The Homosexual Agenda & The U.S. Catholic Bishops, Plus: More On The San Francisco Sacrilege & The Priest Suspended By The Vatican For Admission Of Homosexual Behavior

There appears to be no end in sight to the scourge of homosexuality within the Catholic Church in the priesthood and in the hierarchy. When will the Holy See extricate the Church from the homosexual death grip that has enthralled so many Catholics, including priests, religious, and bishops?

A New Pastoral Letter & John Jay Report?

Randy Engel's latest article is worth reading: Gay agenda sways Catholic bishops

Here's a brief quote to give you as sense of what the (much longer) article is about:

Urge your bishop to vote “NO” on “Ministry to Persons With a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care” and Vote “NO” on the new John Jay Study on Clerical Sexual Abuse.

The vote will take place at the November 13-16, 2006 fall meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to be held at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, 700 Aliceanna Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. Letters, phone calls and faxes urging a “NO” vote on these two important agenda items are needed both before your bishop leaves his diocese for Baltimore and after he arrives at the hotel.

San Francisco Sacrilege Updates

San Francisco Archbishop, George Niederauer, has apologized for giving the Most Holy Eucharist to militant homosexuals dressed in mock religious garb and "drag queen" make-up: Statement released Oct. 11 by Archdiocese of San Francisco regarding archbishop giving communion to two “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”

The bishops' spokesman had already offered this statement about the issue before Niederauer apologized: “I did not see any mock religious garb”; Spokesman says San Francisco archbishop “simply making a pastoral visit” when he gave communion to men dressed as nuns

The reasons I'm not buying what Archbishop Niederauer and his spokesman are selling are found in this post: Bill O'Reilly Didn't Do His Homework When Reporting On The San Francisco Sacrilege

California Catholic Daily also reports that Most Holy Redeemer Parish and "The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" remain unrepentant: “It allows me to live the life of Christ in fabulous make up and heels"; No mea culpas at Most Holy Redeemer: parish publishes thank-you note from member of group condemned in archbishop’s apology

Vatican Suspends Monsignor For "Anonymous" Televised Admission Of Homosexual Activity The Saga Continues...

An on-line version of the Italian television broadcast, “Exit” segment, that exposed Mosignor Tommaso Stenico, Capo Ufficio in the Congregation for the Clergy and Professor at the Pontifical Lateranian University, can be found here: Chiesa ed omosessualità

Rorate Caeli offers excellent insight into the problem here: Shame and shamelessness

Quote:

Now, this shameless man has the gall to tell Italian religious news website Petrus that he was actually willing "to write a book, a research [paper] on the problem of homosexuality among priests". Right... That is probaby why Stenico ended his date with the words, "If you wish, call me or send me a [text] message. How good you are. [Quanto sei bono.]".

It is unavoidable to conclude that the Vatican is infested with active homosexuals - who are only suspended from their functions when they are arrested with transsexual male prostitutes (as it happened to Monsignor Cesare Burgazzi (C.B.), a high officer in the Secretariat of State, last year), or found looking at homosexual pornography websites (as it happened to three priests last year, including one who said "to everyone that he fell in disgrace only due to the jealosy of those for whom he had shown no interest"), or shown in national television as they bring their dates to their Vatican offices, as it happened to Monsignor Stenico.

What now?

Abbey-Roads has this commentary on the situation: Boys in the Vatican

John Allen, a senior correspondent in Rome who writes for the progressive, National Catholic Reporter, tends to do a fair job with reporting the facts, despite the heterodox agenda of the NCR.

He offers some details about the defense offered by the suspended priest for his behavior here: Vatican official suspended after hidden camera report on gay priests

The text of Allen's report and analysis is after the jump...

Here's John Allen's report:

A monsignor in the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy has been suspended after being caught on hidden camera in a recent Italian TV broadcast about gays in the priesthood, in which he and other priests made contact with a young man posing as a potential “date” in gay-oriented web sites and chat rooms, and then arranged for meetings the priests apparently believed would lead to sexual encounters.

In the wake of the disclosures, the Vatican official in question, Italian Monsignor Tommaso Stenico, claims that he was only pretending to be gay in order to uncover what he described as plots to damage the church by targeting vulnerable priests with homosexual tendencies.

Stenico, 60, has served in the Vatican since 1982. His current assignment is as a capo ufficio, or “head of the office,” within the Congregation for Clergy with special responsibility for catechesis. He’s also a fixture in the Italian Catholic media, and has published several books on spiritual and catechetical subjects.

On Oct. 1, the Italian television program “Exit” broadcast separate encounters recorded using a hidden camera with three priests and a young man secretly working for the TV program. The voices and faces were disguised, but one of the priests was clearly a Vatican official, since the camera showed the priest and the young man entering an elevator inside one of the office buildings used by the Roman curia, and also showed the outer door of the Congregation for Clergy. After some conversation in his Vatican office, the priest appears to try to initiate a sexual encounter, but pulls away when the young man expresses doubts.

In short order, Vatican authorities flagged Stenico as the priest and suspended him from office. He could face other disciplinary consequences.

“I can’t deny the facts,” said Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardio, Vatican spokesperson, responding to requests for comment from reporters. “The superiors are handling the situation with the due reserve and with the due respect for the person involved, even if this person has erred.” Lombardi said that Vatican authorities “must intervene with the severity demanded by behavior that is not compatible with priestly service and with the mission of the Holy See.”

Yesterday, however, a statement from Stenico appeared on the Italian Catholic web site “Petrus,” where his commentaries appear regularly. Stenico, who holds a degree in psychology in addition to his theological training, said that after discussions with his spiritual director, he decided to become a “thief among thieves” to determine if there was an effort to damage the church through the weaknesses of gay priests.

“I discovered that there is,” Stenico wrote. “There’s a diabolical plan by groups of Satanists that single out priests.”

Stenico said that his aim in pretending to be gay was to understand this world, not to participate in it. Stenico also asserted that being caught on a hidden camera could be a form of retribution for having earlier complained to police about a young man who offered him sexual favors in exchange for his help in obtaining a job.

“I’ve lived my life as a priest persecuted by much calumny, envy and jealousy,” Stenico wrote.

Before his recent difficulties, Stenico appeared regularly on the Italian Catholic TV network Telepace and on Radio Maria, where he had a monthly program on “Evangelization, Catechesis and Catechists.”

In the “Exit” broadcast, Stenico meets the young man posing as his “date” in St. Peter’s Square, and the two get into the priest’s car and enter the Vatican through a parking garage. They enter a Vatican office, where Stenico talks at some length about the church and homosexuality, defending, for example, the church’s position that marriage should be restricted to a man and a woman, while conceding the possibility of other legal arrangements for same-sex couples. They also briefly discuss sado-masochism, with Stenico referring to it as “a choice within the psychological depths of a personality.”

At one point, the priest says to the young man “I’m waiting for you … come here,” and at another tells him “you’re very cute, you’re completely cute.” The young man then says, “You’re about to commit a sin with me before the eyes of God,” to which the priest responds, “No, I don’t feel that it’s a sin.” When the young man does not respond, the priest later identified as Stenico says it’s clear that the young man is feeling “conflicted.” The priest says he will put him on the elevator to leave, advising him not to say anything if someone approaches him.

An on-line version of the “Exit” segment can be found here: Chiesa ed omosessualità

Do you buy the excuse? I have a hard time believing it.

Any thoughts?

Comments

[Atlanta Catholic]

Thomistic,

I hope that every Catholic who blushes at the idea of correcting bad church leadership, reads Msgr. Stenico's excuse. This Monsignor, like many others, was in charge of the hen house. No wonder complaints to Vatican have been ignored. The Monsignor might even have been building up his own little International dating black book... based on the faithful's steady complaints of gay priests destroying the faith.

Catholics need to comprehend the level of underhanded evil and cleverness that exists within the Church. What a doozey of an excuse. This takes an incredibly creative, Hollywood loving imagination, to come up with this gem.

Terrible as it sounds, Monsignor Stenico has something in common with a few priests in the Diocese of Orange. They also love to give inappropriate homilies on shallow movies and bad television shows. The problem is that these bad movies seem to blind them from any depth of spirituality and leads them into problems. The results are countless homilies devoid of spiritual depth.

I will apologize to Monsignor Stenico if Pope Benedict announces that the sting operation was initiated by the Holy Father himself, to catch gay priests. Until then, Monsignor Stenico looks very foolish! The Monsignor does not have to worry about people being jealous of him any more. That terrible stress has definitely been removed.

[CatholicCrusader]

When Father Joe “Foot in the Mouth” Fenton was spokesman for the Diocese of Orange, he famously said something very revealing and candid. When a woman asked Fenton if the diocese planned to remove homosexual priests from active ministry, he responded, “If we did that, there would be so few priests left we'd have to turn it [the Church] over to lay people to run it.”

That’s probably not as much of an exaggeration as it initially seemed to be. The American Church and even the highest echelons of the Vatican are shot through with members of the Lavender Mafia. The members of this homosexual network look out for one another, help to see that fellow travelers are promoted and tip off fellow members when the hounds are on their trail.

When people are asking too many questions, a key person can be abruptly whisked off to a Canadian sanatorium, or questioners can be stonewalled. Sincere Catholics like Michael and Susan Teissere, pressing for answers in the outrageous case of Rod Stephens, find themselves and their questions ignored.

So maybe Fr. Fenton’s idea is worth consideration, at least in part. Why not give oversight of the investigations of bad priests to lay commissions appointed by the pope or his direct representatives. Turn some functions of the Congregation for Clergy over to lay people and let them run it, or at least let them guarantee that filth and rot aren’t swept under the rug. That way, the Lavender Mafia wouldn’t be in the driver’s seat any longer.

[Thomas A.]

There is an easy first step to eradicating the nest of homosexuals within the catholic clergy. The holy father should issue an immediate Papal decree: that every bishop and every pastor in every diocese/parish must himself give, and direct the priests under him to give at least 4 times
a year a homily which should be based upon full support of 1)the teaching authored in 2003 by [then] Cardinal Ratzinger and signed by John Paul II - "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition To Civil Unions Between Homosexual Persons", and 2)the teachings of the catechism of the Catholic Church on homosexuality. The pastors/priests/bishops who cannot or will not abide by this ruling during the designated twelve month period can, and will be reported to the Congregation for the Clergy by any group of twelve or more parishioners/members of that diocese or parish [How's that for greater participation in parochial affairs per your 'Covenant With the Faithful', Bishop Brown?!]. Said bishop/pastor/priests must maintain a copy of the text of the 4 homilies, including the date and time of the Sunday [NOT a weekday] Mass in which it was given, and make them available for any layperson to review or obtain a copy thereof upon written request. Any bishop or priest who "passively" refuses or fails to abide by this rule, will have his faculties suspended without pay for six months, or in the case of a refusal, he should be asked to resign.

While there will be many, if not a majority of "gay" priests who will continue to hide within the systemic church and give hypocritical, feigned obedience to this decree,I believe that literally hundreds and hundreds [if not thousands] of actively homosexual priests will step down from clerical life rather than condemn themselves four times per year from the pulpit.

This may not be the ultimate answer to this plague, but it's a start.

[james rich]

No Catholic Crusader. Overseeing priests is the job of bishops (if the problem is religious)and government (if there are criminal issues). Lay leaders would just mess everything up, as progressives would fill the postions of lay leaders of a parish or diocese.

There are plenty of good rules in place, criminally and canonically. These laws just need to be enforced.

[Anonymous]

Why not? In the 1970s, young priests who dealt drugs to high schoolers would say "I was trying to identify who needed my help." That noble purpose was combined with the less noble purpose of making a few extra bucks on the side. Now, 35 years later, why are we surprised that certain individuals are using similar tactics to hide their questionable proclivities? The more things change, the more they stay the same. With regard to Satanists ... is the pot calling the kettle black?

[Michael and Susan Teissere]

OH! Yeah! we believe it! NOT!!! This is getting very intresting. We always thought the letter we received from the Congregation for the clergy was a cover up for Bishop Brown and secretly keeping Fr. Rod Stephens on the payroll! Fr. Douglas Cook ,he works for Bishop Brown at the marriage tribunal being a canon lawyer and such. Fr. Douglas Cook told us "if you went to the "Vatican" they would just kick it back to us here at the diocese of Orange!" I guess Fr. Cook was right , he must have had some "inside" help oh! I mean inside information.

[feetxxxl]

paul said in christ we are to be led by and serve the spirit. in that regard, what is the spirit of the essence of homosexuality that it would come against the spirit of christ, the fruit of the spirit, and love of neighbor and self?

[CatholicCrusader]

James Rich:

That was just an off-the-cuff idea, not a serious proposal. I was playing on Fenton's idea of turning the Church over to the laity to run. It's hard to imagine the laity screwing things up much more than our bad bishops have. Who would have thought that we would have such a filthy network of priests and bishops covering up and enabling molesters? Jesus knew, of course, during His Agony in the Garden, that His Church would be up against this evil one day.