Big George Speaks
My favourite cape-wearing Australian football hooligan -- Cardinal Pell to you -- has given an interview to a Catholic web-journal in Oz.
On Benedict, Pell says
Via Papabile.
-30-
"I do think the pressures on the clergy today are precisely because of the pansexualism of society," he said. “But even the pansexualism of today though would be considerably less than in the time of the Roman Empire and paganism.”What's Latin for "The spirit of Castrillion is upon me"?
“I don't favour the abandoning of the discipline of compulsory celibacy in the Western Church for the clergy for a number of reasons. It could be changed. The Church could ordain married men. So I tell our seminarians ‘It's never going to work the other way. You'll never be able to be ordained and then go looking for a wife.’ The Church might change its discipline and ordain married men [but] I'm not in favour of that for a number of practical and spiritual reasons.”I agree -- how curious that he's keeping the door open, however.....
I know his cousin the nun has had a rather tough time of it.Cardinal Pell said that allowing priests to marry could invite other problems.
“I know that the public notoriety that I have had here and there that my family has found it rather difficult..."
On Benedict, Pell says
Even today, you can't imagine how difficult it sometimes can be to travel around Germany in 15 feet of scarlet moire, either. But these things happen.“It is not without significance that the Catholic Church was able to choose a German. I am not sure how long ago that would have been impossible. At the end of a press conference in Rome one of the reporters said ‘What does it mean that the Catholic Church has chosen a German as Pope?’ I said I think it means that the Second World War is finally over and that we can turn the page on that appalling section of history.
“A young German woman who works in the Vatican Radio came up to me and said she was very pleased that I said that because even today you can't imagine how difficult it sometimes can be even in other parts of Europe travelling around and saying that you're German.”
Via Papabile.
-30-
posted by Rocco Palmo at 17:56
1 Comments:
I was in grad school with an Eastern Rite Bishop who talked about the constant struggle that his priests had in balancing family and parish administration. He issued a mandate that they all had to take Monday and Saturday off and that only the unmarried guys could do Saturday night services. Helped a bit. I think this might be what Pell is referring to.
Meanwhile in NJ an Anglican priest who was accepted into the Roman rite was removed from his parish because he was found guilty of beating his wife. Most of these guys left the Anglicans over the ordination of women and yet the Vatican thought they'd they'd make good priests here. Then when you hear these stories you gotta wonder if they are just part of the he-man woman haters club.
Pell may be saying that the guys who are married priests already are facing huge challenges and perhaps he thinks we can learn from that, study it, and avoid some of the problems we already know could happen.
Post a Comment
<< Home