Sure to Displease All Extremists

Many Catholics in the American Church are painfully aware that the Culture War in American Society rages within the Church, too. Few flashpoints of said war burn hotter than that of homosexual activity and the Priesthood. Well, get ready to add another gasoline saturated log to the conflaguration!

CNS has this STORY: Vatican: Priests cannot be active homosexuals, support gay culture

Sure to displease the Foolable extremists on either wing of the Church, the latest summary of the still unreleased document indicates that the Vatican insists on treading the middle path. Evidently, the Princes of the Church have decided that it's best for the Church to obey her own revelation and Canon Laws. They find that more appropriate than engagement in pointless and immoral reductions of human persons or the celebration of the One Thing that Matters (2.0).

A Vatican document took a strong line against priestly ordination of men who are active homosexuals, who have "deeply rooted" homosexual tendencies or who support the "gay culture."

The Italian news agency ADISTA published the Italian text Nov. 22, a week before it was expected to be released at the Vatican. A Vatican spokesman did not confirm or deny the authenticity of the text; church sources said the content was accurate.

The document did not define what it meant by "deeply rooted" homosexual tendencies, but contrasted them with the "transitory problems" of adolescence.

Such transitory tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination as a deacon, it said. It did not explain what was meant by "overcome" and did not say that celibacy or chastity was the criteria for measuring suitability of such candidates for the priesthood.

(snip)

The document cited the church's teachings that homosexual acts are gravely sinful and that homosexual tendencies are "objectively disordered."

In the light of those teachings, it said, the church, while deeply respecting homosexuals, "cannot admit to seminaries and to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, who present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or who support the so-called gay culture."

"The above-mentioned persons find themselves, in fact, in a situation that seriously obstructs correct relations with men and women," it said.

I await with bated breath the cries of outrage from aggrieved Foolables that embrace their own politicial or "religious" agenda over the Church. All while fastidiously proclaiming their devotion to our Lord's Mystical Body, of course!

Indeed, these flashpoints, while disturbing in the unilluminated passion they incite, provide all of us with an opportunity. We can see just how entrenched the nihilism and dualism of the world has become in our society. We witness their need to live in a world in which some measure of justice reigns. Most of all, we see the full extent of the mission territory that the Church in America has become.

The Foolables most likely to object to the Vatican's document demonstrate this too well. They hunger for the presence of the Lord, but they refuse to look for him within the Church as she understands herself. They insist they will find him in the Church as they understand her. Unfortunately, they search for Christ in a figment of their own imagination. If they insist that she is more lenient--or more stringent--than her Lord calls her to be, then they've inadvertantly set themselves up not as her members, but as her judge. Unfortunately, their judgement rests on little more than their rationalizations, which cover their seemingly unmet need.

What is the Church but the communion of those who have come to believe in Christ? And who is Christ but the Son of the Living God, whose physical presence on earth as Jesus of Nazareth so affected his apostles that they literally gave up their lives to follow him? When we encounter him, we find in him the fullest expression of our heart's desire. For, as Augustine says, "Our hearts our restless until they rest in thee." He has willed that we will encounter him today in the Church, that communion of his disciples who, to this day, surrender their lives to follow him.

Part of that surrender includes the assent we give to the revelation he has entrusted to us through the Magisterium. Peter and the Apostle's successors bear the responsibility for safeguarding and teaching this revelation. Thus, they have the authority to teach and govern the community of believers with Christ's own authority. How else can they fulfill his commision to them? How else can they guide us into fulfilling his commision to us?

When we see Foolables that demand greater justice from the Church than Christ does, we see those that have somehow not encountered him through us. Or, they've encountered him, and walked away. But not too far.

We all should know what that means, right? Our brothers hurt, longing for the Presence that they hope will change their lives. We had better make sure they find that Presence in Christ Jesus. We had better hope they find Christ through us. That means we need to live in the way that allows this to be true.

So what are we waiting for?