Maybe it is a sign or a consequence of aging, but I find myself becoming increasingly pessimistic about the future. Not my personal future, but the future of our culture. By nature I tend to be a bit of a Pollyanna, so I tend to look on the sunny side; and by creed I am a Christian, so I know the end of the story — and it is spectacularly good. But recently, true pessimism has set in; a pessimism that I believe is, sadly, very realistic.
Actually, I have real reason to be optimistic. Among other reasons, I have been blessed to be teaching in a seminary for the last 11 years, and I see the marvelous quality of the young men who are being ordained for the priesthood. At the seminary and elsewhere, I am privileged to see the zeal and devotion of laypeople who sacrificially serve the Church in so many ways. And, now, somehow the Holy Spirit is identifying the most amazing men for appointment as bishops.
So, why am I pessimistic, if the news within the Church is so good? Because the culture is so very, very bad on so many fronts. I won’t list all of them, but if you aren’t pessimistic about the economy, you are devoid of a capacity for pessimism. Generations will likely suffer for the greed and mismanagement of this generation.
But that is not the chief source of my pessimism. I don’t mean to underestimate the misery and struggle that poverty and financial insecurity bring, but we all know adversity can be character-building. Those who grew up in the Great Depression certainly suffered in many ways, but I would gladly trade some of my prosperity for the better characters they developed. For some of us, some financial struggle might be just what we need to increase our discipline and improve our priorities.
Nor is my pessimism rooted largely in concern that some hostile forces want to take over the world and impose their oppressive ways upon us. It is not rooted in the fact that modern science seems determined to advance the culture of death rather than a culture of life. Human trafficking, the adoption of children by homosexuals — all these do shake me to the core of my being.
Those are horrifying scenarios — but what really worries me is the moral “debt” that we have acquired. We have watched the unwed pregnancy rate rise for decades, to the point that it is now around 42%. Forty-two percent of our children are born out of wedlock — 42%. That is a much scarier figure than the national-debt figure. It is not possible to pay off that debt; the costs just keep growing from generation to generation. All the children born out of wedlock are disadvantaged in serious ways; the problems they have will lead to many of them becoming parents of children born out of wedlock — and the spiral downward escalates. The problems reverberate in many ways: increased crime, increased divorce, etc. Why aren’t the airwaves aflutter with talk-show hosts wringing their hands and consulting innumerable experts about what to do about this current national disaster that will impact generations and generations?
It is probably just as well that we aren’t witnessing such national brainstorming. Because the brain just doesn’t seem to engage when the topic is sex. Our country seems altogether incapable of comprehending that having sex outside of marriage is the source of countless troubles: heartbreak, prolonged immaturity, myriad forms of dysfunctionality, abortion, mothers struggling to support children on next to nothing, fathers adrift without their families, children not receiving the parenting they need and deserve. For the last many decades, the purveyors of nonsense have argued that what is needed is more and better contraceptives. What we need is self-control and responsibility — qualities hard to inculcate in the young when their parents are devoid of these very qualities.
In the first days of her new network, Oprah featured two 30-year-old women who lamented that they were still virgins. Sadly, they thought losing their virginity would somehow be conducive to happiness. Their unhappiness, though, was clearly not caused by a lack of sex, but by twisted childhoods: One was sexually abused; the other’s mother died young, and her father swiftly took up with other women to satisfy his sexual “needs.” These women were not sex-deprived, but relationship-deprived. Like much of our culture, they believed that having sex would bring them the relationships that they want. Perhaps that is the most-believed falsehood of our times: that sex will bring us the relationships, the happiness we want. Instead, it brings us unplanned pregnancies that end in abortion or children born out of wedlock.
We need strong, well-grounded individuals to face the problems of the future. For instance, we need holy and sensible (if not brilliant) statesmen; holy, deep and visionary authors and artists and musicians; holy and dedicated parents. We are greatly reducing the chances of our having enough of such individuals — unless we manage our lives in such a way as to help children develop the strength of character they will need. If they are unformed, they will become a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution.
On a natural plane, I think some of our current troubles are irresolvable; we are going to continue to spiral downward. We haven’t hit bottom yet, but I suspect we can see it from here. Yet, even if/when we hit bottom, despair will never be the right response. Pessimism is, I think, a realistic response to a very dismal future. Despair is a sin.
But God, of course, has not left us without a solution. He has given us a supernatural remedy: the curative powers of his Son. God has given us a source of light and hope to sustain us in the darkest of days; the fact that the Church is getting stronger fortifies that hope and extends that light. There was never a time when it was right to be a half-hearted Christian. We have to soak ourselves in the graces available and to put those graces to work in attempting to reform a culture that, on a natural plane, may be irreformable. We must have confidence that, with God, all things are possible.
Janet Smith, Ph.D., is the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
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I am less pessimistic. It seems more like the darkness which will make the light more easily seen.
Children grow up amid the wreckage of their parents lives and crave stability. Chastity is not as hard of a sell as it was not long go. Sure, parents are their primary role models and there is a higher incidence of out of wedlock pregnancy among those raised by single parents, but the hard realities of their situations also innoculate them against alot of B.S. ideologies.
My students seem less cynical than I remember being. They are not angry feminists overthrowing an oppressive patriarchy, they are not envious socialists, neither are they feverish sensualists.
They see that their lives are less than ideal as compared to intact families because of choices. They do not seem bitter towards their mothers. But they are forlorn.
I think second generation single parents are less the result of fever-pitched sexual desire than sad fatalism. And this is more easily overcome with good decent role models.
America is forever re-inventing itself, forever young. I think there will be a reawakening to hope.
Whatever happened to the New Evangelization?
Excellent commentary, and comment.
No frills which is what is needed today.
The pity is, so may children born out of wedlock have father’s who are clergy whether we like it or not.
No roots, true identity and a legacy no one cares about, even in stuations where the father chooses to recognise them behind the “walls”.
Lynne, the real pity is your slur of God’s clergy. Just how many of these children have you met? Yes, it is true that some clergy have fallen from the graces of God and into the lust of the devil, which is why our Blessed Mother has told us repeatedly to PRAY very much for Her sons, but never, ever has she told us to slander them. Check your church for the next confession schedule and be there. Hey, Janet Smith, a wonderful article which is what we need today. God Bless. JMJ
JMJ, nothing to do with the lust of the devil, more to the point the mandatory dicipline of celibacy isn’t working.
Never mind the confessional schedule, the confessor may well have fathered one of his own, the woman coerced into having his baby adopted out, although these days theyr’e more inclined to pay the mother off with confidentialities attatched.
Lynne, since when are priests supposed to be spiritual athletes? While I am hardly excusing the sins of our priests, they may share in the one, unique priesthood of Jesus Christ, but not being God, they do not walk on water. The sacrament of confession is not contingent upon the intrinsic worth of the priest as a man. The sacrament is about Christ, not the priest. The priest is just an agent, so the sacrament is still valid, regardless of his sins. Now, there are cases where a priest’s sins may corrupt his vocation to such an extent that he would have to be removed from his ministry, but his Holy Orders are never taken away from him. I hardly think it fair to think that just because of the sins of a few, every priest has done so. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but priests also go to confession; the priest, after all, is a flawed vessel, unlike Christ, who was both perfectly human and divine, and thus the perfect priest. Furthermore, the discipline of celibacy is not what is responsible for priests’ sexual sins. As Dr. Smith pointed out in her article, having children out of wedlock affects the larger population, most of which is far from celibate. Indeed, the idea that one must have sex to be happy is one of the biggest lies in our contemporary culture today. I agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Smith that we’re not talking about sex nationally because the brain somehow refuses to engage where talking about sex is involved.
Please Wsquared, don’t insult my intelligence. It is more common than you care to let on, confession or not for heaven sake.
A legendary Australian Archbishop approached a young Religious Sister many years ago, who had founded a Catholic hospital in his Archdiocese, to expand the maternity wing for women with children whose “situation” had been created by priests.
She administered this secret side of her hospital which stayed within the church and her order until she died.
Consective Archbishops were still referring women to the facility up until the 1980’s.
The Sister in question had much to say about compulsory celibacy, and there woud be many notes in the Vatican attesting to her views, it is recorded by her respected friend and well known journalist Peter Costigan.
There is a Senate Inquiry coming up next month in Australia, into the forced and illegal adoptions of babies born out of wedlock by agencies, (including catholic ones) and hopefully there will be no backlash for her, albeit posthumously, cleaning up the aftermath of exactly what you have made mention, of for years.
The question is where are these children of clergy today, while their fathers have gone on with their ministry.
Dr. Smith, Please just keep teaching and publishing the truth! Maybe you should branch out a little to the non-Catholic culture. That 42% could use an explanation of why their life is the way it is.
Lynne, Why is it that the non-catholic Christian ministers who are married, have very difficult and unholy marriages? How many of them have children out of wedlock? Your nonsense is dangerous and feed my the lies of the devil and to accuse all priests of this terrible sin is a SIN on you! This is not a perfect world and our priests have feet of clay, but only a few have a head of clay, such as yourself. We had a priest that told us, just because they are ordained that they do have to be careful of their eyes and as he was telling us this, a very pretty woman lecturer, sitting to his side, was trying very hard to pull down her very short skirt. She never approached the pulpit again to do the Sunday readings. I suppose that because we had some pockets of child abuse by some nuns years ago, that every child was abused by nuns. You are insulting every priest by your attitude and someday you will have to face Jesus and explain your terrible sin to Him, but, alas, it will be to late for your soul. Get to confession and ask for God’s mercy on you and on all priests that have fallen. By the way, how do you account for the fact that over 95% of the sex-scandals was caused by homo-sexual priests? Once again, I ask you, how many of these children have you met in your lifetime? According to your “thinking”, almost every child that is in your life has to be fathered by a priest! I don’t have the gift to express myself properly as Wsquared has, but my love of our priests is very strong because he is the only one that can absolve MY sins and to give me the chance to get to heaven. Our Blessed Mother has said that she would kiss the hands of the most evil priests, only because he can call Jesus down from Heaven at Mass and hold Jesus in his unholy hands. Please pray for all our priests that those who are pure will stay pure and those FEW that have fallen, will get up and get right with God once again. JMJ
Rubbish, JMJ, besides I’m referring to US, not anyone else or their denomination.
We have a right to expect our clergy to mantain the dicipline, homosexual Or hetrosexual.
The problem is, the Church refuses to allow the hetrosexual’s Rescripts of their vows when they can’t.
Yet, if they say/write anything other than what the church “teaches”
they can be removed.
Never mind the children they have created and dumpted onto society and the taxpayer and believe me, They Never Forget;
By the way, I didn’t even touch on the spurious “brother/sister arrangement as an optional solution thereby reserving the priesthood.
As far as the clergy who are homesexual, many of them were introduced to the “lifestyle” during their seminary years, contact Richard Sipe he cantel you all about that.
As an ex-Bendectine Monk and professional counsellor, he, as with Sr Fabian Elliott, were/are left to deal with aftermaths.
As far as children fathered by priests, the world is full of them.
I recall speaking to my local bishop once when these issues were cropping up everywhere, and when I suggested it’s wise child who knows their father, he never responded which caused me to ask him if he knew who is was.
He was just caught off guard of course, as Bishops who are born out of wedlock can’t become a Bishop with the “Defect of Birth” (Illegitimate), which only the Pope can remove.
Priests can and some have requested, that same “Defect of Birth) removed from their cildren through a Rescript acording to Can 1139, but are refused, to prevent scandal and inheritance rights.
Custody of the eyes I agree with, so too custody of the hands.
Your ranting is just so full of outlandish lies and garbage. State one true fact, please. The world is full of children caused by priests is absurd, and you have never ever met one, have you? If you would check Church history, you would find that there was a time when priests could get married and it was one horrible era that the Church quickly stopped as the destruction to the priest-hood and the Church was unbelievable. I don’t know where you got all your hate from, but it is very sad. Attacking the Church and her priests will not cure you from this sinful disease, but only prayer, confession and getting right with God once again will help to cure the agony of your problem. PRAY for the priests, don’t spread lies, you are only destroying yourself. It would be wonderful if every-body was right with God, especially the Priests and don’t forget, when your time is up on this planet, you will need a Priest to send you into the next world. Of course, if you don’t confess your sins while you have a chance, you just might not get one and then you will spend eternity with the unrepentant priests and the women that caused their downfall. Please ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you now, before it is too late. If you can’t forgive these priests, than DON’T say the Our Father, as you will bind God to obey you and He will have to answer your own request to not to forgive you. The punishment that an unfaithful priest will have to suffer is far greater than the punishment that we will be given for our sins. Don’t add more sin and hate into this world, but only love and hope and forgiveness. Let God be God and you take care of your little world which seems so dark and lonely. Heal us now, Jesus, from all this vomit coming from Your own children’s mouths which starts in our hearts and spreads like wild-fires on dry barren soil; pushed by the winds of the evil one. Have Mercy, Jesus.
NCR: Somebody please delete these comments about “priest babies.” That has nothing to do with Dr. Smith’s article!
Kevin, my original comment was brief valid in context with Dr. Smith’s article and I’m sure the subject of mandatory celibacy was never avoided in her classes.
The likes of JMJ, shows the “claim” of this goes deep making it harder for those decent Catholic men with a vocation, to honestly deal with it which is unfair and it becomes farcicale.
The rest the memory of what they have been forced to relinquish.
The homosexual issue was not presented by me, but that too is valid.
Poor confused Lynne, Dr. Smith never accused any priest of bringing babies into the world, in fact, you was the one to make up that slur and to cast unholy suspicion onto the our many and wonderful priest. When these men go into the seminary, they know what they are giving up without Dr. Smith having to tell them, so, if you haven’t been in her class, how could you be so sure of what it is that she tells them. In a few minutes I will be going to a prayer meeting held by a beautiful priest, and each week we join together to pray for our fallen priests and also that others will not fall into the snares of the evil one. This is something that you should be doing, instead of spreading your hate campaign. I pray that Jesus will come into your heart before it is too late for you. Thank you Lord for giving us the priesthood and please Dear Mother protect them from evil and have mercy on your children that use gossip to make them-selves feel important. Come Lord Jesus! JMJ
JMJ, if to read the article correctly, Dr Smith included the plight of children born out of wedlock; I elaborated on the plight of children born “out of wedlock” whose fathers were clergymen.
Maybe I touched a nerve wih you, or you are clinging to a “fallen” priet yourself giving him succor. Good for you they need it.
Imagine them Baptising babies, being at the side of a sick or dying child or the inclusion within a family unit with a missing father, or one who has no idea who their father is.
Whatever, these men never forget whether you or anynone else like it or not.
The sad thing is, they can never talk about it and it’s those as yourself
that make it obvious they never will, consequencely suffering in silence.
I was wondering if your beautiful priest is a charismatic, with all the free flowing emotions there, somehow they seem to struggle te most.
I’d be interested to hear what his views are on what Dr Smith has stated on the subject, without the rhetoric of course.
Poor dear confused Lynne, yes you are the one that slurred the priest-hood, just because you read somewhere about a Bishop that wanted a special “ward for children that have priests for fathers”. It is quite apparent that you don’t read spiritual books, such as the bible, or your attitude wouldn’t be one of judging. The priest is a very holy retired, “charismatic” priest and yes, those of us that allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives do struggle with our with our fallen nature because we see very clearly the workings of the evil one. You would not like what this wonderful Priest would tell you as he would only tell you the truth(of course, in a much nicer way than I can), and as he said this morning, we have to pray very much for all concerned and not to judge or to store all this garbage in us, but to let God handle the situation. How is it that you “know” what the few unfaithful priests are thinking when they baptize, bless, say Mass.,etc.? Maybe you haven’t heard yet, but our Blessed Mother as been appearing for the last 100 years or so and never once has she attacked the priest-hood such as you have. Yes, she has told us that many Cardinal, Bishops and Priests are leading us to perdition, but at least, she loves the Priests because they are her sons. Why can’t you do the same? Study the lives of the Saints and the Holy Bible and quit wasting your time chasing demons from others and chase them from yourself. Yes, you hit a raw nerve by spreading gossip and lies about people that you don’t even now, especially God’s ordained ones. I only can pray for these men that have fallen, which is what you should try to do. Remember that LOG that Jesus talked about?? JMJ
It takes courage to live in the world as a mature adult, not hide behind the facade of “the evil one” using the confessional as a security blanket, devoid of personal responsabilty.
As a charimatic and the “superior gifts”, therein, one would think the Spirit would quicken to a better understanding.
That is my understanding and I would still like to hear the views of your beautiful charismatic priest on children born out of wedlock according to Dr Smiths article, and as far as our Blessed is concerned, maybe she is too grieved with her son’s offspring around the world abandoned to the lements, waiting for the time when mandatory celibacy is abolished.
Poor dear Lynne, If you believe that a “mature” person is one that spreads gossip and lies as one spreads butter on toast and is afraid of confession and repentance of sins, must mean that you have a very serious problem with God. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are there for everyone to use and they do not make one SUPERIOR, just more aware of His presence. Your nonsense about our Blessed Mother’s sorrow is scornful. She is concerned about the SINS of her children and the refusal of obeying Her Son that suffered so much for us. Fr. Hughes says the same thing that I am saying about the children born out of wed-lock and he does not take your unholy stand on your attacks of the priest. When celibacy “ends”, it will be only when the Holy See has been taken over by the evil one for 3 1/2 years told to us in Holy Scripture. If the Church follows every fad and fashion that the likes of your type wants it to do, then, we would have a very confused and unholy church. Just what is your understanding of the Holy Spirit? Every time you see a child, do you ask the child if he/she has a father or do you just presume that it is fatherless and an offspring of one of your lustful priests? I don’t know what happened in your life that caused you to have such a poor outlook on the church and her servants, but it is so sad. Dr. Smith was trying to give us hope, hope that you don’t want to believe in or want. Just what are you running from that you have to attack the pries-hood with such vicious lies? COME HOLY SPIRIT-ENKINDLE US WITH THE FIRE OF YOUR LOVE. ENGLIGHTNED US WITH YOUR WISDOM AND YOUR GRACES SO WE CAN ALL KNOW AND FOLLOW THE TRUTH. OPEN OUR EYES AND OUR HEARTS, CLEANSE US FROM OUR FILTH, PROTECT US FROM THE EVIL ONE. AMEN. Once again I ask you: Just how many of these children have you met? None, I bet! If you wish to be mature in wisdom, not only age, get to confession and get right with God once again. It will save you from a nervous breakdown and it will help you to be able to function as a child of God. PRAY FOR THE PRIESTS DO NOT DAMN THEM1 JMJ
JMJ, You haven’t included the view of your “beautiful charismatic” priest in his own words, only yours.
Maybe you have chosen not to.
I’m sure your rhetoric would have a different perspective, the charisma of the movement proclaiming “Words of Knowledge” and “Prophesy” among others, not that I’m an advocate of the said movemnt.
EWTN the site you are subscibing to, have had it’s fair share, not all made public.
It is a worldwide issue and a valid arguement that mandatory celibacy is not working, is man made and should be optional making honourable the men of those can’t and validating the children they create.
Illigitimacy as far as the Church is concerned is a “Defect of Birth”.
Is it any wonder that terminations have been sought and paid for, by not just a few potential fathers, no doubt absolved by Confession.
Is this what we are all about.
If it hadn’t been the Christ Child Mary carried in her womb, she would have been in the same situation, with her child carrying the same stigma.
This discussion has gone far enough and it wasn’t my intention it should take this path.
I initially made a valid pertinent comment in line with Dr Smith’s article and I will leave it at that.
I apolgise the letters are not always printing in my sentences giving the appearance of being misspelt.
Lynne, your comments are devoid of truth or fact. Just because you have such a horrible attitude, you want the Church to fall into your trap. I told you what Father said, and if he had e-mail, he would not only repeat what I said, but would offer you some very holy advise, which of course, you would not accept. The Holy Spirit is so wonderful, why just this morning after a Mass for our departed daughter, I went on to the ZENIT web-site and what did I find? Fr. Cantalamessa’s sermon for our very HOLY Pope that he gave yesterday. You need to read it, along with his sermon on March 26, about The Year of the Priest, and, just maybe something would touch your heart. We have to choose: be like the Sea of Galilee, which gives life and hope as the Jordan flows into and out of the Sea(of course it also can bring death & destruction, which Dr. Smith pointed out in her very hopeful article), but the Dead Sea, of which you seem to belong, has NO life, but an overabundance of salt, in which, takes life away. I can only guess at what you watch, read or listen too but I’m sure that not all of it is healthy for one’s soul. What you need is to read all of Pope John Pauls and Pope Benedicts’ books, messages, etc. to get the real truth. You still haven’t told us why you chose to spew your hate using Dr. Smith’s article as a sounding board. Most of us know that there is evil in the world and it still has a name: SIN, which can only be forgiven in CONFESSION! If you could only understand the pain that our very Holy Popes and all the priests feel about their fallen brother priest, you would hang your head in shame. It seems that you are not concerned about the souls of the very few priest that fell into sin, or the women which has very much to suffer for their part in this evil or even in your own soul and the fate that is waiting for you. If you would read the Bible, you would see that St. Joseph WERE married, so, what stigma? St. Joseph could NOT divorce if they not married! Also, read the story of Lot. His daughters knew not man, but they were married as the Angels told Lot to get his son-in-laws. Where did you get the nonsense “defect of birth”? It is very sad that the bishops removed the Baltimore Catechism from the Church as now we have a complete generation that doesn’t know what their faith is all about, which explains why you are clueless about confession. When I say the Apostles and the Nicene Creeds, I believe what I am confessing as the truth given us by the Apostles and the Church. When you unjustly accuse the priest-hood, you are also accusing the Lord Jesus Himself. As you should know, these are men chosen by God Himself to be Jesus on earth for us. When we confess our sins, it is not to a man, but it is to Jesus Himself, and as the saints tell us, we have to see Jesus in each and every one of us, now matter how good or unfortunately, how bad we are. I wish that I could be as pure and sinless as you, but I’m not and I fall far too many times in one day. I don’t get EWTN, nor do I watch T.v. or listen to the radio, I get most of my news from Holy Scripture and only skim the paper & some of the articles on the Internet. Seeing how you don.t believe in God’s Church and you refuse the forgive others, why don’t you send Easter cards to all “those” children that the Church is hiding and tell them about your great concern for them. That should keep you busy! As for me and the Holy Priests, we will keep praying for their salvation and true repentance. By the way, why is it that of all the Messages from Heaven these past 100 years or so, there has NOT been one single one telling Rome to allow the priests to marry? As I said before, read the history of the Church and you will find that marriage was a nightmare for the Church, the laity, the priest and their families. PRAY! REPENT! BELIEVE! and most of all: ask Jesus to come into your heart. God Bless You. JMJ
You need to do a little more research MJM.
“All those children” will know they aren’t forgotten from my point of view as so many are now aware of there existance and will be remembered in their prayer’s.
Isn’t that wonderful.
As far as Rome not being aware of the need to abolish mandatory celibacy through messages from Heaven is concerned, what can one say; Why has there been no messages from the same source/s in relation to the heinous abuse of tens of thousands of most the vulnerable, our children, who Archbishop Diarmuid Martin recently “confesses”, most abusers are not remorseful, whose attributes are grandiosity and narcissism.
Also as a matter of interest, Cardinal Bertone stated not that long ago: The dicipline of celibacy is not untouchable, soley a “positive tradition” within our Church, which means it is man made and definately not working.
Someting else just came to mind, not that I am advocating apparations, one of the visionaries of Garabandal warned that many Bishops are leading souls to perdition.
I wonder whose souls is being referred to, Bishops are the mouthpiece of the church aren’t they?
Well Lynne, Here we go again and I still haven’t seen why you think that it is OK to slur the Priesthood with your fables and/or half-truths & just plain outlandish lies. Check the Church history or are you afraid that you might learn the truth about the complete failure of the marriage experiment with the priests? Blessed Mary has told us to read Matthew 6:24-34 every Thursday, before the most Blessed Sacrament, if possible, and if not, to read it as a family. Guess what it says? No one can serve TWO masters! Hey, I didn’t make this up, it is right there and it doesn’t mean about God versus money. THINK about life of the Priest and what would happen to him if he had the burden & care of a family to attend to. Us Catholics don’t like to support the Church because she is always asking for money(at least that is the most general excuse), so just how is this poor priest going to support his family and still function properly as a Priest? Just imagine if you will, that some day you will be on your death bed and you just might want to repent, so you send for a Priest but he can’t come because of a family emergency at his home. Now, what are you going to do? How many women will give up a normal marriage and home-life and would want to share their “husband” with other women in the parish? What about the children? When will they be able to spend normal time with their “father”? With the downfall of the economy, the Church is the first place that gets hit which is a sin because God wants at least 10% of His money back. How about retirement? It is very sad what most of the Priests have to endure because their parish is broke and guess what happens when a Priest is accused of some immoral action(such as your unfounded attacks)? He is suspended, which means not only a complete lack of funds, insurance and a place to live, but his life is ruined forever, even when he is proven innocent! What happens to his “family”? Will they go on welfare if it is still available or will they live on the streets as so many families are now doing because of job loss? Wake up and smell the roses, complete with thorns as Dr. Smith’s article doesn’t say but allures to. Yes, you bought the “fatherless” issue to the fore-front, but in a very unholy, improper and sinful way. As for Cardinal Bertone, (at times he sounds just like Joe Biden, only without the vulgar language), when he had to be corrected for some of his off-the-cuff remarks. Jesus gave the keys to St. Peter and if I am not mistaken, St. Peter was a man and it is man that God gives us His laws and commandments and dogma to follow. Your “ideas” about the Priesthood are totally “off-the-wall”, to put it nicely. Your heart is in the right direction about the children, but, what about all the millions of children that if they do have a home, it is usually empty most of the day or even worse, they never know what strange man that they will find there? Now just why did you try to destroy the message of Dr. Smith, you could have just as easily sent an e-mail to the editor and gotten more publicity to your cause, which would mean more people to pray for your soul. Try God, He is waiting for you to call. He is the only one that can give you peace and wisdom and a pure heart(of course he will send you to confession). Praise God in All Things! JMJ
Sharing husbands, many do with work commitments, as do wives.
Women sharing ‘their priest’s” sounds more to the point here, many do that too, albeit candestinely.
Let’s call it a day on all this.
I, at the moment am more concerned about a National Inquirey in relation to mother’s forced into relinquishing their babies illegally, by agencies, incuding Catholic ones.
Where I hail from, a legendary archbishop aquired an extention to a maternity ward of a hospital, founded by a Sr of Charity to take care of “situations created by priests”, still utilized into the 1980’s.
More Catholic children with no roots or true identity.
Today, maybe sleeping on seat benches, drug and alcohol dependant or psychiatric hospitals, if till living of course.
You may like to include them in your daily prayers to.
A quote from St. Catherine(Dialogue, p.256): “You should love My priests by reason of the virtue and dignity of the Sacraments, and by reason of that very virtue and dignity, you should HATE the defects of those who live miserably in sin. But, not on that account APPOINT YOURSELVES AS THEIR JUDGES (which I forbid), because they are my Christs), and you ought to love and reverence the authority which I have given to them. Words are from God, highlights from me. Children belong with their mothers and the mothers belong in the home raising and teaching them and not allowing outsiders to corrupt their minds (preschool, nursery, day-school, kindergarten, etc.). Of course, you still haven’t told us just how many of these children that you have met; only nonsense that sounds like t.v. garbage: The View, Oprah, etc. We are always praying for our priest, sisters, the homeless, the unwanted, the unloved, etc.. Get the picture? Come Holy Spirit and open our minds and hearts. +JMJ+
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