OK, OK. I'm not absolving anyone and I'm not condemning anyone. It's not my prerogative. But I can tell you that my time in seminary and diocesan priesthood, 1987—2000, gave me a front row seat to the corruption of priestly formation and ministry. There are a lot of inadequately vetted and trained clergy out there.
OK, OK. I'm not absolving anyone and I'm not condemning anyone. It's not my prerogative. But I can tell you that my time in seminary and diocesan priesthood, 1987—2000, gave me a front row seat to the corruption of priestly formation and ministry. There are a lot of inadequately vetted and trained clergy out there.
Sorry if I'm being strident. I can only imagine what you've seen, since the inklings I've gained over the last year of reading The Pillar have been sad enough. I'll pray for you, please pray for me!
Sorry, Thomas - I need to ask. What did you do to prevent or eliminate the corruption that you saw from your front row seat?
And as someone else said, I have nothing to do with the moral failures of others that abuse their their "power" for their sexual gratification. I'm sinful enough as to carry someone else's sins.
A fair question. And I'll ask you, have you read "Good Bye, Good Men" by Michael S. Rose?
What did I do ... ?
While in seminary, I advocated for the pro-life movement for one thing, only to be chastised by the rector.
In the diocese, I was run out or frozen out of several parishes for exhibiting orthodoxy and reverence. The bishop told me I could be "too right", you know.
What, Dallas, would you like me to write? A litany of all of the demoralizing experiences I had?
I resigned from ministry. Many of the priests who remained either had their souls crushed or turned to vices and crimes, such as gambling, alcoholism, embezzlement and, of course, illicit sexual activity. These are priests of the diocese that I was acquainted with, not conjectured stereotypes. It wasn't an environment I cared to live in.
I post what I post to raise awareness. Too many Catholics, even on this site, seem to have their heads in the sand. That, in itself, facilitates the corruption.
Your experiences are similar to what I've read elsewhere; I'm not sure "demoralizing" properly captures what you've experienced. I'm so sorry, for you and our Church.
To me this is all part and parcel with the explosion in influence of the "lavender mafia", of "progressive" priests and theology, and the suppression of the Tridentine Mass. (For how can one engage in revolution without first tearing down the old ways?) However, I sense their revolution is failing.
The current pontificate signals perhaps both the apogee and nadir of progressive influence in the Church. Think about it: a cabal of now-deceased liberal Cardinals conspired to elect Francis, but his sincerely progressive pontificate (repeatedly sowing confusion and scandal, punctuated by unpastoral words and deeds) starkly reveals the congenital flaws of the progressive movement. I think we have reason to both pray and hope that the next pope will be both more orthodox and more pastoral. (And, Lord, would it be too much to ask that he is also a friend of the Tridentine Mass, a fearless reformer, and an effective enemy of corruption and heterodoxy?)
OK, OK. I'm not absolving anyone and I'm not condemning anyone. It's not my prerogative. But I can tell you that my time in seminary and diocesan priesthood, 1987—2000, gave me a front row seat to the corruption of priestly formation and ministry. There are a lot of inadequately vetted and trained clergy out there.
Sorry if I'm being strident. I can only imagine what you've seen, since the inklings I've gained over the last year of reading The Pillar have been sad enough. I'll pray for you, please pray for me!
Roger, Chuck!
Sorry, Thomas - I need to ask. What did you do to prevent or eliminate the corruption that you saw from your front row seat?
And as someone else said, I have nothing to do with the moral failures of others that abuse their their "power" for their sexual gratification. I'm sinful enough as to carry someone else's sins.
A fair question. And I'll ask you, have you read "Good Bye, Good Men" by Michael S. Rose?
What did I do ... ?
While in seminary, I advocated for the pro-life movement for one thing, only to be chastised by the rector.
In the diocese, I was run out or frozen out of several parishes for exhibiting orthodoxy and reverence. The bishop told me I could be "too right", you know.
What, Dallas, would you like me to write? A litany of all of the demoralizing experiences I had?
I resigned from ministry. Many of the priests who remained either had their souls crushed or turned to vices and crimes, such as gambling, alcoholism, embezzlement and, of course, illicit sexual activity. These are priests of the diocese that I was acquainted with, not conjectured stereotypes. It wasn't an environment I cared to live in.
I post what I post to raise awareness. Too many Catholics, even on this site, seem to have their heads in the sand. That, in itself, facilitates the corruption.
Your experiences are similar to what I've read elsewhere; I'm not sure "demoralizing" properly captures what you've experienced. I'm so sorry, for you and our Church.
To me this is all part and parcel with the explosion in influence of the "lavender mafia", of "progressive" priests and theology, and the suppression of the Tridentine Mass. (For how can one engage in revolution without first tearing down the old ways?) However, I sense their revolution is failing.
The current pontificate signals perhaps both the apogee and nadir of progressive influence in the Church. Think about it: a cabal of now-deceased liberal Cardinals conspired to elect Francis, but his sincerely progressive pontificate (repeatedly sowing confusion and scandal, punctuated by unpastoral words and deeds) starkly reveals the congenital flaws of the progressive movement. I think we have reason to both pray and hope that the next pope will be both more orthodox and more pastoral. (And, Lord, would it be too much to ask that he is also a friend of the Tridentine Mass, a fearless reformer, and an effective enemy of corruption and heterodoxy?)