DOES THE SEXUAL ORIENTATION OF THE POPE AND BISHOPS MATTER?

The clerical sexual abuse crisis in the Cathollic Church has demonstrated how clever predators are in covering up their predatory behavior just like homosexual clergy are good at covering up their sexual orientation and misconduct. Two young priests who lived with Monsignor Francis B. McCaa, whom the Pennsylvania Grand Jury identified as a sexual “monster,” had no idea that their supervisory pastor was sexually abusing boys in their Ebensburg parish. Likewise, when I served with Father Robert Kelly for three years and Father Martin Cingle for two years, both the pastor and I had no idea that they were abusing teenage boys in our State College parish. One reason this happens is that we often assume that people with whom we live and work are very much like ourselves. Consequently, priests and parishioners who would never even think of harming a child often think other coworkers feel and act the same way,

Because most Catholics are heterosexuals, they have a difficult time believing studies that show how over 80 percent of American-born bishops and priests today are homosexuals. Likewise, because most Catholic couples are faithful in marriage, they have a hard time believing studies that show how, at any given moment in time, no more than half of all priests are leading celibate lives. If it were not for my years of supervisory and confessional experience, I too might question these findings. Consequently, I am not surprised if a devout Catholic might say to me, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” However, when asked about the validity of studies involving the high celibacy failure rate, Cardinal Jose Sanchez, a former Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy responsible for overseeing matters regarding priests and deacons, responded, “I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of those figures.”

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