So the other day I read this article and it made me think a lil bit... It's a case where a priest basically got blacklisted by his church for getting caught on photograph kissing his girlfriend (who he later married). The line that got me thinking was where he said "There are so many homosexuals, both active and celibate, at all levels of clergy and Church hierarchy that the church would never be able to function if they were really to exclude all of them from ministry." The article also speaks of relationships, both homosexual and heterosexual, being prevalent; only becoming a problem once they are made public.
I'm really beginning to wonder what the issue is... I mean honestly, why won't the church allow them to date with the intentions of eventually getting married? Doesn't the bible (the book that they are supposed to be following) say that it "is better to marry than to burn?!" Being able to be a eunuch without being... well... you know... is something that I would say would have to be a special powered assignment and gift from God; a gift that few people have. And while I expect a priest to have discipline and self control, why is it that these men are required to hide their relationships when the bible itself makes room for heterosexual marriages (homosexuality is another, entirely different issue...) and you NEED to date before you get married? Without arranged marriages, it seems quite implausible.
I can understand, for the sake of reducing illegitimate children or disease, making someone of the clergy be chaste but, in a society where low self esteem and insecurity runs rampant, I don't see many significant others sitting well with hearing "Let's just keep our relationship between me and you. No one else needs to know about 'us', OK?"
To be completely honest, the church doesn't seem to deal with sexuality well at all. "Wait til marriage" will not suffice for an over-sexed, under-parented, rebellious teenager when dealing with the hormones that begin to rage after being bombarded with sexual images from today's media. I don't have any answers other than chaperoned dating when the kids are young and monitored media intake (extreme, I know). As far as the priest is concerned, black listing him for getting "caught" dating is absurd; it just seems a lil backwards to me to say you can marry but you can't date.
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