Wednesday, November 30, 2005
HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS
From an article at BBC News linked at New Oxford Review:
Father Bernard Lynch is an openly gay Roman Catholic priest who works with HIV/Aids sufferers in London. He spoke to the BBC news website about his own experience of being gay within the Church, and the impact the new Vatican guidelines will have.
Of course I have had a hard time being gay within the Roman Catholic Church. But the big religious orders - the Dominicans, the Franciscans - have long protected their members against Rome, and mine - African Missions - has stood up for me.
Inevitably it will stop some people from joining the priesthood - people for whom sexual integrity is important. And at the same time, it will unfortunately attract people who are not mature enough to accept themselves
I've been active in the issue of homosexuality and the Church for 30 years. We always thought things would get worse before they got better - and things have got worse. These guidelines represent an extraordinarily regressive step.
Continue reading...
As you read the article, think about some of the material I've been blogging about Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. Is there some kind of correlation here?
