As Catholic-Americans become increasingly divided over “homosexuality” in the American Church, particularly as we continue to suffer from the Sexual Abuse Crisis and face new sex scandals involving homosexual activity, it’s becoming apparent that the one perspective that is missing in the public discourse is that of the minority of men who can most readily tell the truth of things as they have been lived out in our recent American Church history: the perspective of the minority group of heterosexual men who were 1) eyewitnesses to relevant Ecclesiastical realities; 2) harbor no bias against other men merely for being sexually attracted to men; and 3) committed to the Spirit of Truth above all else.
On the whole, we are much better suited to attempt to convey the truth of how homosexuality is lived in the Church than most laypersons as we witnessed things in the real world. We thus can do more than merely speculate as to “homosexuals,” the so-called “gay lobby,” etc. as we know how things have played out in recent Church history. As for me, I happen to have been an eyewitness to many, many facts, including facts surrounding the McCarrick component of the sexual abuse Crisis. Indeed, I tried to warn my fellow seminarians that their bishop was pursuing them for prurient interest and cited the “uncle Ted” signature as proof that my concerns were well founded. So I have seen how the truly bad apples in the Church have acted.
Nevertheless, despite the many, many things that are causing confusion and division, given the manner in which too many Catholic influencers are ready to simply blame “homosexuality” for the Sexual Abuse Crisis, I think it’s worth men like me saying that although we might certainly have some opinions on how hard it is for a heterosexual male to become a Priest in modern American society, we can do so while also affirming and supporting the many great priests who have same sex attraction.
Thus, as someone who has learned a great deal in my own seminary odyssey spanning decades, but as a servant of Truth above all else, I offer the following truthful account/summary of where things stand on homosexuality and the Sexual Abuse Crisis, based on actual history from a heterosexual male’s perspective:
First and foremost, in the lived experience of our contemporary American Church (setting aside the separate issue of the role of women in the Church), every man is presumably as suited as the next man for priestly ministry, regardless of sexual orientation. The Church has yet to declare it as clearly as that or explain/nuance some of the previously used language about homosexuality; but when the dust settles, the Church will recognize that any man chosen by God to serve in the persona Christi can be the instrument of God’s Sacramental Grace and thus serve in Priestly ministry, regardless of sexual orientation.
Yes, it is true that the majority of sexual abuse as well as sexual harassment cases in the Church have been older males abusing and sexually harassing younger males. And yes, there is some basis to take a further look into the fact there that have been some men of the Church who have shown a penchant for younger men as well as a willingness to overlook sexual misconduct of other priests, whether we end up labelling these overlapping truths as parallel realities, correlative realities, coincidences, or to borrow a term from the psychiatric lexicon, co-morbidities.
But can homosexuality as such, either as a stand-alone theory, or even a catch all category, explain the Sexual Abuse Crisis, particularly the most horrific evils involving sex abuse and rape of young boys? Absolutely not.
Simply put, the many good gay priests friends I have made over the years are no more capable of ever sexually abusing a young boy than my many good straight priests friends are capable of ever sexually molesting a young girl.
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