This was a very moving testimony. It's a truly difficult question because it hinges on the nature of human sexual desire, which I don't think anyone fully understands.
It seems to me the central issue is that the Church defines human sexuality as being designed for procreation. At the same time, it doesn't make sense to me that one expression of human sexuality that doesn't involve procreation should be considered as far worse than others (like, say, sex between a married couple using artificial contraception).
I have to conclude that a good deal of the fuel behind the rancor against gays comes from a very unChrist-like hatred. I don't think this is true of Benedict, and I don't think it's true of everyone who says sexually active gay men should be barred from the priesthood, but I think it explains a great deal why so many Catholics are outraged at gays but much less outraged at, say, divorced couples.
I sympathize greatly with your feelings of marginalization and loneliness in the Church. Whenever things get particularly bad, I like to remember what Frank Sheed once said:
We are not baptized into the hierarchy; do not receive the cardinals sacramentally; will not spend an eternity in the beatific vision of the Pope. Christ is the point. I, myself, admire the present Pope, but even if I criticized him as harshly as some do, even if his successors proved to be as bad as some of those who have gone before, even if I find the Church, as I have to live with it, a pain in the neck, I should still say that nothing a Pope (or a priest) could do or say would make me wish to leave the Church, although I might well wish that they would leave.
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Date: 2005-11-26 02:22 am (UTC)It seems to me the central issue is that the Church defines human sexuality as being designed for procreation. At the same time, it doesn't make sense to me that one expression of human sexuality that doesn't involve procreation should be considered as far worse than others (like, say, sex between a married couple using artificial contraception).
I have to conclude that a good deal of the fuel behind the rancor against gays comes from a very unChrist-like hatred. I don't think this is true of Benedict, and I don't think it's true of everyone who says sexually active gay men should be barred from the priesthood, but I think it explains a great deal why so many Catholics are outraged at gays but much less outraged at, say, divorced couples.
I sympathize greatly with your feelings of marginalization and loneliness in the Church. Whenever things get particularly bad, I like to remember what Frank Sheed once said:
We are not baptized into the hierarchy; do not receive the cardinals sacramentally; will not spend an eternity in the beatific vision of the Pope. Christ is the point. I, myself, admire the present Pope, but even if I criticized him as harshly as some do, even if his successors proved to be as bad as some of those who have gone before, even if I find the Church, as I have to live with it, a pain in the neck, I should still say that nothing a Pope (or a priest) could do or say would make me wish to leave the Church, although I might well wish that they would leave.