A recent article entitled
Does it matter more if a priest cheats with man or woman? discusses the challenges some Catholic priests face to remain celibate.
Last week, a tabloid featured pictures of well-known Florida priest Alberto Cutie engaging in a romantic romp with a woman on the beach. Consequently, Cutie was sent into seclusion.
Soon after that news became public, former archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, opened up to Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press about his incessant struggles with homosexuality. Weakland's homosexual tendencies led to a costly scandal a few years ago.
In 2002, Weakland was forced to resign after it was uncovered that he paid $450,000 to his love interest, a seminarian, who accused him of sexual assault.
U.S. Catholics have often debated the issue of whether or not the priesthood has become a predominately gay vocation.
The Catholic Church considers breaking celibacy vows with both men and women to be mortal sins, but since homosexual behavior violates the true purpose of sexuality, it is a break with natural law.
Reverend Donald Cozzens, the author of several books on the priesthood, including
Freeing Celibacy, contends that many priests struggle with their vow to celibacy. He believes the issue at hand is not so much the priests' desire for an active sexual life, but rather their feelings of loneliness. Cozzens suggests that celibacy for priests should be optional rather than mandatory.
In your opinion, is it a more serious violation of priests' celibacy if they engage in sexual behavior with women or men, or are both equally as serious? Also, do you think Cozzens is correct in saying that many priests break their celibacy vows because of their loneliness, rather than their desire for an active sexual life?
A recent article entitled Does it matter more if a priest cheats with man or woman? discusses the challenges some Catholic priests face to remain celibate.
Comments (2)
Does it matter if a priest breaks his vows with a man or woman? What's the difference? Breaking a vow is breaking a vow. The priesthood is not predominately a gay vocation either. It doesn't make it any less of an offense if the action is committed toward one gender and not the other. As far as Rev. Cozzens' comment about priests being lonely, I'm not buying it. Priests are human. They have the same passions and desires as any other red-blooded man. I don't think it's the loneliness that drives them. The problem with celibacy in the Catholic Church has been whether or not a priest can serve God and his family. Catholics believe that their pastor should be at their disposal at all times. Many think that their pastor would not be able to balance the responsibilities of being a husband and/or father with the responsibilities of their pastoral community. Don't understand why this would be so, because many Christian ministers have been able to do this very thing. They manage their own families and their parish families. Many equate the priesthood with the apostles who left everything (their mates and families included) to follow Jesus. In light of all of the scandals that have happened, perhaps the Vatican should reconsider their stand on whether or not Catholic priests should be allowed to marry.
@prayerchangesthings - //In light of all of the scandals that have
happened, perhaps the Vatican should reconsider their stand on whether
or not Catholic priests should be allowed to marry.//
Only 4 of the 22 Liturgical Rites of the Church enforce Clerical celibacy (in other words, if you were an Eastern Catholic priest you could potentially be married and it would be okay). In addition, even the Latin Rite allows for married priests under certain circumstances. For example, if you were a Lutheran minister who was married and decided to convert to Catholicism, you could become a priest and still keep your family/spouse.
The other 18 Rites have varying stances on clerical marriage. Some allow for it even after entering the priesthood; others allow for it if it was done prior to entering the priesthood, and so on.