, a divine vocation is necessary. This because without such a vocation, it is difficult if not impossible to fulfil the obligations which pertain to that state and to obtain salvation. This is particularly true for the ministerial priesthood or any other ecclesiastical state. After all, it was Our Lord Who said: "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1).
Consequently, the man who takes holy orders without a call from God is convicted of theft in taking by force a dignity which God has not called him to and does not desire to bestow upon him. This is the teaching of Saint Paul:"Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify Himself that He might be made a high priest; but he that said unto Him: Thou art My Son; this day I have begotten Thee." (Hebrews 5:4,5).
It matters not then how learned or prudent or holy a man may be. No man may place himself into the holy sanctuary unless he is first called and introduced to the same by Almighty God. Jesus Our Lord was certainly the most learned and holy among all men, full of grace and truth (John 1:14), the Son of Man in Whom were (and are) hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). And yet, Jesus required a divine call to assume the dignity of the priesthood. This is the teaching of the Council of Trent. That the Church regards the man who assumes the priesthood without a vocation not as a minister but as a robber: "Decernit sancta Synodus eos qui ea (ministeria) propria temeritate sibi sumunt, omnes, non Ecclesiae ministros, sed fures et latrones per ostium non ingressos habendos esse" (Session 23, cap. 4).
Those who seize the priesthood without a vocation may labor and toil exhaustively. But their labors will profit them very little before God. In fact, the very works which would be considered of much merit when performed by others will deserve chastisement for such souls. Because such men are not in conformity with the divine will, not having a vocation to the state of life which they have usurped, the Lord Jesus will not accept their toils: "I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will not receive a gift of your hand" (Malachi 1:10).
Not only will God refuse the gifts of their hand, He will punish the works of the minister who has entered the sanctuary without being called; without a vocation:"What stranger soever cometh to it (the Tabernacle) shall be slain." (Numbers 1:51). Bearing all of this in mind, please read the following which first appeared in The Wanderer [I submitted it back in 2001] and may be found at the Faithfulvoice.com website:
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."
Related reading: Father John Dietzen on ordaining homosexual men to the priesthood.
7 comments:
There are many in the Church including priests who do not want to hear this truth. No doubt this is why the priest writing as "PriestForTransparency" at another blog became so agitated when the subject of homosexuality in the Boston Archdiocese was raised.
At my own parish I've encountered this attitude. As if a homosexual orientation is no problem whatsoever. Isn't this what Father Mike Boutin was saying at his blog? And what has he been charged with?
It's still not considered "convenient" by some to address the problem of homosexuality BostonCatholic2011. But the problem won't go away by itself. There is a sodomite sub-culture within the Church and we have got to purge this "filth" (Pope Benedict XVI's word) from the Church.
Happy Thanksgiving!
BC2011, on a whim I performed a Whois domain search for www.priestsfortransparency.com and there is nothing transparent about this website. The Whois information for this website reveals that the registrant is a company named Moniker Privacy Services which is part of domain name registrar Moniker.com based in Florida. Moniker.com does not operate this site but is simply the default registrant for numerous customers who, for whatever reason, want to operate anonymously.
I'm all for the good work being done at Boston Catholic Insider. But the person posting as priestsfortransparency.com, a shady website, is not going to help that website's cause.
Paulie:
Let me get this straight?
No ordination for them homosexuals?
What, then, are we gonna do for priests? Anyone with half a brain knows that at least 80% of Catholic priests are gay.
As for the Holy Father: this dizzy twit is as queer as a three-dollar bill! I mean the dainty red slippers, the ermine-trimmed shawls, puleeez!!!! "Auntie" Benedict
is calling us homos "disordered"? What a hoot! "Auntie" needs only to look in the mirror!!
I enjoy your blog....you are always good for laughs!
I'm guessin' you're nothing more than one of them self-hating homosexuals.
So sad, Dear!
Butch
Ordinarily I do not publish comments from psychologically disturbed homosexuals. But the comment from anonymous above [who has repeatedly left comments at this Blog using the moniker "Barn2066"], actually serves to prove that Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons is right when he says that, "Those with deep-seated homosexual tendencies identify themselves as homosexual persons and are usually unwilling to examine their emotional conflicts that caused this tendency.
Strong physical attraction is present to other men's bodies and to the masculinity of others due to profound weakness in male confidence.
These individuals in the priesthood have a significant affective immaturity with excessive anger and jealousy toward males who are not homosexual, insecurity that leads them to avoid close friendships with such males and an inordinate need for attention.
Most of these men had painful adolescent experiences of significant loneliness and sadness, felt insecure in their masculinity, and had a poor body image. Well-designed research studies have demonstrated a much higher prevalence of psychiatric illness in those who identify themselves as homosexual.
Under severe stress they may even experience strong physical and sexual attraction to adolescent males, as has occurred in the crisis in the Church. Frequently, they may have difficulty working in a collegial and comfortable way with heterosexual males.
Unresolved paternal anger is regularly misdirected as rebellion against the magisterium and the Church's teaching on sexual morality. Unfortunately, their denial, defensiveness and anger block their openness to seek the Lord's help with their emotional and behavioral weaknesses." - The Psychology Behind Homosexual Tendencies, an article which may be found here:
http://www.narth.com/docs/
tendencies.html
We really need to pray for those who suffer from this psychopathology.
Reflect on this part of Dr. Fitzgibbons paper: "Frequently, they may have difficulty working in a collegial and comfortable way with heterosexual males."
Which is why heterosexual males are often excluded from certain religious orders and seminaries [recall Michael Rose's book "Goodbye, Good Men"].
The old axiom which says "misery loves company" applies here. The homosexual, warped and frustrated in personality, crippled by immaturity and self-hatred, wants to believe that other men are similarly plagued by such problems. This is why anonymous wants us to believe that 80 percent of priests are homosexual, that the Holy Father is homosexual, and that, well, anyone who opposes his spiritual and psychological disorder must be a "self-loathing homosexual."
You have to feel pity for this tortured soul. Hell has already begun for him here on earth. I agree, pray fo him.
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