Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 10:16am

PopeWatch: Lavender Seminaries

PopeWatch wishes that he could say that he was surprised by this:

 

The survey is not brand-new, its results came out in the spring of 2017 in Portuguese in the “Revista Eclesiástica Brasileira.” But “Il Regno – Documenti” has recently published a complete translation of it in Italian, thus making it known to a much wider public. On a question that is as relevant as they come.

The question is that of homosexuality in the seminaries.

For several months, among the Church’s leadership, homosexuality has been taboo. It was even forbidden to talk about it at the summit on sexual abuse held at the Vatican from February 21 to 24. And yet its widespread presence among the clergy and in the seminaries has been a well-known reality for some time, to the point that in 2005 the congregation for Catholic education issued an instruction precisely on how to address it.

This instruction reiterated not only that homosexual acts are “grave sins,” but also that “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” are “objectively disordered.” Because of which those who perform such acts, manifest such tendencies, or in any case uphold “gay culture” should not in any way be admitted to sacred orders.

These were the pastoral directives back then. But in reality to what extent were they applied? The survey cited above was deliberately set up to verify what is happening today in two seminaries in Brazil, taken as a sample.

The authors of the survey, Elismar Alves dos Santos and Pedrinho Arcides Guareschi, both religious of the congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and both specialists in social psychology and with prestigious academic qualifications, conducted in-depth interviews with 50 theology students of these seminaries, coming away from them with results that are decidedly alarming.

First of all, the interviewees say, homosexuality in their seminaries “is a common thing, a reality ever more present.” So normal “that it even reaches the point of being trivialized.” It is the widespread conviction among them “that in reality 90 percent of seminarians today are homosexual.”

Some homosexuals – they say – “seek the seminary as a means of escape so as not to take on before their families and society the responsibilities connected to their behavior.” Others “discover that they are homosexual when they are already in the seminary,” finding a favorable environment there. And almost all of them, some say 80 percent “go in search of sexual partners.”

Homosexuality, in fact – they state – “is a reality present in the seminaries not only in the order of being, but also in the order of practice.” Many practice it “as if it were something normal.” The authors of the survey write: “In the vision of the research participants, in the present context of the seminaries a good part of the seminarians are in favor of homosexuality. And, even more, they maintain that if there is love in a homosexual relationship, there is nothing wrong. They say: ‘’If there is love, what harm is there?’”

The interviewees ask rather that “there should be a dialogue between homosexuals and the Church.” But indeed, a dialogue to bring it about that “homosexuality in the seminaries may be accompanied and guided well.”

In other words, the interviewees complain that the superiors do not do anything in regard to homosexuality, but they expect to be accepted and admitted to sacred orders as such, with “a humanizing welcome of the person as he is.”

“It is clear,” the authors of the survey conclude, “that there exists a discrepancy between that which the Church proposes on how to manage homosexuality in the seminaries and the way in which the seminaries and the houses of formation perceive and address this phenomenon.”

Go here to read the rest.  Most normal men want as little to do as possible with homosexual men.  The fact that too many seminaries have become known as being dominated by the Lavender Mafia is a major, albeit usually unacknowledged, factor in the nosefall of vocations.  If a normal man toughs it out at the seminary he can look forward to a career in an institution where the Lavender Mafia does its worst to protect gay priests and punish those perceived as enemies of the Holy Gay.  When it comes to the gay plague on the Church, these couplets of Alexander Pope come powerfully to mind:

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”

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Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Wednesday, May 15, AD 2019 4:44am

So much worse than I imagined if this survey is accurate.

It’s going to take God to intervene.

Keep praying for our Holy seminarians to fight for Truth and never give up.
Unbelievable results.
Color me naive…i honestly didn’t think it was so lopsided.
🙁

Ezabelle
Ezabelle
Wednesday, May 15, AD 2019 4:55am

Why did they choose those two seminaries in Brazil as samples? And how widespread is this? What percentage in seminaries are homosexuals? I thought the scrutiny of men entering seminaries was much tougher. Because if we are waiting for these older Cardinals and priests to go, to clean out the Church then this is not going to happen. I don’t want a gay priest giving me communion or hearing my confession. No Catholic does.

Ezabelle
Ezabelle
Wednesday, May 15, AD 2019 4:57am

Yeah Phillip, I’m shocked. You aren’t lopsided. You’re faithful. It’s gut-wrenching.

David WS
David WS
Wednesday, May 15, AD 2019 5:38am

I’ve made an internal commitment to only say “father” to those priests who:
1. Have a firm handshake.
2. Have given a sermon on Humanae Vitae.
As you might imagine it’s slim pickings. I don’t cause trouble just say “good morning” instead of “good morning father”.

Even when a priest isn’t an homosexual, there’s a prevailing “softness” that has had a disastrous effect on All.

OrdinaryCatholic
OrdinaryCatholic
Wednesday, May 15, AD 2019 6:49am

Since this is a survey conducted in Brazil are we to conclude that homosexuality is as prevalent in seminaries in other countries and societies? I find it very hard to imagine homosexuality activity as it is shown in Brazilian seminaries is as strongly present in African seminaries. The noise I’ve heard from African clerics seems to defy the notion that homosexual seminarians rule the roost. I may be wrong but I don’t think I am.

Yes, Western seminaries have a huge problem with a homosexual presence among seminaries but I think the reason is that the bishops and cardinals are feeding us pablum when it comes with putting the breaks on “doubtful” candidates for the priesthood. I still think that the lavender gang is still fully engaged in accepting homosexuals and don’t really have a mechanism in place to root out the problem though we are told different.

“It’s going to take God to intervene.”

I completely agree with your assessment PM. This is spiritual warfare and we need Christ to fight for the Church, not just mere mortals

WK Aiken
WK Aiken
Wednesday, May 15, AD 2019 7:05am

You guys would have liked Fr. Glenn O’Connor, who passed suddenly a couple of months ago. He had stage 4 cancer and told nobody.

From his obit: “In addition to his parish duties, he served as Catholic Chaplain at The Indianapolis International Airport, Chaplain of The Ancient Order of Hibernians, Chaplain for the Indiana Department of Corrections, and was one of the spiritual directors of Cursillo. One of Glenn’s lifelong passions was auto racing. He served as Catholic Chaplain for IndyCar Ministry and became known as the “Priest in the Pits”. In addition to serving as Chaplain to the IndyCar series, Glenn enjoyed working on several Indy racing teams.”

He also spent a good number of years as pastor at St. Joseph’s parish on the west side of Indy – half Hispanic and all Blue Collar, located (as he described it) “two blocks south of the Checkered Flag Tavern,” a place not noted for its foie gras or wine list.

Wherever the cigarette smoke was thickest and the beers thrown back with the greatest gusto, Fr. Glenn was there, keeping his sheep safely back a few inches from falling off the cliff. He was tough, fearless, extremely funny and never, ever talked to anybody but YOU when he was talking to you. Nobody ever ran out of “chances.” Exactly what an apostle of Christ should be. A very large gap has been left.

Richard Malcolm
Richard Malcolm
Wednesday, May 15, AD 2019 12:08pm

In fairness, things are no longer – generally – this bad in American seminaries. In the 70’s-90’s, of course, many were little short of gay bathhouses.

The caliber of men I see now going through seminary is worlds away from what was coming through 20 years ago, maybe even 10. This may have as much to do with the transformation of secular society (where homosexuality is so accepted now) as it does with proactive changes to seminary screening and formation.

Brazil, on the other hand, sounds like it’s where U.S. seminaries were in the Age of Disco, squared. I can’t imagine even trying to have a vocation there unless it was to a traditionalist society or order.

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