"He Could Have Been LC"

Mass marketing (and mass media in general) only serves to undermine the case for clerical celibacy, when the men lack integral masculine development.

Why No Women Priests?

Fr. Rutler's Advice to a Young Priest

Crisis

A Cult

To My fellow Cultists by Fr. Jerry J. Pokorsky

"Every priest is asked questions about behavior during worship, both what should be done to show proper respect in the...

Posted by Orthodox Christian Network on Saturday, December 19, 2015

Found out that a former FSSP priest who once held a rather high position in the district had petitioned to be reduced to the lay state. He had also come out of the closet and recently "married" another man.

I felt rather dismayed.

The priesthood is not therapeutic - it is not meant to be a way for those struggling with homosexual inclinations to avoid or ignore the fact that they have these inclinations. There seems to be a latent clericalism in the thinking of some who see becoming a priest as a solution. It seems appropriate to close the discernment process to those who are still struggling with chastity and their sense of "identity" or any other psychological issues.

Rev. Fr. Father Anthony Uy, FSSP Gives His Story

Zenit: Pope Francis to Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy: "Careerism is a Leprosy"

The full address.

FSSP American Ordinations

Priestly Ordinations for 2013: Bishop Conley Ordains Five in Lincoln

Archived video of the ordinations is not available yet.

I'd like to attend an ordination in the Byzantine rite...

RENEW Still Exists

Not gone yet - RENEW International

NCReporter: Small communities offer a path to 'renewing the priestly heart' by Brian Roewe

Smaller parishes would help priests perceive themselves more as spiritual fathers and ministers rather than bureaucrats and dispensers of the sacraments. But is changing attitudes enough, without changing habits of acting? Contemporary ideas about "servant-leadership" is supposed to counter clericalism, but is it also counter to authentic patriarchy? Can "servant-leadership" still be tied to erroneous ideas about the authority of priests (or bishops) and their areas of competence?

Related: Renewing the Priestly Heart

Noble Simplicity

Noble Simplicity and the Liturgiologist Edmund Bishop (NLM Reprint)

Last night I came upon a reference to Bishop in Aidan Nichol's book on Adrian Fortescue. Bishop's The Genius of the Roman Rite.

Related:
The genius of the Roman Rite and the identity of the priest
The Genius of the Roman Rite: Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspectives on Catholic Liturgy

Conflicts for Married Priests?

1. I think priests are now allowed to fight in [just] wars, even in defense of a city under seige.
I think the prohibition against shedding blood in warfare is an old one (maybe in the ancient canons)? I do not know if such a prohibition also applies to instances of legitimate self-defense. Are married priests allowed to shed blood in order to defend his family?

2. What about married priests acting like alphas in the home, in particular, in the bedroom? Or with how they handle their wives? (Rather than an "egalitarian" sort of friendship, companionate model.) It might seem to the pious that the married priest, above all, fits the TOB model or stereotype of the always sensitive/gentle lover. (Note that I do not use the word "considerate" here - what if your wife actually wants you to be alpha?)

Should a husband have spiritual authority over his wife as a priest over a parishioner? Is this probably not advisable? Or is this only applicable to spiritual direction, as opposed to being the spiritual "leader" of the parish, and by extension his wife and their family. The authority of the priest over his flock is different from the lay leadership of the parish.* Perhaps the authority of a priest is more limited than we who have a clericalist mindset might think.

Let us forget for the moment the priest/parishioner fantasy; this probably would not come into play if the wife had already been accustomed to the idea of a married priesthood. Is a priest always a priest? Is the king always the king, even when dealing with his family within the boundaries of his home? Or is he father and husband as well? One or multiple roles? Does he wear one hat all of the time? Or does he switch hats as the situation demands?


*And lay leadership of the parish (which should be in the care of men) may not be identical with political leadership, as the Church is not identical with the polis, though there is "overlap."

Betas in the Church

Or perhaps they are even worse than betas...

Vox: The feminized Church is anti-Christ

How many of our seminarians are Mr. Nice Guys, having little or no experience with women and having been indoctrinated since they were young in feminism? (The "Catholic" version of feminism is still feminism at its core.) They may be more "orthodox" with respect to doctrines pertaining to God and Christ, but how useful will they be when it comes to teaching about the married vocation, politics, or practical living? Will they be relying on some version of theology of the body, combined with pop psych and certain modern marriage counselling beliefs? The only
only resistance to feminism is prohibition against women being ordained and "life issues." But those who are being ordained have been imbibing feminism for quite some time; will they do anything to restore patriarchy or to reform the dioceses so that feminism is not promoted in example, if not word? (e.g. co-ed schools that cater to the higher education bubble, careerism, and consumerism, having lay women as bureaucrats and in charge of parish ministries - I would not call those "leadership" positions).

Will feminism and its practical correlaries be declared a heresy by the Church? I don't see the Latins doing this; as far as I am concerned the Roman-rite churches in the United States are dying and deserve to die off, despite the desire of some bishops to infuse new blood with immigrants from the south. We do not need more priests who avoid confrontation and the exercise of authority, seeking instead to suppress men in the name of "peace." The first church or ecclesial community to address the problems men face and feminism will probably win in the numbers game, but if it is not apostolic Christianity, then its cause may be set back for quite some time.

While I was on my vacation, I had a rental car for the weekend. A relative was asking questions about that. It became obvious that she wanted me to be her chauffeur, presumably to take her to the casino, as she had no vehicle or transportation. Soon she was stating that I would be giving her a ride, rather than asking. I told her I was going to drop her off at her house. Initially she may have presumed I would eventually give in. But she became sad because I seemed firm that I would not be driving her around. While I was driving, I was feeling bad about not taking her, though I knew I shouldn't. She shouldn't be gambling and I wanted to spend time with her grandkids instead. The effects of being a people-pleaser for too long. To an extent this flaw might be ok with respect to elders and relatives, but it is a counterfeit virtue. She didn't press the issue as we left for her house or while we were in her car, recognizing her limits or thinking that I had made mine clear? I don't know what my reaction would have been if she had applied more pressure.

She probably needs Gamblers Anonymous.

Because he wears a cassock!

No, not really, but wearing it does signify something.

Fr. Michel-Marie, a Cassock in Deep Marseille by Sandro Magister
The life, works, and miracles of a priest in a city of France. Who has made the faith blossom again where it had withered

As a young man he sang in the nightclubs in Paris, but then over the years there emerged the vocation to the priesthood he had had since his childhood. His guides were Fr. Joseph-Marie Perrin, who was Simone Weil's spiritual director, and Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe, founder of the congregation of Saint John. He studied in Rome at the Angelicum, the theological faculty of the Dominicans. He was ordained a priest in 2004 by Cardinal Bernard Panafieu, the archbishop of Marseille at the time. He writes books, the latest of which is entitled "Au diable la tiédeur," to the devil with lukewarmness, and is dedicated to priests. He is pastor at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul.

From the article by Marina Corradi:

Why the cassock? "For me" – he smiles – "It is a work uniform. It is intended to be a sign for those who meet me, and above all for those who do not believe. In this way I am recognizable as a priest, always. In this way on the streets I take advantage of every opportunity to make friends. Father, someone asks me, where is the post office? Come on, I'll go with you, I reply, and meanwhile we talk, and I discover that the children of that man are not baptized. Bring them to me, I say in the end; and I often baptize them later. I seek in every way to show with my face a good humanity. Just the other day" – he laughs – "in a cafe an old man asked me which horses he should bet on. I gave him the horses. I asked the Blessed Mother for forgiveness: but you know, I said to her, it is to befriend this man. As a priest who was one of my teachers used to tell those who asked him how to convert the Marxists: 'One has to become their friend,' he would reply."

Items of Interest, 18 November 2011

Catholic:
Adam DeVille, Not Clerical Celibacy Again
A piece by Robert Stove on Evelyn Waugh: A Grief Unobserved
Usury Revisited
An article on Holy Resurrection Monastery.

Distributism:
Rod Dreher, Smirking at Distributism
Ruin of the Small Store Owner
Occupy the Future

Relocalization:
The Need to Relocalize Our Economies
The Post-Carbon Institute issues a statement of purpose: What we are for  by Richard Heinberg (EB)

It's fine until you get to the part about family planning.

Home-grown food in schools for a green economy by Kei Otsuki (EB)
John Robb, Productive Landscaping and RC JOURNAL: Reclaiming Dead Soil through Hugelkultur

OWS:
Occupy Educated

Economy:
1 through 30 - The Coming US Financial Crisis by the Numbers
‘Going Galt’: Hedge Broker Shuts Down Firm With Chilling Letter About the Market (Vox Populi, VFR)
  
Leviathan:
Ron Paul on Politics and Freedom
An interview by Alberto Mingardi and Carlo Stagnaro
What A Little-Known Colonial Pamphlet Tells Us About the Constitution
LoS: Why Do You Hate America (via Rebellion)

Texas Medical Board again tries to destroy Dr. Burzynski with new lawsuit to revoke his medical license


Diet and Health:
I Went To Wise Traditions 2011 And Got a T-Shirt
Cold Hands and Feet
The LLVLC Show (Episode 516): Chris Kresser’s ‘Healthy Baby Code’ And The Indefinable Castle Grok (mp3)

Education:
Matt Bianco Interviews David Hicks (author of Norms and Nobility)- mp3
Literacy's Last Hurrah by Linda Schrock Taylor

Misc:
URI AVNERY, Weimar Revisited

Items of Interest, 16 November 2011

Catholic:
Pope Benedict: Everyone should pray the psalms, Liturgy of the Hours

Sandro Magister, Married and Ordained. The Minor Leagues of the Catholic Clergy

A new book from Zaccheus Press: Christianus: The Christian Life by Abbot Vonier. Special sale prices until December 31.

Ordinariate Evensong, Los Angeles, November 20
If I ever go to LA again, I should drop by St. Mary of the Angels.

Conservatism:
Republicans and Christians: A Marriage of Convenience?

What is Wrong with Capitalism? by Thomas Storck

Victims of Mammon by Dr. Thaddeus Kozinski

Mark Henrie, Russell Kirk and the Conservative Heart

David B. Hart, Anarcho-Monarchism

Peter Hitchens, War War, and Jaw Jaw

OWS:
Nathan Schneider, After the eviction: What's next for Occupy Wall Street? (EB)
Kevin Carson, The Stigmergic Revolution and To the So-Called 53%: Stop Embarrassing Yourselves
Ten Ways the Occupy Movement Changes Everything
Love Those Occupiers? by MICHAEL NEUMANN

Rod Dreher, The public turns on OWS

Transitioners debate how to engage Occupy movement
Corporations fracking US tax code
So how do we keep corporations in the U.S. while making them pay their "fair share"? I have read conflicting views on this from people I trust. I am more inclined to drastic action with respect to corporations.

America isn’t broke just yet

Relocalization:
Making money for business: Currencies, profit, and long-term thinking (EB)
Lindsay Curren, Occupy Parenting - the website
Food hubs: restoring historical practice
Chris Martenson, The Future of Work

Economic awakening: Corn can’t grow like money grows by Gene Logsdon (EB)

Energy:
Pump Up the Storage by Tom Murphy (EB)

Diet and Health:
Jimmy Moore, 70 New Paleo, Low-Carb & Health Blogs For November 2011

History:
Medievalists.net: The Image of the Oriental: Western and Byzantine Perceptions

A different model for training priests

I was talking about this with MB again when I visited him in Yonkers, so here is a restatement of our discussion. I won't address the issue of clerical celibacy/continence, but if the rule were ever relaxed for the Roman rite at least to the extent that married men could be ordained to the priesthood, would their becoming priests not only solve the problem with the shortage of priests but also address other problems as well? Would this be a restoration of the practice of the early Church, choosing for ordination to the presbyterate qualified and holy elders of the local Church? This option presupposes the stability of communities so that the candidates are familiar to the faithful, even if there is no formal nomination process for the faithful.

It is likely that older candidates would have more emotional and spiritual maturity, and more experience from which they could give direction or address various pastoral issues. (However, age alone will not help those men who have been too emasculated.) They could be trained in philosophy and theology through a longer apprenticeship, after retiring from the secular world. They would still rely upon the community for support, unless it were permitted for them to hold another job. But that would require a very different sort of political economy than what we have today.

I would not say that this is the ideal model of ordaining men to the priesthood (though it is somewhat the model used by Opus Dei). But perhaps it could be used to supplement the normal selection of younger candidates, who go through the seminary. How old would these men be when chosen? Mid-40s or late 40s? Or their 50s? It might be preferable that the majority of their children had become adults. How much time spent in the exercise the priesthood would make the investment of community in such candidates worthwhile? And how early in the process could they become transitional deacons? (This underscores the importance of getting people to take better care of their health and become better informed, so that not only do they live longer but they are healthy, fit, and mentally sound longer as well.)

I believe that Aristotle, in his Politics, recommends that it should be the elders of a community who become devoted to divine things, including performing worship of the gods, once they have retired from the active life. Does this have some resonance with the practice of the early Church?

If older married men could become priests, would their discernment process be as difficult as it is for those who are considering celibacy?

Is there still a place for high school seminaries in the Latin rite? Candidates for the dioceses and the orders (for example, the Jesuits) tend to be older these days, and they have some life experience, but do they really have the maturity? Or a properly formed masculinity?

Canons Offer New Way of Life for American Priests

Part Two and Part One (to which I linked yesterday) - news relevant to this post, Priests on their own.

Links:
Augustinian Canons
The American Project
Facebook group

Related:
East and West need to evangelise boldly, says Pope by Cindy Wooden

Priests on their own

Dom Mark Daniel Kirby posts a piece by an Irish priest layman, Rob Fuller, about the possible need for diocesan priests to live in community: Should diocesan priests live in community?

MB has made this point in conversation as well, offering this suggestion with the purpose of mitigating temptation and giving some oversight/accountability to brother priests. It's the model of life that the FSSP strives to observe in its apostolates; FSSP, and part of the rule of groups like the Oratorians - the societies of apostolic life.


There is a failure of masculinity within the Church, but more on the part of the bishops than of the priests. But there is something to the criticism of the "cowboy priest" who enjoys living like a hermit?
Diocesan priests do maintain some of their friendships - most likely friendships with other priests, so why not carry this over to living with them? Granted, it may be difficult to get along with some priests, especially if they have different beliefs. But there may be something wrong with secular priests living like perpetual [American] bachelors.

Without a solid education, such an arrangement would reinforce ingrained and erroneous opinions about what it is to live in community, instead of challenging them (and enabling them to challenge the souls under their care) to discover what it is to live in community and its necessity for the perfection of Christian charity (as well as the development of the common good). Some hermit priests may labor heroically and effectively as spiritual fathers without living in community and have a good grasp of communal life such that they can teach their flocks. But wouldn't they benefit from being able to "talk shop" with other priests?

There may also be some other benefits to living in community -- with some measure of division of labor, priests could split some of the domestic tasks that need to be done, such as cooking, instead of relying upon paid help. It can also shore up defenses against consumerism, as communal life may provide for better forms of recreation and entertainment than watching TV. Last, but not least, there is the opportunity to develop a fuller form of liturgical spirituality, if they can pray the divine office together.

White Knights in Clericals

Is it the case that priests and spiritual directors are no better than most contemporary marriage counselors and therapists because they "enable" women in their vices and bad choices, rather than admonishing them, especially with respect to how they conduct themselves in their marriages towards their husbands? I wouldn't be surprised if many priests and male religious lack awareness of the characteristic faults of women, or have a good idea of what marriage should be like (and the different roles of husband and wife). There does seem to be a crisis of masculinity in the Church.

Would it be so bad to make celibacy optional for priests? What sort of political economy would we need that would allow for priests to be drawn from the ranks of older, married men, men who have some experience of married life and leadership?
(What about the requirement for sexual continence before the celebration of the Eucharist?)

I have seen traditionalist priests wear a black button sweater over their cassock, but when I saw this recently I couldn't help but think that there was something wrong with this--it even led me to question whether the cassock was sufficiently masculine. Some version of a pullover sweater might be better.

I'm not sure if my reaction that this was wrong was due to the sweater's association with the elderly, or if it just seemed a bit too unmanly.

Sandro Magister, The Pope "Rethinks" Clerical Celibacy. In Order to Reinforce It

It is the sign, he says, that God exists and that one allows himself to be seized by passion for him. This makes it a great scandal, and the desire is to eliminate it. The complete transcript of Benedict XVI's latest statement on this issue. And of a surprising preview of it, from 2006.