http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... h-gay.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284983/Explosive-claim-friar-Mark-Dowd-says-half-recruits-Catholic-Church-gay.html)
QuoteAn openly gay former Dominican friar insisted today that homosexuality is the 'ticking time bomb in the Catholic Church' and that homosexual men are 'massively over-represented' within the Church.
Mark Dowd, who is now a journalist, said research for his 2001 Channel 4 documentary Queer and Catholic suggested that at least half of people attracted into seminaries in the priesthood are gay.
His comments came as the former leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, said the scandal-hit Catholic Church must undergo renewal and reform.
Mr Dowd told CNN: 'When you have this culture of secrecy and guilt and repression, you have conditions which foster the potential for blackmail and for manipulation.
'This is a very unhealthy stage for the church, because basically when you have secrecy, you have lies - and when you have lies, people often are put in terrible pressures of being compromised.'
Meanwhile, the Cardinal said the successor to Benedict XVI would need to be able to tackle reform of the Roman Curia, the Vatican departments which govern the 1.2billion-strong global church.
Last weekend Italian newspapers published claims of homosexuality and blackmail within the Church, with one allegation centering around a secret 'gay cabal' of priests, reported CNN.
But veteran Vatican journalist Marco Politi said this idea was 'rubbish', adding: 'Here in the Vatican, there are monsignors who have love affairs, with women and with men. But they hide it.'
Mr Dowd added: 'I've got my own experience of being in religious life myself. And I can tell you that gay men are massively, massively overrepresented in Catholic life. There's nothing wrong with that.
Shit's gettin' real, yo. :-D
Yep. The knives are coming out.
Lulz. Maybe ill live to see the day the catholic church collapses. I would like to watch Italy repossess the Vatican.
I'm wondering... We're hearing about so many of these so called 'sex scandals' within the Catholic Church, but how much of the same sort of thing is going on in the Anglican and Greek Orthodox Churches that never see the light of day?
I mean, they're pretty much clones of the Catholic Church, or am I mistaken??
Noodle, it's not just those, either. The Protestants in America have their own molesters: http://www.reformation.com/CSA/baptistsabuse.html (http://www.reformation.com/CSA/baptistsabuse.html)
So do you reckon Pope Benny is getting his ass out of there before even more shit hits the fan?
The catholic church is a gay religion . Most nuns and priests are gay .
Quote'This is a very unhealthy stage for the church, because basically when you have secrecy, you have lies - and when you have lies, people often are put in terrible pressures of being compromised.'
So, basically, the Catholic Church, for the entirety of its history, has been in this "unhealthy stage," then.
Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"Noodle, it's not just those, either. The Protestants in America have their own molesters: http://www.reformation.com/CSA/baptistsabuse.html (http://www.reformation.com/CSA/baptistsabuse.html)
I don't think that website is being updated any more. The most recent articles are from 2003. But you can find plenty of recent articles by Googling "Protestant church abuses," "Baptist sex scandals," and similar phrases. There is no lack of criminal behavior of all kinds in nearly every major denomination around the world. Churches are the perfect havens for rapists, child molesters, thieves, you name it, because for some reason, nobody ever suspects anyone of wrongdoing in the church.
Indeed, Lois, it's old news. Sad, old news.
Quote from: "stromboli"Shit's gettin' real, yo. :-D
If a person can't imagine or doesn't want a heterosexual marriage, I could understand committing your life to the church, assuming you are Catholic, of course. I doubt that most gays see the Church as a gay hangout. Some might, but if you are indoctrinated by Catholicism, why not become a priest?
I see nothing wrong with gays in the clergy. Pedophilia, which is not the same thing as homosexuality, is the scandal here. Gays in the clergy are fine. Child molesters in the clergy are not.
Quote from: "SGOS"Quote from: "stromboli"Shit's gettin' real, yo. :-D
If a person can't imagine or doesn't want a heterosexual marriage, I could understand committing your life to the church, assuming you are Catholic, of course. I doubt that most gays see the Church as a gay hangout. Some might, but if you are indoctrinated by Catholicism, why not become a priest?
I see nothing wrong with gays in the clergy. Pedophilia, which is not the same thing as homosexuality, is the scandal here. Gays in the clergy are fine. Child molesters in the clergy are not.
Actually, most of the stories don't involve pedophilia. They involve hebophilia, which is a sexual attraction to sexually-mature teenagers. Not the same thing - not even close. Hell, most porn mags and websites try for 18 year-old models, and they only stop at 18 because 15 is illegal. Sexually mature humans are hottest when they're between 15 and 25.
Pedophilia is an attraction to sexually immature children. Some of the abusive priests were going after 10-year-old altar boys, but most were chasing that fine 15-year-old male tail.
I'm sure they will find a way to blame the secular left for all of their troubles.
Quote from: "gussy"I'm sure they will find a way to blame the secular left for all of their troubles.
To be fair the secular left is responsible for a lot of their problems.
I think it's wonderful.
Quote from: "Davka"Pedophilia is an attraction to sexually immature children. Some of the abusive priests were going after 10-year-old altar boys, but most were chasing that fine 15-year-old male tail.
... which is still criminal, in America.
Where did you find your age breakdown on the victims?
Quote from: "SGOS"If a person can't imagine or doesn't want a heterosexual marriage, I could understand committing your life to the church, assuming you are Catholic, of course. I doubt that most gays see the Church as a gay hangout. Some might, but if you are indoctrinated by Catholicism, why not become a priest?
I see nothing wrong with gays in the clergy. Pedophilia, which is not the same thing as homosexuality, is the scandal here. Gays in the clergy are fine. Child molesters in the clergy are not.
Yup. Why do they give it the big anti-gay old testament fire and brimstone shit? Is this just denial on a massive scale?
Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"Quote from: "Davka"Pedophilia is an attraction to sexually immature children. Some of the abusive priests were going after 10-year-old altar boys, but most were chasing that fine 15-year-old male tail.
... which is still criminal, in America.
This tarnishes the image of law abiding gays. Maybe it's a plot by the church to set back the gay movement. :)