Originally posted by Orthodox Catholic:
... when a gay priest was caught he was transferred to another parish.
Alex,
In the U.S., this is known as the "turkey dance."
Straight seminarians who wanted to marry got the boot. Then again, many straight seminarians just got up and walked out for good leaving the church with vocations who knew how to comply (read: play the game).
But it was considered a "free decision" on the part of the seminarian to join a special caste of celibate priests. You either accepted mandatory celibacy or didn't. That was freedom.
I hate to say this, but in a society with such a high divorce rate, too many single parent families, and misguided ideas about marriage, - celibacy doesn't mean diddly squat to anyone.
Joe
