- Feb 5, 2002
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After addressing in my previous two articles, “Why Men Become Priests,” and “Why Priests Leave,” this final article in the series will examine various reasons “Why Priests Stay.”
The two main reasons priests remain in the priesthood involve dedication to one’s vocation and personal/financial security. Having been inspired by a young associate pastor in our parish, I became a priest because I believed Jesus Christ called me to “Come follow” him, just as he called Peter, James, John, and the other Apostles. I did not become a priest to please my Catholic parents or because I had a homosexual orientation that I could keep secret if I became a priest. Although I probably would have married had I had the option, I felt my ability to lead a celibate life before ordination would allow me to practice celibacy throughout my entire life.
An ongoing court case in New York (Anthony Gorgia vs Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the North American College) (NAC) involves an alleged sexual predator, Father Adam Park, who has been kept in ministry by Cardinals Wilton Gregory and Robert McElroy. Park, having been ordained by the late ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and having worked as the secretary of disgraced Cardinal Donald Wuerl, has insider knowledge of sexual misconduct and cover-up allegations not only against McCarrick and Wuerl, but also against Gregory and McElroy. When discussing priests “staying” or “leaving” for various reasons, including sexual misconduct, it should be noted that neither Gregory nor McElroy have investigated or disciplined Park who has been accused by multiple former NAC seminarians of homosexual predation while he was studying in Rome, when he returned to serve in Washington, D.C. as a priest, and while he was the vice-rector of the NAC in Rome.
Continued below.
The two main reasons priests remain in the priesthood involve dedication to one’s vocation and personal/financial security. Having been inspired by a young associate pastor in our parish, I became a priest because I believed Jesus Christ called me to “Come follow” him, just as he called Peter, James, John, and the other Apostles. I did not become a priest to please my Catholic parents or because I had a homosexual orientation that I could keep secret if I became a priest. Although I probably would have married had I had the option, I felt my ability to lead a celibate life before ordination would allow me to practice celibacy throughout my entire life.
An ongoing court case in New York (Anthony Gorgia vs Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the North American College) (NAC) involves an alleged sexual predator, Father Adam Park, who has been kept in ministry by Cardinals Wilton Gregory and Robert McElroy. Park, having been ordained by the late ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and having worked as the secretary of disgraced Cardinal Donald Wuerl, has insider knowledge of sexual misconduct and cover-up allegations not only against McCarrick and Wuerl, but also against Gregory and McElroy. When discussing priests “staying” or “leaving” for various reasons, including sexual misconduct, it should be noted that neither Gregory nor McElroy have investigated or disciplined Park who has been accused by multiple former NAC seminarians of homosexual predation while he was studying in Rome, when he returned to serve in Washington, D.C. as a priest, and while he was the vice-rector of the NAC in Rome.
Continued below.
