Well, it’s been a while since I’ve been on a good church rant, eh?

Catholic Listserv to the rescue!

In my inbox today was this story (yes, the Albany saga continues) with the subject line:

Albany-Homosexual environment noted.

Oh, boy. Here we go again.

This time, the attorney actually did mention the problem, as he sees it:

“I don’t have a problem with anyone being a homosexual, but in the diocese it’s a problem because the gay priests are afraid to tell on the pedophiles out of fear of being outed by them,” he added.

Indeed, that is a problem.

But why don’t we get down to the real problem?

The Church insists on hanging on to this archaic notion that celibacy is a good idea. It’s not. I daresay it’s unnatural.

And can we please stop pretending that has anything to do with holiness or one’s relationship to God, and admit that it’s about money and land ownership? Or at least it was…

I don’t think I need to say again that gay DOES NOT EQUAL pedophile. So many people can’t seem to grasp that concept…but that’s not the point. I do however, have this theory about people with what might be considered “unnatural” or “perverse” sexual inclinations (to the Church, homosexuality…to, well, pretty much everyone, pedophilia) being drawn to the priesthood believing that they can hide or quelch their desires.

Yeah. Like that’s going to work.

So you put together the Church’s utter inability to change or admit mistakes with a massive priest shortage, and what do you get?

Cover-ups. Scandal. Really, really bad shit.

And ever-so-timely to my latest rant is this article from the Buffalo News about celibacy and the priesthood. I haven’t given it a careful reading yet, but it talks about a number of Catholic men who were drawn to a life of service to God, but still wanted to marry and have families.

So they became Episcopalians.

I think this is a trend that is not only going to affect potential priests, but parishioners in general. The Catholic Church needs a serious wakeup call. It is no longer a world power. How many young priests do YOU see?

Ordain women. Drop the celibacy bit. Otherwise, quit the whining about the lack of vocations. And for crying out loud, get rid of the pedophiles and those who helped them get away with it. Without giving them jobs in Rome…