Sexuality and the Catholic Church

 

Sexuality and the Catholic Church       Gerry OShea

In New York five of the eight Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy. The list includes Buffalo, Albany and Rockville Center on Long Island.

This catastrophic situation indicates major systemic problems; blaming corrupt individuals can’t account for such devastating numbers. The causes of this crisis boil down to incoherent and outmoded church attitudes and policies in the area of sexuality.

The Vatican and most of its episcopal leaders worldwide are still trotting out teaching on the sexual dimension of living that is rejected by most of its members. The profusion of diocesan bankruptcies worldwide reflects the monetary consequences of thousands of sexual abuse cases perpetrated against young boys and girls by out-of-control clerics.

Consider the main issues emerging from the worldwide synodal consultations still in progress initiated by Pope Francis involving priests and lay people called together by local bishops. Most of the recommendations emanating from these gatherings involve a rejection of traditional church beliefs and practices in the area of sexuality.

 The reports from the various continental conferences indicate a deep cleavage between Roman teaching and what theologians call the sensus fidelium, the beliefs and the practices in faith communities everywhere.

  Three important examples of this disconnectedness suggest that many of the men exercising ecclesial power are not up to the job. Indeed, a major consideration for promotion in the hierarchy centers on whether the person is deemed a safe pair of hands in maintaining traditional church perspectives and prejudices.

First, during the early history of the Catholic Church, priests were allowed to marry and serve their parishes as part of a family unit - similar to the practice in many Protestant churches today. Most of the apostles chosen by Jesus as leaders in his community were married, so it makes no sense that a church guided by his example would mandate matrimonial restrictions for its leaders.

Before the Second Lateran Council in 1139, the sacrament of Holy Orders set no limits on marital options for those men who were ordained. Priests shared the natural family experience of child-rearing with a majority in their congregations.

 It seems that the main reason for the unfortunate alteration in policy related to priests’ children claiming inheritance rights based on parentage. Understandably, this clashed with the church’s commitment to maintaining ownership of any accumulated wealth.

The inheritance problem could easily have been dealt with by other means than initiating a marriage prohibition for the clergy. Sigmund Freud asserts that after self-preservation, the next most compelling human drive involves procreation. Denying priests the God-given boon of intimate relations with a woman sets him apart as if his human needs are different from the rest of humanity – a grave error that has had dire consequences.

In the last seventy years the Roman Catholic Church has been battered by a seemingly endless succession of child-abuse scandals. We are talking about priests and brothers demanding a full range of sexual favors from innocent children and using the power of their clerical status to intimidate their victims into silence about their “special relationship.”

Church regulations, including suspension from ministry, are much stricter now and the message of no tolerance for clerical abuse is clearly set down by the Vatican. However, many church members consider these ecclesial strictures too little and far too late. The mass exodus continues of church members who cannot abide the excuses and explanations for the sexual corruption of children.

Stories of duplicitous clerical venality have not abated. Credible allegations against Francis’ two recent predecessors, Benedict and John Paul, blamed them for turning a blind eye to accusations of sexual misbehavior by miscreant priests.

In the last few months investigations into predator behavior by members of the clergy in France have revealed that a cardinal and no less than ten other bishops are suspected of abuse or its cover-up in that country.

Second important point, all the synodal gatherings complain about the inferior roles assigned to women in the governance of the Catholic Church. Misogyny permeates ecclesiastical thinking. All the institutional power resides in men wearing cassocks.

Historians correctly blame St. Augustine for much of this spiteful theology. He believed that all our woes were generated by Eve in the garden of Eden. This thinking fitted well with and indeed encouraged the male domination that characterized centuries of cultural discrimination. Women were consigned to work in the home or to join a nunnery where they were and still are subject to theological and disciplinary rulings by the local bishop.

 One might think that the popes and theologians over the centuries would reflect the advanced perspectives on women in the New Testament, but, unfortunately, that rarely happened.

To this day, all the real power in every chancery office resides with ordained men. Women still are excommunicated if they attempt to say mass, hear confession or administer the last rites. When did you hear a woman delivering a Sunday sermon?

The status of women has changed dramatically in nearly all cultures. It is no longer remarkable to see women leaders in the boardroom and operating as equals with males in most areas of modern life.

In a recent interview Pope Francis tried to justify the ecclesial power structure by claiming that women are the heart of the church in accordance with what he named as the Marian principle. However, the real power structures are married to a different principle called after St. Peter which places men at the powerful pinnacle of all decision-making.

Even admirers of Francis - like this writer - found this rationalization preposterous. It represents a clear re-assertion of the status quo with women still expected to settle for the crumbs falling from the table.

Finally, the third area of major concern centers on reports from the synodal meetings stressing the need for change in the Vatican teaching on same-sex relationships. The oft-repeated condemnation of the gay lifestyle as intrinsically corrupt and immoral no longer represents the thinking in the pews and contradicts the clear findings of modern science.

In the early months of his pontificate Francis caused a major stir when he asked “who am I to judge” in response to a question about homosexuals, suggesting that he might modernize church thinking in this important area. However, the Catholic Church remains a cold place for gays, and Francis has danced around this issue without making any significant change in church pronouncements.

Priests are forbidden from even providing a blessing at a same-sex marriage ceremony. Leaders in some European dioceses disregard this prohibition but the bishops elsewhere, including in America, hold firm to this heartless prohibition far removed from the core magnanimous Christian mind frame evident in the Sermon on the Mount.

Will the all-male hierarchy hear the cries from the synodal meetings all over the world and introduce major changes in the three areas outlined here? Sincere Catholics will live and dream in hope.

Gerry OShea blogs at wemustbetalking.com