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Atrocious attack on the Holy Father by Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan calls his opinion piece "The Pope Is Not Gay", but his article implies that he believes he is.

At times, it seems to me, his gayness is almost wince-inducing. The prissy fastidiousness, the effeminate voice, the fixation on liturgy and ritual, and the over-the-top clothing accessories are one thing. But what resonates with me the most is a theology that seems crafted from solitary introspection into a perfect, abstract unity of belief. It is so perfect it reflects a life of withdrawal from the world of human relationship, rather than an interaction with it. Of course, this kind of work is not inherently homosexual; but I have known so many repressed gay men who can only live without severe pain in the world if they create a perfect abstraction of what it is, and what their role is in it. Toibin brilliantly explains this syndrome, why the church of old was so often such a siren call for gay men who could not handle their own nature. In Benedict, one sees a near-apotheosis of this type, what Quattrocchi describes as "simply the most repressed, imploded gay in the world."

Granted, Sullivan has been given ammunition to write this sort of drivel as a book has been published in which the writer goes to "prove" the pope is gay. Of course, Sullivan admits quite a lot of the proof does not actually prove anything. And yet ..

I would like to return to the world where this kind of speculation was disgraceful, unnecessary and blasphemous. But when this Pope has already enabled the rape of children, has covered up the crimes of many priests, when he has responded by blaming gay men for the moral failings of his own church, when he has publicly demanded that gay Catholics remain in the closet, i.e. lie about themselves as a sacred duty ... then such deference becomes much more difficult.

Enabled the rape of children? Wrong, Sullivan. The Holy Father has been the strongest force in recent times who has been actively involved in cleaning up the Church. And part of that clean up has been making it more difficult for those with sexual problems to become priests. Because most of the inappropriate sexual behaviour was not with children, but with older teenaged boys. And he doesn't want those with homosexual tendencies to lie - he wants them to get help. Help that is there in the sacraments of the Church.

Related link: The Pope Is Not Gay ~ Andrew Sullivan

Comments

  1. "One big problem of Christianity in today's world," the pope clarified, "is that God's future is no longer considered, and the now of this world alone seems sufficient. We want to have only this world, to live only in this world. So we close the doors to the true greatness of our existence. The meaning of celibacy as an anticipation of the future is precisely to open these doors, to make the world bigger, to show the reality of the future that must be lived by us as already present, to live, therefore, in a testimony of faith: we really believe that God exists, that God is part of my life, that I can base my life on Christ, on the future life."

    He said that such testimony provokes "worldly criticisms." For the "agnostic world, the world in which God has no place," he said, "celibacy is a great scandal because it shows precisely that God is considered and lived as a reality. With the eschatological life of celibacy, the future world of God enters into the realities of our time." Celibacy is a "great scandal" precisely because it challenges the dominant cultural mentality — which exists even among many in the Church — that rejects the Christian premise that God must be the "pearl of great price," the "one thing necessary," the "chosen portion," "cup" and "inheritance" of human beings (Mt 13:46; Lk 10:42; Ps 16:5).


    From The Great Scandal of Priestly Celibacy

    I was looking for the original of the Holy Father's speech on the scandal of celibacy, however the above article puts what the pope said into more context.

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  2. Andrew Sullivan is off his rocker. One wonders whether his conscience is chafed by his lifestyle choice, so he resorts to defensive and irrational anger against shadows. There's clearly a spirtual element to these sorts of diatribes

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  4. Ratzinger may not be gay, but I promise you he IS sexually repressed.

    Brilliant. A staggering and influential statement.

    And YOU'RE not sexually obsessed. Oh no.

    It be be beneficial to everyone, especially yourself LRO, if you actually made an honest attempt to understand this Pope and the Church he leads.

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  5. One of the things that I sometimes forget, but am then reminded, is that Satan is boring. He can't create but only destroy and in tearing down Pope Benedict _again_ I'm just left shrugging my shoulders feeling bored.

    Sin in the end is boring and empty because it isn't life giving. I mean the worst that Andrew Sullivan can throw at the Pope is that he isn't sexually active and he disagrees with homosexual behavior, well I think we all knew that, but thanks for the info.

    All this article does is reflect on Sullivan and the other men who have written on this subject and it doesn't reflect well. Either the church is bad because she covers for homosexual priests having sex with teenage boys or it isn't good enough because homosexual priests aren't supposed to have sex. It's just all about the phallus either way and as a woman I wish gay men would just get over their penises and stop obsessing about other men's penises too.

    This is all blinding proof that healthy sexuality is found within a marriage where sex is unitive and procreative and open to life.

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  6. Pope Benedict is standing firm in the Faith - it drives the Liberals wild

    This sort of trash is proof of how effective he really is.

    I remember AP speculating on who would be the next Pope before he was elected. AP was sure the Church needed a Liberal to bring it up to date in the 21st century.

    The gnashing of teeth began when the Church in its wisdom didn't go along with the press.

    Its not stopped since.

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  7. Is this the same Benedict standing firm against clerical child abuse by refusing to accept resignations of Bishops implicated by the Murphy Commission? At least these two men attempted to do the honourabel thing, Benedict will deny them that. Why?

    Pope Benedict XVI has not accepted the resignations of two Irish bishops who resigned at Christmas.

    Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field announced their resignations on Christmas Eve 2009.

    The pair, who were both auxiliary bishops of Dublin, said they hoped their resignations would help bring peace to the victims of sexual abuse.

    They were bishops during the period covered by the Murphy Commission which examined abuse in the Dublin diocese.


    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10941653

    Is this the same Benedict shattering the faith and hopes of faithful?

    Well-known clerical abuse survivor Marie Collins, who has doggedly remained a Catholic in the hope that the church will reform, is considering quitting the church following Pope Benedict's decision not to accept the resignations of two Dublin auxiliary archbishops.




    Describing last week's revelation as the "final nail in the coffin" of her hope that the church would change, Collins said she has "really gone beyond the point I was at before".




    "When I was clinging on to my Catholic faith with my fingertips in the past, I still had hope. And Diarmuid Martin was a symbol of that. I would definitely see this as the end of any hope that things are going to change," she said. "So I'm at the point definitely of thinking this is not the church for me. I'm not just saying that for effect. I just can't see any glimmer of hope, any reason to stay. I'm totally shattered at this point.

    http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2010/aug/15/abuse-survivor-shattered-by-popes-decision/

    Yep, its the self same benedict who should be indicted the moment he sets foot in Britain or Ireland.

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  8. LRO,

    Given that he would know a heck of a lot more than you do about what exactly is going on, if the pope is not accepting the resignations, then he's got a good reason for it.

    The media can always find someone who is going to leave Catholicism because of x, y or z. Normally it's because the Church won't won't simulate ordination with women. Sinead O'Connor was trotted out in the Dom Post a few months back as one who would "leave" because the Irish sex scandals, yet she had already left by getting herself "ordained" by a schismatic group.

    Don't derail this thread anymore, or I'll delete your comments.

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  9. This is an extremely complex issue and as with so many other issues (some being discussed on this blog) people often fall into the trap of oversimplifying issues and then drawing lines of good and evil based on those oversimplifications. The media is guilty with this one, as it is with so many other issues, of reducing the complexity to ill informed soundbites that do nothing other than mislead people and create hatred.

    The RCC is an extremely large and complex organism and is with most issues this is not a simple one to deal with - it involves human beings and all the gamut of good, bad and everything in between that goes along with it.

    Most of us watching this unfold would do well to quiet our own voices and desire to look like we're in the know and spend some time listening and trying to work through the complexities. The problem is that most people do the opposite when faced with a problem - reduce it to something tiny and then presenting an opinion rather than going further into the complexity and then addressing it once loaded with depth of the issues.

    That sounds like a whole bunch of blather probably, but hopefully it makes a little more sense. I have refrained from giving a real opinion on the issue because a while ago I actually started to open it up and realized very quickly that it was not small, simple or easy to solve. There are so many layers with this one that it's not funny and I don't envy the Pope or any other clerical leader who has to try and deal with the mess.

    May all involved find healing, wholeness and life - that is my simple prayer.

    -Frank

    PS - Time to sort out my OpenID so I can sign in with my name and get it directing to my blog ;)

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  10. Wow - the english in some of that comment was poorly written and structured... I need to slow down :)

    -Frank

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  11. Hi Frank,

    Glad you've got your id working now. Hopefully that'll save everyone getting somewhat confused as to your identity.

    I agree, it's horrendously complicated. I rarely comment on this stuff as well because of that. But, because we are an openly Catholic blog, I'm thinking I'm going to have to put together a Pope-defence post, just so I have a handy reference for myself as well to keep track of everything.

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  12. Angus, you have failed to identify me. Perhaps you are channelling D4J, maybe I could get Cushla to have some bagpipes inserted where your brain should be, the noise would be far more pleasant.

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  13. And as *I* said, you have NO idea who I am. Not Paul, that's for sure. Not Peter Burns, either.

    You know me better as Santa.

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