The always informative Peter Steinfels looks beyond the gay issue in the new series of seminary visitations in the Catholic church. Examining the questions asked, he notices something striking:
There are no explicit questions about the seminarians’ capacities for initiative, creativity or imaginative and consultative leadership, although some of these qualities are undoubtedly taken up in the various church documents found in the footnotes.
There is no explicit question about concern for social justice, unless that could be assumed under a single reference to “apostolic zeal.” By comparison, there are numerous questions specifically asking about recitation of the rosary, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, devotion to Mary and the saints and many other “exercises of piety.”
A single question asks whether seminarians are being taught “a proper understanding of the role of women in ecclesial life” and “the proper models of clergy-lay cooperation.” The next question makes clear that what is “proper” is to be found in statements by Pope John Paul II and his Vatican officials. Of the 96 questions, just these two address the intellectual potential of future priests.
If you want to know why most lay Catholics find their priests’ homilies to be, at best, embarrassingly dumb and facile, look no further. The most recent survey found that only 10 percent of priests were educationally “highly qualified” to teach effectively. Moreover, many of John Paul II’s new generation of orthodox priests don’t want to study: “regardless of native abilities and educational experiences” they resist “the learning enterprise” because it threatens their “preconceived ideas about theology.” The Jesuits still do great work, of course, and so do other orders. But there’s no question that the last and current papacy regard inquisitive minds and fearless intellects to be threats rather than assets. They want automatons to obey their bosses, not priests capable of leading or inspiring a diverse, modern flock. Of course, many of the most gifted and intellectually alert priests are gay: they truly chose their vocation despite the obvious conflicts and know their theology. But they are now to be purged. I wish I had better news; but it seems to me that what is happening is a defensive crouch that will shrink the Western church even further. More important: that is the point.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I visited the Vatican in early August and met a person who is deeply ’embedded’ in the world of those who run Vatican City and who govern the global machinery of the Catholic Church. According to this person’s estimation, he guesses that a “conservative estimate” of those cardinals and senior church officials who are gay is about 50 percent. Practicing, as opposed to just flirtatious, homosexuals at the highest levels of the church are probably about 30 percent. When I asked whether homosexuals would be better served under Pope Benedict XVI than under John Paul II, he responded, ‘Don’t think that we will be any better served under a gay pope than a straight one.'” – Steve Clemons, Washington Note.
The Dish 