First Seminary Investigation Begins

At Aquinas in St. Louis...

I am familiar with the Rector/President, had him at a class at the Aquinas Institute (same place) in St. Louis back in the early 90's. They used to brag about one of their nuns having an MDiv so that when the ban on women's ordination was lifted she would be ready to go...gives you an idea of where they are coming from... not surprising to hear his comments.

From STLtoday - News - St. Louis City / County:

The 25 candidates studying to become priests at Aquinas Institute of Theology
were described as 'anxious' but not worried Monday as a Vatican team began
evaluating how they are prepared intellectually, spiritually and sexually for
priesthood.

And an op-ed in the St. Louis Dispatch by the President Rector:

Priests are not sexless.

Priestly celibacy is a free choice to forgo sex and marriage for the sake of ministry. Like marriage, celibacy can be difficult, even burdensome. Those of us who have chosen it do so because we believe it is the best way for us to achieve our life's purpose. The goal is not to suppress sexuality but to shape it into a truly creative force in the service of others. Priests are loving, caring, feeling and, yes, even desiring, human persons. We wouldn't want it any other way.

Homosexuality and pedophilia are not the same.

Homosexuality involves attraction to adult persons of the same sex and is not in itself sinful or sick. There is no evidence that a homosexual orientation, in and of itself, prevents a seminarian from achieving the same holiness and ministerial effectiveness as a seminarian with a heterosexual orientation.

On the other hand, a pedophile has no interest in adult sexual relationships and is attracted only to children.

Most victims of pedophilia are girls, and most molesters are male family members. Pedophilia is a serious pathology that is resistant to therapy. It is found in every social class, within every racial and ethnic group and in every profession. There is no evidence that pedophilia is more prevalent among priests than in society at large.

William F. Buckley Jr. on Monsignor Clark

At William F. Buckley Jr. on Monsignor Clark on National Review Online

Amy in the New York Times

Well done, of course...



New York Times Op-Ed The Sins of the Seminaries

No Publication Date for Seminarian Document

According to National Catholic Reporter quoting Vatican "officials".

Feast of St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Padre Pio...

From the Canonization Homily by Pope John Paul II:

"But may I never boast except in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6,14).

Is it not, precisely, the "glory of the Cross" that shines above all in Padre Pio? How timely is the spirituality of the Cross lived by the humble Capuchin of Pietrelcina. Our time needs to rediscover the value of the Cross in order to open the heart to hope.

Throughout his life, he always sought greater conformity with the Crucified, since he was very conscious of having been called to collaborate in a special way in the work of redemption. His holiness cannot be understood without this constant reference to the Cross.

In God's plan, the Cross constitutes the true instrument of salvation for the whole of humanity and the way clearly offered by the Lord to those who wish to follow him (cf. Mk 16,24). The Holy Franciscan of the Gargano understood this well, when on the Feast of the Assumption in 1914, he wrote: "In order to succeed in reaching our ultimate end we must follow the divine Head, who does not wish to lead the chosen soul on any way other than the one he followed; by that, I say, of abnegation and the Cross" (Epistolario II, p. 155).

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Power of St. Rita of Cascia's Intercession

From a commentor on the Huricane post below:

The professor of history and Moral Theology at the Seminary I attendeed for two years is a brilliant priest named Father Juan-Carlos Iscara, from Argentina. He was having problems with his visa my first year, and thought he might have to be deported. The summer between my first and second year, either his passport or his visa expired (I can't remember) and he was still in America. Whatever it was, not only was he facing certain deportation, but also maybe jail time, due to the laws in Argentina.

Father has a great devotion to St. Rita of Cassia, and prayed a novena to her to fix the problem. So he went to the Argentine embassy to sort it out. Normally, that means he went to turn himself in.

After a long wait in line, he went up to the counter, and the lady behind the counter asked Father if he would say a Mass for her mother in honor of St. Rita. She then told him how devoted she was to St. Rita and was very grateful, because American priests were so reticent to do such a thing. So Father said, "That's wonderful. But what about the visa/passport?" She said, "I'm in charge here. Your visa/passport has been approved. Have a nice day, Father." That was it, thanks to St. Rita.

Let's ask St. Rita to beg God to spare eastern Texas. St. Rita, pray for us.