This Just In…

…most priests are gay.

Or at least, that’s what Madonna says. No mention of how she conducted her research.

According to the article, she also says that people “are going to go to hell, if they don’t turn from their wicked behavior.”

Comments

  1. I’m sorry you had to go searching for nuggets in the Outhouse for this blog. Quoting Madonna now?

    It used to be if you wanted to be a priest you could be one, if you really wanted to be one! Now the Vatican wants to know if you are “gay or straight” before you become a priest. Question: If you are “Straight” will you abuse girls/women. If you are “Gay” will you abuse boys/men. If you are uncertain of your sexuality will you go either way? Will drug tests be far behind?

  2. Matthew Lickona says

    Anon,
    “Nuggets in the Outhouse” should be the name of a blog. But not this one. This blog has always had one ear bent to the pop culture beat. Madonna, while fading, is a major pop cultural figure, plus, she is a figure who has arisen from a Roman Catholic sensibility – check out Camille Paglia’s compare/contrast between Catholic-minded Madonna and Protestant-minded Britney Spears. I think it’s interesting that she went to the trouble to make this comment, even as she flees her faith. Sorry if it bothered you.
    I’m not sure about what you say – you could be a priest if you really wanted to be one. I thought it was that you could be a priest if the people running the seminary determined that you did in fact have a true calling and were not prevented from receiving Holy Orders becaue of some serious defect. I’m not interested in arguing about whether or not homosexual attraction constitutes such a defect – I’ll leave that determination to the Church. The document has not yet been released, but from what NCR’s John Allen reports, it’s hardly a blanket ban on homosexuals. I’m not sure drug tests would be inappropriate – I think an addiction to heroin would serious interefere with one’s ability to be an effective pastor.

  3. So Matthew, what do you think the percentage is for priests who have had at least one sexual encounter?

  4. Matthew Lickona says

    I have no idea. Why do you ask?

  5. You are kidding! You bring to your blog Madonna’s comment about most priests being gay, and then you want to back out? Is she right, is she wrong, do you have your own ideas on the subject. Ya got to own my friend. What is your opinion on this subject, is it not important to your faith!

  6. Matthew Lickona says

    I’m not kidding. I made not of the comment not because I thought Madonna had something to teach me about the Church, or because I thought her claim required serious engagement, but because I thought it was interesting that Madonna was still talking about priests, and by extension, Catholicism, even after embracing Kabballah. And then she followed it up with that statement about going to hell if you don’t stop being wicked, a sentiment I associate much more with Christianity than with Kabballah. The blog post was about Madonna, not about gay priests.

    I don’t think Madonna can speak with any kind of authority on this matter, and I don’t think I can, either.

  7. A bit backing out of the subject matter, but you did it well.

    She is trying to experience all of “it” in the moment. Even namimg her new release after a Rabbi, who has since passed, is wrong for profit, according to Jewish belief.

    But you need to own your own faith, as you have said that she has failed hers. You have said in your book that you were abused by a priest that you trusted, that the Church had trusted. I think that you have to come forward again and bring your faith to the moment and speak your mind about what is happening with priests in the Catholic Church. The Vatican is concerned that fewer men are chosing priesthood, they are trying to talk about married men becoming priests, but they know this will not happen, they are faced with a major problem. Not every man who choses to become a priest, and the Church ordains, will succeed.

    I think it was a fair question to ask you your opinion of how many priests have failed and are still priests. Madonna said most priests are gay. You put it on your blog, you should answer.

  8. Matthew Lickona says

    I didn’t say Madonna had failed her faith. I said she had fled it.
    I am hesitant to speak on what is happening with priests in the Catholic Church because I don’t have anything approaching a comprehensive sense of what is happening with priests in the Catholic Church. Anything I might say would be speculation. What I reported in my book was my particular experience.
    Are you asking me how many priests I think have fallen into sexual sin after their ordination? How on earth would I know such a thing? And how does speculation on such a topic amount to “owning” my faith?

  9. Matthew, Speculation is everything! It is said and commented everyday and on every subject, and everywhere on your blog!

    …concerning the Vatican document that’s expected to reinforce Roman Catholic teaching that gays are not welcome in the priesthood… The Rev. Greald Chojnacki, head of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, said in a letter to his priests that he was asking bishops to tell Vatican officials who are drafting policy “of the great harm this will cause many good priests and the Catholic faithful.”

    Chojnacki has participated in the funerals of several gay Jesuit clergy over the last few years. “I find it insulting to demean their memory and their years of service by even hinting that they were unfit for priesthood because of their sexual orientation,” he wrote.

    During the Synod of Bishops the declining Mass attendance was discussed – in some countries only 5 percent of the faithful attend – also the priest shortage. It cited statistics showing there was one priest for every 1,797 Catholics in 1978 compared with one priest for every 2,677 Catholics in 2003.

  10. Matthew Lickona says

    Yes, there’s plenty of speculation on my blog – but not, I hope, about whether or not this or that person has committed sexual sin.

    I’m not arguing with you that there’s a problem with Mass attendance, and with the number of men entering the priesthood. But let’s wait until the document is released, shall we? From what I’ve heard, it’s not quite as simple as barring men because of their orientation. When we have a text we can work with, there will be more to say.

  11. Gee Matt, it’s not like the last blogger was trying to get you to give up your Social Security number!

    So I guess I can’t tell you my “How many priests does it take to screw in a lightbulb” joke?

  12. Matthew Lickona says

    No, the last blogger was asking me to guess about the sexual sins of others. He or she didn’t ask me how many priests I thought had homosexual inclinations, he asked how many had “failed.” Since I have next to no first-hand knowledge, I didn’t see how I could do that without offending against charity.

    But jokes, jokes are another matter. Fire away!

  13. Oh, Matthew…

    How many priests does it take to screw in a light bulb?

    This is a joke you can’t answer because it would involve speculation!

    By the way, I would guess since over 50% of marriages fail, thus, their vows failed. The same percentage would apply to priests, but that is only speculation based on statistics. Pleading “no first-hand knowledge” in this blog would make all other blogs of yours void.

    It’s like the old test of meeting someone briefly for the first time, and being asked your opinion of them. The answer is usually “well, I have none since I just met them”. That’s the wrong answer of course, you always have an opinion, it just grows with experience. You’ve always got to start somewhere.

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