During the Catholic Church's pedophile priest scandal a book was published that gave new insight, well, new insight to those on autopilot, to the true roots of the pedophile scandal :
How did the American Catholic priesthood go from an image of wise, strong men like Spencer Tracy in Boys Town and Bing Crosby in Going My Way, to an image of "pedophile priests"?
In Goodbye, Good Men, investigative reporter Michael S. Rose provides the shocking answer – an answer the mainstream news media has missed.
He uncovers how radical liberalism, like that found on many college campuses, has infiltrated the Catholic Church and tried to overthrow her traditional beliefs, standards, and disciplines – especially Church teachings on sexuality. In bringing the "sexual revolution" into the Church, liberals have welcomed – even preferred – radicalized active homosexuals to orthodox seminarians in the name of "diversity" and "tolerance." That "tolerance" has now been exposed as a toleration of criminal acts.
It is now frequently said that the Catholic Church has cleaned up its seminaries and that they've done a pretty good job cleaning house too. Well, it looks as if the Episcopal Church truly wants to stay in the Anglican Communion, they will have to follow in the footsteps of the Catholic Church and clean house at their seminaries too:
...As many of you know in 1994, four years before I became Dean, General [General Theological Seminary] became the first Episcopal seminary to allow same sex couples to live together on campus. This was not an easy decision and the negative reaction following it was significant. That decision has enabled General to become a far more inclusive community. In addition to our resident students and faculty members, committed same-sex relationships are found among our trustees, our alumni/ae, and our staff. As Bishop Mark Sisk said in a powerful statement this week, “They are we.” I want you to know I consider these gay and lesbian relationships just as godly, grace-filled, and worthy of blessing as those of heterosexual couples, and I will never abandon or compromise this belief for the sake of political expediency or the maintenance of temporal ecclesiastical structures.
I know the primates’ demands are of deep concern to those who will be graduating from GTS and who will be ordained in the Episcopal Church. I have a deep personal conviction that all people, including gay and lesbian persons, should have equal access to all orders of ordained ministry including the episcopate. I find the primates’ demands deeply troubling in this regard.
Many question whether the House of Bishops by itself is able to provide the assurances demanded by the primates without violating our Church’s polity, that includes the laity, priests, and deacons. I share this concern.
I sincerely hope that in addressing the primates’ concerns our Church will be able to maintain its status as a full member of the Anglican Communion. General Seminary over the years has been enriched by embracing the fullness of the many diverse Anglican traditions and cultures. We have welcomed students and visiting professors from all parts of the Anglican world, including the Global South. Our graduates and faculty members minister throughout the Anglican Communion. We intend to continue in this tradition of a comprehensive Anglican vision. In ministering to the poor and suffering of our world and in growing in insight and hope, these relationships are of critical importance.
However, this must be done without compromising our Church’s progress toward full inclusion of gay and lesbian persons in all areas of our life together. I have frequently been frustrated by the churches in general and the Episcopal Church in particular when we have been fearful to take a strong stand for justice; today I am humbly proud of our Church’s stance. As one of the Anglican Communion’s most inclusive churches, we have a prophetic voice and a witness to our sisters and brothers worldwide. As much as we need to be in communion with Anglicans around the world, they also need our voice. It is important to find a way to maintain our worldwide relationships, for both sides.
–The Very Rev. Ward B. Ewing is Dean of General Theological Seminary
Somehow I don't think any house cleaning is going to take place.
Is it against the teachings of the Catholic Church to place bets on the schisms in other churches?
Mrs. P
Found this in a blog:
Episcopalian-ism today combines the liturgical beauty and ritual of Catholicism, with the openness of Protestantism -- not just single men are welcome as priests, and all are invited to holy communion. Wine, not grape juice, is served. Indeed, it's not unusual at after-worship gatherings to find alcohol served -- something that would never occur at a Southern Baptist gathering. There's a joke in the Episcopal Church that "where-ever two or more are gathered, there's usually a fifth."
Posted by: mario mandingo | February 27, 2007 at 04:24 PM
My Dear Mrs. P,
I doubt very seriously whether you'll find anybody to take that bet. We're headed for schism in one form or another.
However, I don't think it's going to be a clean break. Even the uber-liberals want to maintain ties with the Communion (as made clear in the Dean's comments). My best guess right now is that in order to maintain some semblance of cohesion, the ECUSA is going to get demoted to some kind of "associate," non-Covenant status.
What will become of us conservatives still trying to hang on is less clear. Certainly the recent Primates' communique makes provision for alternative oversight, but as Her High Priestessness would take a commanding hand in its implementation, I'm not really sure what that alternative will be worth. (Well, yes I am. It'll be worth bupkiss.)
Might there arise an independant Anglican Church of America? Might Rome swoop in and pick off some of us shepherdless folk? Might we all just give up and go join the Bible-thumper Mega-Church down the street?
That's going to be the interesting part.
Posted by: Robert the Llama Butcher | February 28, 2007 at 10:01 AM
Robbo, you are only making my point. There are so many options available to us of the sporting nature. We can handicap them and even get a syndicate going. There's the real chance of happy cabbage to be made.
Mario, unfortunately what you have found has much truth in it and it should not be considered a good thing. One of the stated requirements of a bishop is that he not be a drunk. But the Episcopal Church has overlooked that one since the 50's...
The requirement of one wife being overlooked is a more recent development - only being in the last decade or so....
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium | February 28, 2007 at 10:27 AM
Rayther a variation on the Bertie & Jeeves story "The Great Sermon Handicap," isn't it?
Posted by: Robbo the Llama Butcher | February 28, 2007 at 11:16 AM
Yes, I'll be Eustace. You can be Claude. Father M. can be Steggles. We'll need a Bertie, a Bingo and a Jeeves:
http://www.answers.com/topic/the-great-sermon-handicap
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium | February 28, 2007 at 11:46 AM
Robbo--
Door Number Two! Door Number Two!
However, if you're not yet ready to swim the Tiber, then I suggest you visit St. Andrew and St. Margaret of Scotland, the Anglican Catholic Church's parish in Alexandria. It is a very pleasant church with a nifty congregation, the 1928 Prayer Book, and the 1940 Hymnal. Here is the website: http://www.standrewandstmargaret.org/
Two! Two! Door Number Two!
Posted by: Old Dominion Tory | February 28, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Robbo, if you do decide to swim the Tiber, then when the Church gives you the paper to fill out -- the question marked "Which priest led you to the Catholic Church?" -- could you put down Father M? The Vatican will give him frequent flyer miles. I think our priest got about 12,000 because we were an entire family.
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium | February 28, 2007 at 12:52 PM
The holiest and humblest man I ever met, I think, was an Anglican priest from Tanzania who came to the U.S. to try to get a Master's degree from Episcopal Seminary in Alexandria. He needed it to continue teaching back home. After one year, with pretty good grades in his classes, he was informed he would not be allowed to continue and would have to leave the school because he had voiced his concern in class over the homosexual lifestyle of so many of the students. Sic semper heterosexualis.
Posted by: Little Gidding | February 28, 2007 at 01:35 PM
Mrs. P.,
Ours is a Church built through Bingo, raffles, etc. Wager away, just not with Peperium Hall... From the Catechism: "Games of chance or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable only when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and the needs of others."
Robbo,
"International Take a Llama to Lunch Day" is almost upon us and so I think we need to get together if you are amenable. I'd like to introduce you to a couple of people you might find amusing and informative. Feel free to say no, but if you do we will kidnap Paz Vega and make her a nun...
Posted by: Fr. M | February 28, 2007 at 02:33 PM
Fr. M, I'd be happy to meet. Between saving Paz and the possibility of sending some frequent flyer miles your way, it's the least I can do!
Posted by: Robbo the LB | February 28, 2007 at 02:43 PM
Robbo,
Check your email...
(Sooper Sekret!)
Posted by: Fr. M. | February 28, 2007 at 05:04 PM
Little Gidding. I am an unwashed peasant and do not know Latin. Perhaps someone --hint, hint, Father M.-- will tell me exactly what you said in Latin. I am not surprised of your account. The Virginia Seminary has always gotten a pass but if you spent time talking with their graduates, you found out quickly what they had been indoctrinated into thinking...
Father M., Billy Graham always used to say he was a worm for God. Rupert Steggles was called a worm by Bertie Wooster. Let's combine the two, and you can be a worm for God by handicaping the possiblities in the Anglican Communion. We'll wait until after Easter just to make it all Kosher....
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium | February 28, 2007 at 06:16 PM
Mrs. P.,
I doubt that you are either unwashed or a peasant. "Sic Semper Tyrannis" is the motto of the Commonwealth of Virginia and means, "Thus always to tyrants" with the allegorical figure of Liberty killing a tyrant. I guess that Little Gidding meant that the community at VTS is all to happy to kill heterosexuals as they are seen as the enemy. Trivia point: "Sic Semper Tyrannis" were the words spoken by John Wilkes Booth as he jumped from the presidential box after having assinated Abraham Lincoln.
Posted by: Fr. M. | February 28, 2007 at 06:56 PM
And I was wondering if you were going to "worm" your way out of the Steggles comment...
Posted by: Fr. M. | February 28, 2007 at 06:58 PM
Here's the deal-closer for all the Episcopalians lodged in the debate about crossing the Tiber...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RMzA82H-Qo
Posted by: Fr. M. | March 01, 2007 at 12:22 AM
So Matt Groenig and Hillaire Belloc are of the same mind:
"Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine..."
Years ago, when I was a liberal democrat and read Garrison Keillor with pleasure (not noticing the underlying condescension in every page) he made much the same point in his book Lake Woebegon Days. As a member of a Protestant sect "so small only God and us knew about it", he envied the Catholics their art, wine and song.
Posted by: Mr. Peperium | March 01, 2007 at 08:39 AM