tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87570284599667310252024-03-12T21:06:09.695-04:00Rent a Priest: The Story of CITISo many people have asked about the origin of Rentapriest.com, e.g. CITI Ministries (Celibacy Is the Issue), that this blog has been created for the purpose of telling the story. For information about rentapriest.com as well as a listing of married Roman Catholic priests available for sacramental and pastoral care, visit www.rentapriest.com.Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-1373163189159445252014-02-12T06:37:00.004-05:002014-02-12T06:37:52.235-05:00If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read the archived blogs first since the story is being written somewhat chronologically. What is posted below is the most recent. Thank you.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Saturday, February 1, 2014</span></h2>
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Installment 3</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crossing the threshold into the inner-workings of the church albeit the church community or church reform is like stepping into another culture, probably best compared to becoming an educator, or going into politics, or moving to a third world country for a few years. New socialization is required. It is somewhat of a shock initially because you've been Catholic all your life and you thought you knew what was going on. So many questions. For instance, who outside the church's inner circle knew that mandatory celibacy was not God's law? Who knew the law was churchmen's law, churchmen's political law? Who even knew that 100,000 priests had left? Who knew that priests fooled around? We were accustomed to the transient lifestyles of most pastors and curates in our parishes. Most transitioned after six or seven years. Who knew where they went? Catholics thought it was to another parish. The majority of us didn't realize many were leaving to get married. These new findings were very different and I was such a neophyte. Many married priests were innocent too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who knew that the political hierarchy wrote two sets of Canon Laws, first to forbid priests to marry and forbid priests who married from exercising their ministry. The second set of laws --21 of them--reminded priests of their duty to minister if they were asked by the people. In fact, one law specifically says the request cannot be refused (Canon 843). Did the hierarchy have fears of divine repercussion because of the mandatory celibacy law they wrote in 1139? They knew it did not come from God. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second set of laws--those that forced priests to minister when asked--were written but never made public, so no one really knew unless they read <strong>The Cole of Canon Law.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Most importantly, priests were bound by promise to obey the bishop at all costs--even after they left their clerical position. Lee Ganim was told to move 500 miles away from his station when he took a leave of absence, and he did. Anthony Padovano was told he would be welcome again after his wife died. Ralph Pinto was told to have an affair ("Get it out of your system.") instead of marrying Linda. Fortunately, he did not obey. All were told never to tell anyone they were a priest, and to put their chalice in the closet forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I was defiant all of my life. I guess I would have never made it in a convent. Strange that I should have been the one who would take those 21 Canon Laws to encourage married priests to defy the promises they made to their Bishop, obey Canon Law and take care of the people. Strange that the Canon Law research had been sitting around married priest circles for twenty years and no one was doing anything about it. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">I remember attending a workshop on Canon Law, conducted by a Canon Lawyer, at my first married priest conference in June, 1992. One priest wanted to know if he would be permitted to celebrate the Eucharist (Mass) in his living room with his family. His chalice had been put away for years and the only thing he was told he could do was to provide the Last Rites to a dying person.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">The CITI workshop the morning of the conference had maybe seven or eight married priests in the audience. As we were sharing stories, one priest told of a Chicago area church that had no resident pastor, yet 19 married priests would be sitting in the pews when the visiting priest came for Sunday Mass. (They called the visiting priest a circuit rider who celebrated Mass in three or four churches each week.) So I said, "Why not puncture the visiting priest's tires at his previous parish earlier in the day so a married priest could say Mass instead?" They thought it was funny, but the concept rang a bell because the morning workshop attended by 8 was followed by a larger room and people sitting on the floor at the afternoon session--75 or 80 people.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">It was also at that conference that I saw, however never met, Del Smolinski, the Canon Lawyer who changed my life in CITI. Del had spent twenty years researching <strong>The Code of Canon Law</strong> which he was able to use for his own position as a married Catholic hospital chaplain back in the 1980s and 1990s. It was what we needed to put these priests back in public ministry, at the time I thought for the purpose of replacing circuit rider priests with resident pastors in the many churches that had already been closed because of the priest exodus. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Del Smolinski, 1993 </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">So, what to do about all this information? Canon Law that allowed married priests to minister publicly and 25,000 U.S. priests married and awaiting the (second) call. It was my summer dilemma. My summer prayer. My summer questions to God: "So, you've called me to Your service; you've given me this enlightenment and knowledge, but, you haven't told me what to do. I need a little help here." </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">The married priest conference took place in the latter part of June,following months of research on my new curiosities regarding mandatory celibacy. Stories were also abounding about clergy sexual abuse, stories one would see only if one were looking. I was seeking reactions from other mainstream Catholics--"Who else knew what I had discovered?"</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">I became inspired to actually write ad copy for the first time in my life (my work in the Boston advertising agency had been on the business end, not creative). These ads addressed the issues of priest shortages, closed churches and the political climate surrounding the hierarchy regarding mandatory celibacy. Dick and I had received a healthy bonus for sales achievements the previous year. I used my share to incorporate CITI and to run ads in National Catholic Reporter to arouse interest among the religious community, and in regional issues of TV Guide Magazine to create awareness among the public sector. The response was phenomenal. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These above ads were part of a series of ads directed to the Bishops that ran in National Catholic Reporter in 1992. They were among other ads winning the prestigious Boston Hatch Awards that year.</div>
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The above ads ran in regional editions of TV Guide Magazine and also won prestigious awards in Boston Hatch Awards. My greatest joy was when they were hung next to ads written for the Archdiocese of Boston in 1993.</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Letters and $$ arrived from priests and married priests, along with stories from the general public who had suffered emotional abuse at parish level (e.g., one grandmother wrote that her two grandchildren would not be baptized because her son "no longer attended Sunday Mass and was not putting donations in the basket.") At that time, no one really knew that almost 75% of the Catholic population no longer attended weekly services (1992). TV Guide later wrote that they hadn't had this kind of reaction to any ads in their magazine in over 15 years. Our ads ran in only 7 out of 106 Tv Guide markets.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">I was perplexed. So many churches had closed, so many had no resident priest, so many Catholics without the Sacraments especially those in dire need like my Mother. Why then, were the news releases I was sending the media regarding optional celibacy not being published? Why were they completely ignored? I certainly knew what I was doing given 17 years experience in advertising and television and another almost 13 or so years in sales and marketing.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Several articles had been written about clergy sexual abuse and mandatory celibacy by a reporter for the New Orleans Times Picayune in the late 1980s and early 1990s. When I contacted him to inquire about the CITI news releases, he said that the subject unfortunately was being treated with a "ho hum" attitude by the news media because, "mandatory celibacy has been around for 860 years and isn't about to change soon." He wished me well and added, "I hope you don't lose your faith over this."</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">At the end of these puzzling weeks, I threw the problem back to the Holy Spirit, "If you want me to do something, you're going to have to come up with a better plan." That was my prayer throughout July and August, 1992.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">In mid-September, I was in Maine at our cottage with my sister who was visiting for a few days. During one of the weekend nights, I had a dream, a vision. I saw two hands holding the Communion Host the way we see during Eucharist at Mass. However, there was a brilliant gold ring on the third finger of the left hand. I even saw the brochure with this illustration in my dream. Above it, three words:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><div align="center">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">RENT A PRIEST</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Oh My God!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The next day, I phoned Del Smolinski and told him of my vision. I then set up a conference call among Del, another married priest and myself and together, we developed the contents of the brochure to include pertinent information regarding Canon Laws that validated married priests and their public ministry...along with suggestions as to how one might call a priest for spiritual needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The slogan Rent A Priest became so popular that it brought to our front door, television cameras from as far away as Belgium and Austria, later NY Times and the front page of the International Herald Tribune. Reporters made fun of it, some thought it was irreverent, we even made news in National Catholic Reporter in February 1994.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"> Belgian Catholic Television Crew</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"> in Framingham, Mass. USA to</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"> do a story on Rent A Priest, (youtube.com/also vimeo.com)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"> prompting a Rent A Priest</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"> organization of married priests</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"> in their country.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Most excitingly, 60 Minutes saw our little homemade booth with a felt cloth sign in the fall of 1994 at a national Catholic church reform conference. The Mike Wallace interview in 1995 (youtube.com) was my personal favorite because CITI's married priest Vice President John Shuster and I had not been invited to participate in the round of interviews taking place at that weekend's conference, yet we were the ones who made the cut. The slogan was controversial and we were an embarrassment to many of the more conservative church folks. But, the public "got it."</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mike Wallace, Rev. John Shuster, Louise Haggett, January 1995 (youtube.com and vimeo.com)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">While our intention was to attract priestless parishes, the surprising response to Rent A Priest was among the unchurched,</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> lapsed Catholics as well as the many divorced who wanted to remarry without an annulment, and for various interfaith rituals--those among the hundreds of thousands who had been turned away from their local parish. Our motto became: "If the church says no, call us."</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">By the end of 1992, we were beginning to get requests for priests, but hardly had any priests to respond. Even though they were obligated to the people, defiance of their promises to their bishop was a difficult thing to overcome and they had not yet been convinced enough.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">#</span></div>
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<span class="post-author vcard" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 1em;">Posted by <span class="fn" itemprop="author" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a class="g-profile" data-gapiattached="true" data-gapiscan="true" data-onload="true" href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483" rel="author" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;" title="author profile"><span itemprop="name">Louise Haggett</span> </a></span></span><span class="post-timestamp" style="margin-left: -1em; margin-right: 1em;">at <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/2014/02/installment-3-holy-spirit-are-you.html" rel="bookmark" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" itemprop="datePublished" style="border: none;" title="2014-02-01T08:31:00-08:00">8:31 AM</abbr></a> </span><span class="post-comment-link" style="margin-right: 1em;"><a class="comment-link" href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/2014/02/installment-3-holy-spirit-are-you.html#comment-form" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">1 comment: </a></span><span class="post-icons" style="margin-right: 1em;"><span class="item-control blog-admin pid-287279637" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6337885625276243622&postID=4116975859341740247&from=pencil" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;" title="Edit Post"><img alt="" class="icon-action" height="18" src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5em !important; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;" width="18" /> </a></span></span><div class="post-share-buttons goog-inline-block" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;">
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Saturday, January 25, 2014</h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Installment No. 2</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Setting the Tone</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><u> </u></span></o:p></div>
<u>The Call</u><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>“See my servant, whom I uphold; my Chosen One, in whom I delight. I have put my Spirit upon him; he will reveal justice to the nations of the world. He will be gentle—he will not shout nor quarrel in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the dimly burning flame. He will see full justice given to all who have been wronged. He won’t be satisfied until truth and righteousness prevail throughout the earth.”<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I sat in the church pew in January, 1992 on the Feast Day of Jesus, I heard the above reading from Isaiah 42 and instinctively believed that God was talking to me. It was so powerful that I looked around me to see if anyone else was impacted. It was like thinking someone is waving at you from the other side of a crowded room and you look around to see if the wave is meant for someone else. No one else looked as stunned as I was so it was definitely my call, one that I would hear many times over the next few Januaries. That experience was to be the first of many profound “spiritual doo-doos” especially in the 1990s.</span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">W</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">hen the Holy Spirit plucks you out of nowhere and starts inspiring you pretty directly, it’s difficult to ignore! There is no mistaking it! When you are singled out, you feel like you're the only one called. You and you alone. And there is no mistaking that you have to respond, probably like when Jesus chose his Apostles; or even when He picked the first seven women who were ordained by three Roman Catholic bishops in Austria several years ago; or the Chosen Few among the hundreds of thousands of Catholic clergy sexual abuse victims who are bringing the church to justice today; even Pope Francis who is trying to right the wrongs in the church. The call is inescapable no matter where you are or what you are doing.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That was the beginning of the formation of CITI-Celibacy Is the Issue though I did not know it at the time. The call was real--the blueprint missing.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /><u>The Eye Opener</u></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The eye-opening experience that led to the mission was my childhood friend Jeanne who visited me at my Dad’s funeral. in February 1991. I had not seen Jeanne in 40 years so imagine my surprise when her response to my question, "So what does someone our age do around here for excitement?" (I knew she had been divorced). She said, "My life is quite complete. I have been in a relationship with a priest for 13 years." I was speechless. I had <b><i>never heard</i></b> of such a thing! </span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jeanne and I reconnected and shared lunch several times over the next few months. My family was going to Maine frequently to clean out and sell our homestead. Since I had recently discovered the shortages in the Roman Catholic priesthood while trying to find a priest to visit my Mom, I was too curious not to ask questions about her relationship with her priest friend. This was all so new to me. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would later spend many hours at various libraries in Maine and Boston during 1991 and 1992, where I discovered priests in relationships, priests who had married and clergy sexual abuse. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While churches were closing in the Midwest, nothing so public was happening on the East Coast. In fact, eleven families in a remote area of Wisconsin had become Episcopalian because their local Catholic church was closed and sold to another denomination. The congregation had been forced to drive great distances to attend Sunday Mass.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Regarding clergy sexual abuse, I found a 15-page article that appeared in <strong>Vanity Fair</strong> in December, <em>1991</em> regarding a very public case in New Orleans, where the priest perpetrator had been hidden from the courts for two years because he was a friend of the Catholic District Attorney.</span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p>Another powerful<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> "spiritual happening" occurred in 1991 at the funeral of the father of a friend of ours, a few months after that of our parents. The impact of another grieving family so soon after my own parents never occurred to me, else I might not have attended. I cried throughout . </span></o:p><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the casket was coming down the church aisle to leave for the cemetery, all of a sudden I felt a loving arm against my back, holding me. I turned left, right and behind. No one had touched me. It was definitely the spirit of some being or Being. I'll never forget that moment.</span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our religion was not a participatory religion. My recollection is that we were never taught theology or the Scriptures, only church rules and regulations. and we were not really spiritually aware as children at such sacraments like Baptism (birth), First Communion (7 years old) and Confirmation at about 13 years old. Even to this day, the Catholic Church prefers we not read the Bible unless an ordained priest is available to provide the church's "interpretation" as our local congregation was recently told at a winter retreat. </span></o:p><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is therefore, not unusual that we as mainstream Catholics would not remember being informed of the Vatican II Synod that took place in the 1960s.</span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A simplistic summary of Vatican II: Pope John 23rd called the Synod explaining that it was time to "open the windows and let the fresh air in." Among other major changes that might take place like Mass in the vernacular, it was expected that birth control would now be allowed among practicing Catholics. Most important to those inside the walls was the issue of optional celibacy for priests. The expectation was that priests would now be allowed to marry. Unfortunately, our</span></o:p><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> beloved Pope died while the Synod was in progress. When Pope Paul VI took over, everything changed--and nothing changed regarding these major issues except Mass in the local language. </span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The twenty years that followed saw a mass exodus of priests, 9 out of 10 to marry. Of those, 40%-45% married nuns. Thus, the beginning of priest shortages in the church. A sociological study conducted in the 1980s with files from diocesan archives is available in the book<strong> Full Pews and Empy Altars</strong>(Schoenherr and Young, 1993).</span></o:p><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the spring of 1992, someone recommended that I read <strong>Shattered Vows </strong>by award-winning journalist and married priest David Rice. It was an account of some of the priests who left their clerical status to marry. The book was translated into eight languages and became a bestseller in several European countries with a television documentary to follow. <strong>Shattered Vows</strong> was blocked from distribution in the U.S. When the U.S. version was finally released, it was abridged, edited to remove pages that implicated the bishops and their harsh treatment of priests who married. (Later when the original unabridged bestseller edition was finally published for the U.S. audience, the Catholic Church bought the U.S. publishing house and the newly-printed books never made it to the retail shelves. One can occasionally find a used copy of the original book on Amazon.com.)<o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was particularly drawn to the chapter featuring Carla and Paolo Camellini, a Carmelite priest from Italy. Carla was a church-authenticated visionary like St. Teresa of Avila, founder of the Carmelite order, both having spiritually ecstatic relationships with Jesus. Carla, a widow with two children spent summer vacations in the area where Fr. Paolo happened to be the local pastor. During one of her vacations, she experienced an intercession with Jesus, directing her to tell Paulo that they were to be married, and to form an international association of married priests. (There were over 100,000 married priests worldwide at the time.)</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Carla was reluctant to approach this priest she hardly knew, but did as she was told. Within two weeks, Paolo was granted a dispensation from Rome from his celibacy vows and they were married.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ten years later, Carla received a new Divine message that “it was time” to begin the work on a global married priest movement, which became the International Federation of Married Priests, formed by Paolo, Rev. Heinz Jurgen Vogels, then President of the German Married Priest movement and one or two other married priests from various European countries.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Carla Camellini, October, 1995, Assisi Italy<br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was profoundly touched by the story of the Camellinis because through my many readings and prayerful moments the previous few months, Teresa of Avila was strongly in my presence and I had no idea why. I contacted <strong>Shattered Vows</strong> author David Rice in Ireland and said, “I have to meet Paolo and Carla.” His response, “It would be Impossible because they live in a very small remote Italian village and they don’t speak English." (</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would meet them a year later.) </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">St. Teresa of Avila’s presence every day was so strong, I was crushed at the news of being unable to communicate with the Camellinis, but kept wondering, “What does Teresa of Avila have to do with all this?” There was also a lot of “Why ME?” going on too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Prior to my involvement as a now more informed Catholic, I had also never heard of mystical theologians. The spiritual inspirations during CITI's foundation especially in 1992 were so frequent at times that I was afraid I was beginning to "lose it." I would wake up in the morning and say to Dick, “Wow! Do you know what the Holy Spirit said last night?” His response, “Sure.” He thought for sure I had gone off the deep end.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was finally given the name of mystical theologian Dr. Keith Egan connected with Notre Dame. When I related to him all that was happening, He said, “I believe you. Stop worrying about where the messages are coming from and just do what you’re told.” At that point, I knew that at least I wasn't nuts, and followed his direction. Dr. Egan also referred me to Sister Vilma at a nearby Carmelite Monastery and suggested that I visit her at some point. However, when I called, she was traveling doing retreats and would not be available until fall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On October 15, 1992, I was traveling to the western part of Massachusetts doing some sales work. For some reason, Teresa of Avila was taking over my thought process throughout the day. I couldn't concentrate on my work and couldn't figure out why. When I returned to our office in Framingham about 6:30 p.m. just prior to going home, I felt compelled to reach Sr. Vilma right away. I called the Monastery and was told, that Sr. Vilma "could not come to the phone right now. This is the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila and Sr. Vilma is very busy getting ready for a special service at 7:00 tonight." I freaked out! I quickly shut out the lights, closed the office door and went home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A pamphlet was in our mailbox the next day announcing a series of mystical workshops at a Franciscan Monastery in Northern Massachusetts and the first one would be featuring St. Teresa of Avila. Needless to say, I attended. The talk was given by Fr. Kieran Kavanaugh, a Carmelite who had spent his life researching this saint and had written many books on her. Fr. Kavanaugh said, and this was confirmed later by Sr. Vilma, that the main focus of Teresa of Avila and the Carmelite order was to pray for the "priesthood" and for the "preservation of the sacraments." </span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On November 3, 1994, Paulo and Carla Camellini wrote me that <em>"one of the last message from Jesus to Carla was to proclaim Santa Teresa D'Avila like Patron Saint of Married Priests mission. As you can see, through to Teresa D'Avila , God joint us to you and you to us." [sic.]</em></span></div>
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<span class="post-labels" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">Labels: <a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/Carmelites" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Carmelites</a>, <a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/Full%20Pews%20and%20Empty%20Altars" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Full Pews and Empty Altars</a>, <a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/Heinz%20Jurgen%20Vogels" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Heinz Jurgen Vogels</a>, <a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/International%20Federation%20of%20Married%20Priests" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">International Federation of Married Priests</a>, <a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/Kieran%20Kavanagh" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Kieran Kavanagh</a>, <a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/Paolo%20and%20Carla%20Camellini" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Paolo and Carla Camellini</a>, <a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/Shattered%20Vows" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Shattered Vows</a>, <a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/St.%20Teresa%20of%20Avila" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">St. Teresa of Avila</a>,<a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/search/label/Vatican%20II%20Synod" rel="tag" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Vatican II Synod</a></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-22605352999376689002014-01-11T15:22:00.005-05:002014-01-11T15:25:14.490-05:00If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read the archived blogs first since the story is being written somewhat chronologically. What is posted below is the most recent. Thank you.<br />
<br />
A new blog has been started by this blogger. It will tell personal stories and photos behind the founding and running of CITI/Rentapriest. You may access the new blog at<br />
<a href="http://www.louisehaggett.blogspot.com/">www.louisehaggett.blogspot.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Thank you.<br />
<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://louisehaggett.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-little-of-my-background.html">A
Little of my Background</a> </h3>
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<strong><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A
Life of Extended Blessings</span></u></strong></div>
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<strong><u><span style="font-family: Verdana;">January 9,
2014</span></u></strong></div>
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<em>"Fighting ideas is like fighting clouds. You can punch and
kick, but what difference will it make? The way to impact the world today is by
tackling the tangible items." </em></div>
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When I read the above in my horoscope a few days ago, it was
like re-living my experiences in Rentapriest, a name that is still being googled
more frequently than its original parent company name CITI or Celibacy Is the
Issue. The horoscope reading finally inspired me to begin to reminisce on paper
(blog) about the 20 or so years of life-changing events for myself as well as
those who may have been impacted by Rentapriest, be they Roman Catholic priests,
their spouses or the recipients of their ministry, or the many who
have supported them and the mission of optional celibacy in the Catholic
Church.<br /><br />For those new to the story, Rent A Priest (Rentapriest) is a free
referral service of married Catholic priests (priests who married) available for
sacramental ministry to Catholics and others needing spiritual
assistance.<br /><br />My mother, Yvonne Blanche Gousse Labbe, was the inspiration
for the founding of CITI/Rentapriest, for it was in her time of need that I
discovered the shortage of priests and subsequently priests who married,
Catholic clergy sexual abuse* and a host of other politics in the Catholic
Church, what I had thought was my sanctuary. <br /><br />In the summer of 2013,
I was told that one of my mother's ancestors, Etienne de Lessard, donated the
land for the Ste. Anne de Beaupre Shrine in Ste Anne de Beauce, Quebec, Canada,
I thought, "Why am I not surprised. This is just another one of those 'doo-doo
doo-doo moments in my life." And so my husband Dick and I arranged a trip North.
I just wanted to see with my own eyes, and to drink the spirit of, Etienne de
Lessard, who is buried in the Church. Ste. Anne of course was Jesus' grandmother
and the Shrine is one of the foremost healing sanctuaries in the
world.<br /><br />My Mom was a very special woman. We've always described her as an
angel, also a very smart and strong woman. A Canadian priest cousin of my Dad's
told him of his betrothal to my mother in 1933 that she was "un morceau d'or" (a
piece of gold). The Ste Anne lineage was just another confirmation for me.<br />
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Divine intervention led me to CITI/Rentapriest in 1992 and the
most phenomenal journey of my life. The Holy Spirit even provided a nonprofit
specialist, married priest Rev. Donald Horrigan, to help me transition to
retirement when it was time in 2011. The stories behind the work of the
Holy Spirit during the 20 years of my involvement with CITI/Rentapriest have
never been told. I had been warned early on that only scholastic justification
would be recognized by the religious community, so "Don't tell those stories."
Well, this is the beginning of the stories that need to be told before the end
of my own life. </div>
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CITI/Rentapriest was "produced and directed" by the Holy Spirit.
I was just an instrument. I have no other explanation for the many
coincidences--God-incidence, providence or "doo-doo doo-doo happenings"--with
regard to my life in the movement.<br /> </div>
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Perhaps the earliest unusual spiritual experience I remember was
playing the part of Jesus in the first, second and third grades. I still wonder
why the nuns would have chosen a girl for the role in a co-ed school with
many boys available in my class. (I often wonder why the Holy Spirit chose a
woman for Rentapriest too). There was very little dialogue for my part of the
baby Jesus in the school play during the first two years. However, I remember
having to learn quite a few lines the third time I played the part. </div>
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During grade school, we lived a mile or so from the church. I
remember spending much of my weekend time at the church. I was fascinated by
weddings and funerals, especially the beautiful hymns. I don't recall much about
the funerals in terms of the dead or grieving families, but I do remember the
confetti and pretty wedding gowns. In fact, we would gather the confetti and
bring it home for the plays we put on in the garage. <br /><br />I remember writing
plays and directing them; in particular one in which the Blessed Mother was
Annette Baril from up the street. Annette's mother had the most beautiful
peonies I had ever seen so I staged a scene where there would be a peony at the
Blessed Mother's feet and of course, that would have to be portrayed by Annette
since she brought the flowers. In sixth or seventh grade, I remember writing and
directing a play for the entire school including the faculty of Presentation of
Mary sisters and the pastor and curates. It featured my friend Jackie Lessard as
Alice Blue Gown, a popular song in the mid to late 1940s. Jackie jokes today
that the reason she got the part was because she was the only one who had a blue
gown. </div>
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During these early years, a neighbor and I would also spend some
Saturdays at the convent helping the nuns clean up (wash windows, dust, etc.).
My spiritual devotion was pretty strong. I remember having Holy Water near my
bedroom door and talking to God in everyday conversation instead of rote
prayers. I still do that. Once my Mom asked if I had thought of becoming a nun.
That probably burst my bubble as it was never in my frame of reference even
though I enjoyed the company of the religious...nuns and priests, even to this
day. They have always provided a comfort factor in terms of "God talk" and I
love a Home Mass, a gathering of friends and family for more spiritual
sharings.<br /> </div>
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The friendships I had with nuns and priests as a schoolgirl and
into my adulthood was probably a major reason why the revelations in 1991-92
(shortage of priests, married priests, clergy sexual abuse, mandatory celibacy
and the rest of church politics) came as such a shock. As an adult, I wasn't
part of the internal system--parish council, Cursillo or other religious
group, but I considered myself a close secular friend to nuns and priests. I
thought I had an ear to the convents and rectories and these subjects never came
up in conversations. Many personal things from their lives were shared. However,
I had no idea that nuns or priests got married or even had romantic
relationships, let alone the politics and corruption. </div>
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When our Canadian cousin priest would visit in the summertime,
he always brought his housekeeper. Today, I wonder just who she was in his life.
Having Lucien around the house so much probably humanized these Holy people for
me, though I always revered them as the Chosen Few who responded to the gift of
the Holy Spirit--Jesus was alive in their belly, as I saw it. </div>
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Fast forward to the early 1990s and losing my parents five weeks
apart from one another. There are so many personal stories to tell about the
founding of CITI/Rentapriest especially as a result of my Mom's unexpected death
that I can hardly wait to get started. There are also some great
photos.<br /><br />*The Bingo Report: mandatory celibacy and clergy sexual abuse,
2005. Available through Amazon.com.<br />#<br /><br />(<em>As I write this, I realize
that in the 22 years that have passed, I don't think my siblings and I have ever
had a retrospective conversation about how the untimely death of our parents
affected us introspectively. We obviously went through the motions and emotions
together, but we are quite spread out geographically so our infrequent
gatherings surround children and grandchildren events, not around each other, an
interesting observation as we near our own end of life.)
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<span class="post-author vcard">Posted by <span class="fn" itemprop="author" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
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</footer><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-15115604225715403722010-11-06T07:29:00.003-04:002010-11-06T07:34:33.261-04:00"IF WE WAIT, RENTAPRIEST.COM WILL GO AWAY"If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read the archived blogs first since the story is being written somewhat chronologically. What is posted below is the most recent. Thank you.
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“IF WE WAIT, RENTAPRIEST.COM WILL GO AWAY.”</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In the late 1960s when it was expected that the Second Vatican Council would vote to end mandatory celibacy in the Catholic Church, priests were poised to get married. Then Pope John 23<sup>rd</sup> died and Pope Paul VI was in charge. Mandatory celibacy and birth control went out the same window that John 23<sup>rd</sup> had opened for this new fresh air to come from the Holy Spirit.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Shocked by the results of Vatican II, the climate in the Catholic priesthood changed and a mass exodus began that lasted for almost twenty-five years. Over 25,000 priests in the U.S. left their clerical ministry and nine out of ten did so to get married, many of them marrying nuns, according to a sociological study done in 1985 and reported in “Full Pews and Empty Altars” (Schoenherr and Young, 1990). </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Priests got jobs, started families and became part of the mainstream—some may even be your neighbors or co-workers today. When they left, however, resentment set in by the hierarchy, as one archbishop admitted; some were blackballed in their communities and couldn’t get decent work, and they were told by their bishops that under no circumstances were they allowed to function as priests—in fact, “don’t even think of celebrating Mass” and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“don’t tell anyone you’re a priest.” Some were forced to move as much as 500 miles away because of “scandal,” as the church put it. </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Through the efforts of one married priest Canon Lawyer, Delmar Smolinski of Michigan, research was conducted in the Code of Canon Law to find church laws that validate the priests’ ordination, and “what about those canons that apply to ministry?” Twenty-one canons were in fact found, beginning with, “…after it has been validly received, sacred ordination never becomes invalid,” (290). More importantly, in the laity section of the Code of Canon Laws lies power to invite a married priest to any sacrament for “any just cause” (1335) and that he “may not deny the Sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them” (843).</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">While Canon Laws may not be the reason hundreds of thousands of people have contacted rentapriest.com over the last 15 years, it has helped many priests realize that what the bishops told them upon leaving about their priesthood and ministry was not true. It may also explain the reason there has been no cease and desist from the Catholic institution. What CITI Ministries is doing in promoting their availability falls within these Canon Laws—we are valid. The people may not care, but CITI protects married priests in its defiance of the hierarchy, but not its laws.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">A few facts:</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">1. In 1996, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) based at Georgetown University, conducted a study of Catholics who no longer attended Catholic Church. The results, reported in Maine’s <u>Church World</u> in Feb. 1996 indicated that 73.3% of American Catholics (48 million) had stopped attending Catholic Church. Clergy sexual abuse revelations since 2002 only added to that figure so the publicly held figure of 30 million is grossly incorrect.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">2. When CITI MINISTRIES INC first went into “business” in 1992, it was with the notion that married priests would be invited by bishops and the parishioners to fill in where there were shortages in the church buildings. However, no one called. </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">3. Much to our surprise after some national publicity due to the name Rent A Priest (received by the Holy Spirit's inspiration in a dream), calls came from the unchurched. While mostly for marriage and remarriage because of denials by their pastor, many calls to rentapriest were also surprisingly received from those whose babies were refused baptism because the parents no longer attended Sunday Mass and “put money in the collection plate."</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">But, people get complacent and priests get even more complacent. Without the availability of married priests, many important life cycle events may not have the Catholic traditions we grew up with. Married priests may forget what was afforded to them by CITI Ministries by making this service available was out of their lives, in some cases for as much as 20 or 25 years.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Now, CITI is struggling to stay afloat. Is this the end of our mission? Maybe it’s the end of the commercial aspect of our mission and the referrals for marriages are taking care of themselves. Is this all married priests were looking for? A marriage business? </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">If it's the end of our mission, why are Home Churches popping up? A few of the laity are beginning to notice the value of CITI/Rentapriest because of its association with Roman Catholic married priests. In the past three years, 75 lay people have become support members of CITI. In addition, a clergy sexual abuse survivor and his wife who were responsible for starting a Home Church with married priests are now members of the CITI Board. </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">While these numbers may not seem like a lot, we are remindful that in 1994 with all its efforts at Corpus/FCM/CTA and other church reform meetings, CITI had only signed up <i>six</i> married priests for its referral service because the others were skeptical. Home Churches are a new phenomenon with Catholics, especially the ones on the fringe, and they too are skeptical. It will take time, but CITI’s laity support member base grew by 23% in 2010 over 2009. Something is going on!</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Please help support this effort to the end. We’re crossing a new threshold and really becoming the lay organization that we have been promoting, and we really need your help to continue. There is nothing better that the institution would like at this point than to see us disappear. That is their mantra. Will we succumb to their “If we wait, Rentapriest will go away?” or will we continue to support an organization that has (maybe too quietly) been using our ministry as our protest or our advocacy -- we don't picket -- no time because people need us for spiritual assistance. Close to a half million folks have contacted CITI/rentapriest for a free married priest referral in the past 15 years or so.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">How can you help? If you’re a married priest certified member, continue your certification <i>with an added donation</i>. If you’re a sacramental recipient, become a support member at $50 per year for the couple. If you are a Home Church member, do likewise; maybe set up a special collection once a month to benefit CITI's work. If you are none of these things but believe in our ministry, please send a donation so it can continue--so we can continue to recruit married priests and so we can continue to supply referrals. CITI is a 501.c3 non profit and all donations are tax deductible. You can donate online at </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><a title="http://www.rentapriest.com/" href="http://www.rentapriest.com/" target="_blank"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: blue">www.rentapriest.com</span></a></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> or send a donation to CITI Ministries, Inc. 14 Middle Street, Brunswick, ME 04011.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Thank you and God bless you.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In behalf of all of us,</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Sincerely,</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Louise Haggett, Founder/President</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">CITI Ministries, Inc.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 12pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family:Calibri;"> </span></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-19897890285428782822010-04-22T13:19:00.004-04:002010-04-23T23:33:26.237-04:00Church Culpability and the International Criminal Court (A Catholic Holocaust?)--Chapter 11Louise Haggett, 1997 and 2010, All Rights Reserved.
We learn values as children from our parents, teachers and especially from those anointed by God in the religious denomination to which we may belong. These individuals bring us the Word of God and teach us what is right and wrong. This is the reason it is so difficult for me to face the reality of my beloved Catholic Church being involved in criminal behavior, especially involving our most innocent children. The global numbers of clergy sexual abuse victims is staggering, some say over one billion.
There have been Class Action Suits against priests and bishops, legal accusations of collusion between the church and courts, Federal Racketeering charges in the U.S. because children were transported across state lines where sexual abuse took place, silencing and gag orders attempted against victims and attorneys; countersuing and wiretapping since 1993 (Wall Street Journal-1993), and countless cases involving obstruction of justice. The Catholic institution has also tried to avoid trial by claiming the First Amendment (separation of church and state in the U.S.) or by claiming that “priests are not employees of the institution” therefore not the church’s responsibility. Some of these tactics are still being utilized as the Vatican faces abuse cases in several European countries, closer to home than the United States.
It was only a matter of time before the notion of the church’s culpability would reach the heights of the International Crime Court as recently suggested by high ranking United Nations (UN) Judge Geoffrey Robertson. He said, “the Pope should be prosecuted at International Criminal Court.”* It makes one wonder if these atrocities affecting millions of children (or maybe a billion as suggested by some) are similar to the Holocaust? Are the crimes of the church like the legacies of Nuremberg? Is the Vatican a “criminal state?”
*(Yoshihara, <a href="http://www.c-fam.org/publications/pub_detail.asp?id=1606">http://www.c-fam.org/publications/pub_detail.asp?id=1606</a>)
In the broad spectrum, clergy sexual abuse is a crime against humanity too. It differs from Nuremberg however in that these crimes involve a “state of people” rather than a “political state.” What perhaps makes it more heinous is that the majority of its victims are the innocent children of the world. The following examines research conducted on bureaucracy as it related to the Holocaust, as well as the Catholic Church’s current NGO status (non-Member State Permanent Observer) with the UN.
In a paper entitled The Legacies of Nuremberg, author David Luban says, “The framers of Nuremberg were confronted with a new offense, the bureaucratic crime, and a novel political menace, the criminal state. Limiting themselves to traditional legal concepts—sovereignty, individual criminal liability, conspiracy—and unwilling to question either the political system of nation-states or the character of responsibility in bureaucratic settings, they came to the brink of recognizing the novelty of criminal states but ultimately failed to comprehend this major challenge of our [20th] century (1987, p. 779).
Nuremberg is seen by some as a “founding moment of the modern human-rights movement.” Are the crimes of a supposedly moral institution are also a “profound moment of the modern human-rights movement?” In order to put the notion of a Catholic Holocaust into perspective, it is necessary to examine the similarities between the Holocaust and the crimes of the Catholic Church.
<strong>The Church as a Bureaucracy</strong>
<strong></strong>
Let us first look at the issue of “bureaucracy.” Bureaucracy is the centralization of administrative power within major organizations or institutions so that its hierarchy—whether an individual or a committee—can control the individuals or groups in their influence. According to Alexis de Tocqueville, “bureaucracy or centralized administration, however, can lead to the suppression of internal dissent in an effort to further consolidate its power” (1995 p. 303).
David Luban says, “The bureaucracy is a circle from which no one can escape. Its hierarchy is a hierarchy of knowledge. The highest point entrusts the understanding of particulars to the lower echelons, whereas these, on the other hand, credit the highest with an understanding in regard to the universal; and thus they deceive one another” (ibid. p.814).
According to Jack Katz, “In the white collar ranks of formal organizations, persons construct authority to govern internal relations by shielding members from external scrutiny and by declining to force members to accept their responsibilities according to externally defined norms.” (1977 p.3)
This is how “cover-ups” happen. As an organization builds internal authority, collective integrity becomes a secondary focus which can result in deviant behavior. In its attempt to maintain internal authority, the bureaucracy covers up the crime to protect the honor of the organization and maintain control of the deviant. This pattern manifests itself to other members of the organization who see the deviance as acceptable until the problem becomes uncontrollable. It is also possible that because the norms that are violated do not take priority over other organizational issues, less concern is shown, giving a message to the deviant that his misbehavior is tolerated. Another reason that an organization will hide the criminal or cover up the crime may be to maintain the external economic, political or financial support it may depend on to sustain itself, especially if it is nonprofit.
In this context, the church is a bureaucracy. Its organizational structure is similar. It operates from the top down, attempts to maintain internal control and has protected deviant individuals so that it can retain its honor. The deviant individuals, seeing that it is okay to act in that fashion, continue the process until they get caught. Countless media stories have reported that deviant priests have been moved from parish to parish, country to country, rather than being disciplined or released.
<strong>The Church as a Criminal State</strong>
<strong></strong>
David Luban’s statement regarding the “framers of Nuremberg” described the Third Reich as a “nation-state” or “criminal state” (p.779). Does the church view itself as a church or as a state? As the only world religion that enjoys a “non-Member State Permanent Observer” status at the UN indicates that the church considers itself a “state.” To put it into perspective, the only other “state” with the same UN status is Switzerland (Columbia Law Review 1996). In this role, the church has more political influence in the General Assembly than it would in a lesser “observer” role. It even has voting and veto power at world conferences even though it has a “non-member State Permanent Status.” Two other UN “non-member” affiliations are available, each, however, with less influence. The International Red Cross belongs to one of them.
If the church is a state in the United Nations political arena, it is responsible for potentially global criminal action against humanity and is, therefore, a “criminal state,” subject to the status of The Third Reich.
There appear to be other similarities with the Catholic institution and The Holocaust. The Third Reich’s crimes were moral crimes; the church’s crimes are moral crimes as well. Both are crimes against God. The difference is, however, that the church is upheld as one of the highest moral institutions in the world, honor in the highest degree. While the crimes committed by priest perpetrators may not be related to a major war, these deeds would fall under Classification 6c in the Charter of the International Military Tribunal which describes the category of “crimes against humanity” as follows:
<em>“…murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts
committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, or persecutions on
political, racial or religious grounds in executive of or in connection with
any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the
domestic law of the country where perpetrated (p780).</em>
<em></em>
Of course, there are differences in the crimes of the Holocaust and crimes of the Catholic Church. In the case of the Third Reich bureaucracy, since no single individual performed the whole deviant act, no single individual could be responsible for the individual acts. The administrative authority was at fault. In the case of the church, however, individual blame is also possible because of the nature of the crime (one abuse at a time) and the added element of “cover-ups” by immediate supervisors (the bishops) is identifiable. At the administrative level, the Pope would be named as the defendant because the Vatican’s bureaucracy protects the other hierarchy. (Evidence of alleged cover ups by the Pope when he was Archbishop has also emerged recently.)
Luban said that “if the law is to be anything humane, it must guide our moral imaginations; and since it is now imperative that our moral imaginations include awareness of criminal states, the law must also include awareness of criminal states” (p.785). It would, therefore, seem fortuitous that the broader campaign that was launched in 1999, aimed at stripping the Holy See of its permanent observer status at the UN, was unsuccessful. Otherwise, the International Criminal Court might not be an option.
###
Louise Haggett 2010, All Rights Reserved
Excerpt from unpublished paper entitled “Why Would a Moral Institution Engage in Criminal Behavior?”, Haggett, Louise, November 13, 1997.
<a href="mailto:CSRI99@aol.com">CSRI99@aol.com</a>
207-729-7673
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************************<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-58722228578520388942010-04-22T12:50:00.010-04:002010-04-23T23:34:57.847-04:00The Mandatory Celibacy/Clergy Sexual Abuse Research and Findings--Chapter 10Louise Haggett, 2010, All Rights Reserved
1. The Priest Study*--1997
2. The Victim Study*--1999
3. The Adult Victim Study*-1999
4. Homosexuality and Clergy Sexual Abuse*
5. What Were His (Priest) Needs?*
6. The Loneliness Study*--2003
7. General Conclusion*
*Featured in The Bingo Report: Mandatory Celibacy and Clergy Sexual Abuse
1. <strong>The Priest Study-1997</strong>
Intersubjectivity best describes the team conducting the Priest Study at Framingham State College in 1997. Like the public perception of clergy sexual abuse, the team, whose leader was non-Catholic with a 4.0 GPA and led by a Jewish Sociology professor hypothesized that clergy sexual abuse was the same as general population abuse. I, of course, saw differences. These opposing views lent more credence to the research and helped make our findings “objectively true,” probably the best scenario when researching something so controversial."
Are factors in a celibate priest committing the act of sexual abuse the same as general population sexual abuse?" became the sociological question. Using Georg Simmel's social “Learning Theory" provided the background for our hypothesis regarding influence on the subculture of the priesthood that might lead to deviance of vows/promises of celibacy/chastity. Was it the subculture of the priesthood or earlier socialization (families and society in general) that dictated sexual attitude and/or behavior?
The self-administered questionnaire was sent to 248 random priests from a random list in The Official U.S. Catholic Directory (Kenedy 1996). Thirty-one percent (N=77) responded.
<p>The demographics were well balanced so we had a good cross-section of priest respondents:</p><ul><li>8% had been ordained between 1-10 years, every other ten-year period up to 41+ years had between 21-27%.</li><li>25% had entered seminary between 13-15 years old; 42% between 16-19 years old; 17% between the ages 20-29 years old; and only 6% over 30+ (probably second-career priests).</li><li>69% had dated prior to seminary.</li><li>67% were diocesan priests and 31% religious order, almost identical to the actual priest census--66.1% diocesan and 33.9% religious order.</li></ul><p>Priest respondents were surveyed regarding their beliefs with follow-up questions to see if their actual behavior correlated with their beliefs. We asked whether they believed that priests in general were divine beings; did they adhere to the vow or promise of celibacy/chastity?; did they believe in divine retribution for breaking vows (was it a sin) and did priests adhere to the vow(s) because of their belief or not. They were then asked if priests in general broke their vows because of sexual freedom in society or because of their own sexual needs. </p><p>
A separate section dealt with how much the church knew that priests broke their vows. If there was knowledge, how—if at all--were priests disciplined. Lastly, priest respondents were asked if they believed in optional celibacy and whether or not priests should be allowed to marry. This was essentially the same question, following the pattern used for other variables throughout the questionnaire.</p><p>
Our findings were significant. Of particular interest were the unexpected contradictions from priests in general. Worthy of note was the dichotomy that existed in responses between the attitudes of respondents toward adhering to their promises or vows in contrast with their behavior regarding breaking them. While they said they believed in one thing, the action reported contradicted what they said they believed. For example,</p><ul><li>Do you adhere to your vows? 87% said yes.</li><li>Do you occasionally not adhere? 43% said yes.</li><li></li><li>Do priests break their vows? 93% said yes.</li><li>Do you break your vows? 87% said no.</li><li></li><li>Do you believe in Divine Retribution [sinful] for breaking vows? 68% said no.</li></ul><p>The Likert Scale which goes from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree was very telling in some of the more difficult questions below such as “sexual needs,” as well as in the responses that might have implicated the Catholic institution regarding what the hierarchy knew, prior to the 2002 revelations. The option “Neither Agree/Nor Disagree” – a noncommittal response – highlighted these variables.</p><ul><li>Do priests have sexual needs? 94% said yes.</li><li>Do priests break their vows because of sexual needs? 47% were non-committal* or said no.</li><li>Does the church acknowledge that priests break vows? Of those who responded, 94% said yes.</li><li>Does the church discipline priests who break vows? Of those who responded, 55% said yes and 45% were non-committal or said no.</li><li>How often does the church discipline priests who break vows? Of those who responded, 15% said "frequently," 56% said "occasionally" and 29% said, "not often, never or only when it becomes public knowledge," the latter response written in.</li></ul><p>The most significant finding of this study, however, came in the open-ended question that asked about "other factors" that would make priests break their vows. The answers included: </p><p>
59% because of loneliness, lack of intimacy, marriage and family*
16.9% because of weakness
6.8% because of lack of prayer
6.8% because priests were frustrated with church policies regarding mandatory celibacy
6.8% because of substance abuse
1.7% because of societal pressures
1.7% other issues</p><p>
<em>*As little as 10% in a "written-in" response is considered significant in quantitative studies, 59%, therefore is very noteworthy.</em></p><p>
The research team anticipated a measurable difference in attitudes and behaviors among priests based on their degree of socialization--whether or not it made a difference if they entered seminary before or after puberty, whether or not they dated prior to entry, whether or not the length of stay would solidify their vocation, whether or not they lived in community with other priests (religious order priest) or in a parish house in a more public environment (diocesan priest). </p><p>
We discovered that the length of time a priest was in the priesthood made more of an impact on his attitude and behavior than any other factor and that it didn't matter if he was a diocesan or religious order priest. We concluded that the long-term socialization pattern within the subculture of the priesthood and not prior socialization (general population) played a major role in the behavior of priests and that their behavior was different from their attitude. </p><p>
<strong>2. The Victim Study-1999</strong></p><p>The Loneliness factor in the priest survey—a latent variable—did not become a highlight until 2003 when the findings from the Priest study and the 1999 Victim study were compared in preparation for The Bingo Report manuscript. Because CITI Ministries was continuing to grow and was now subject to a full advisory board comprising over 20 members, the research was beginning to take a back seat to the everyday demands of our website <a href="http://www.rentapriest.com/">http://www.rentapriest.com/</a>.
</p><p>After Fr. Tom Economus, National Coordinator of The Linkup (victim support organization) read the Priest Research Report in 1999, he suggested that a study be conducted among Linkup's victim membership because it had never been done. Based on his experience in providing support to victims, he also believed that the victim demography might be different than general population child sexual abuse victims. He offered to take a questionnaire and send it confidentially to the victims on his list. By then, a compatible working relationship had been established with Framingham State College professor Lucille Lawless, a sociologist and criminologist. Prof. Lawless had a keen interest in the subject matter since one of her prior theses many years before had been on the subject of married priests. She offered to mentor me through the Victim Study, something I would have never attempted alone. The Center for the Study of Religious Issues was formed so that the research could be conducted in an independent setting.</p><p>
I continued to wonder if claims by the church that clergy sexual abuse was the same as general population abuse would bear themselves out if a target population of clergy victims were to be segregated from other sexual abuse victims. The investigation for prior research on child sexual abuse uncovered a 25,000 general population sample from a compilation of 19 prior retrospective studies that was collected by David Finkelhor, a Professor and Director of the Family Research Laboratory now Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. These demographics provided the basis for our study. </p><p>
I took the project to Professor Lawless and she helped me devise a 29-question survey instrument that would be mailed by Fr. Tom to his list. Eight demographic questions would determine who the respondents were, and the remaining questions would be about their abuse experience. We also included a section on "how much the church knew and what they did about it." </p><p>
The survey was mailed to 959 reported victims, of which 131 valid instruments were returned. Even though the questionnaires had been sent confidentially, the majority of responses included contact information and many thanked us for our interest in hearing what victims had to say. Surprisingly, 31% of the respondents had been abused as adults so it was necessary to provide a separate report since the Finkelhor's 19-study population ended at 18 years old. </p><p>
The sociological question was: "Is a Sexually Abusing Roman Catholic Priest a Pedophile?" One of our hypotheses was that victims of priest perpetrators were older than victims among the general population, therefore would not fall into the “pedophilia” category--generally pre-pubescent. The American Psychiatric Association's (APA) 1993 edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) gave no distinction for pedophilia between victims who were four or 15 years old. The word "ephebophilia" (post-pubescent/adolescent victims) had already been coined by Johns Hopkins Sexologist John Money (Love and Love Sickness, 1980) and was currently being used by many researchers. </p><p>
Our victim study findings indicated vast differences between clergy sexual abuse victims and general population victims when compared to the Finkelhor 19-study compilation of 25,000 general population child sexual abuse victims. For instance,</p><p>
<strong>Duration of Abuse:</strong> 68.5% of General population victims were abused only once, compared to 17.5% of the victims of clergy sexual abuse. 56.7% of Clergy sexual abuse victims were abused one year or longer.</p><p>
<strong>Age of Victim:</strong> Average general population victims of child sexual abuse were between 7-13 years of age (pedophilia).On the other hand, the average clergy sexual abuse victim was 10-15 years old (ephebophilia).</p><p>
<strong>Gender of Victim:</strong> Under 18 years of age, 80% of the general population victims were female. Clergy victims under 18 years old were 93% male.</p><p>
<strong>Age of Perpetrator:</strong> Average age of general population sexual perpetrators was early 30s with 33% under 18 years old, whereas 47% of the clergy perpetrators over 40 years old.</p><p>
Our conclusion recommended that further research be conducted among the priest subculture and that the American Psychiatric Association adopt correct definitions for pedophilia and ephebophilia in new printings of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) as follows:</p><p>
(excerpt from The Bingo Report: Mandatory Celibacy and Clergy Sexual Abuse [p110].)</p><p>
<em>DSM-IV-TR (2000) acknowledges various forms of "pedophile" sexual perpetrators such as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, regressed (attracted to children at times of stress), fixated (primarily attracted to prepubescent children), and incestual and nonincestual perpetrators. The concept of rape, also included in DSM-IV-TR, has reached a consensus among the disciplines and creates no confusion regarding related research or treatment or incarceration.</em></p><p>
Since there are new definitions available and in common use among the research community regarding child sexual abuse, and since there is documentable evidence that not all child sexual abuse has the same characteristics, it seems appropriate to:
1. Accept and include the following as universal terminology in future printings of DSM to describe child sexual abuse, as well as in sociological and other scientific dictionaries and encyclopedias:
A. Infantophilia: Sexual activity, whether physical or otherwise, with an infant child or children (generally age 0-5). (The Bingo Report reviews research by Kalichman [1991], Ames and Houston [1990], and Greenberg, Bradford and Curry [1995] to support this statement.)
B. Pedophilia: Sexual activity, whether physical or otherwise, with a prepubescent child or children (pre-pubescent 6-12 [see note below*]).
C. Ephebophilia: Sexual activity, whether physical or otherwise, with a post-pubescent or adolescent child or children (post-puberty 13-18).</p><p>
*<em>New data appearing in Magill’s Dictionary (Dawson 1998) speaks of "precocious puberty" beginning at ages 8 for girls and 9 for boys, where normal puberty onset is indicated for females between the ages of 10-12 and boys between the ages of 12-14. If this is adopted as the norm, it may place many more victims in the "ephebophilia" category.</em></p><em></em><p>
Until such time as the APA considers more suitable terminology to remedy the current confusion regarding the relevant concepts being discussed, we recommend that the proposed distinctions of infantophilia, pedophilia, and ephebophilia be adopted by the scientific community at large so that future studies can be more reliable. </p><p>
We also recommended that the APA</p><p>
2. Subcategorize study populations for future research on child sexual abuse.</p><p>
3. Use consistent methodology especially regarding demographics and peculiarities being studied.</p><p>
(The APA reported in January, 2010 that "ephebophilia" would be considered for the next printing of DSM.) </p><p>
<strong>3. The Adult Victim Study</strong></p><p>The Adult Victim statistics produced significant findings. Since our general population frame of reference was child sexual abuse ending at age 18, the adult findings were provided as a separate report in The Bingo Report, as stand-alone observations.</p><p>
The most notable statistic was the dramatic shift from male to female victims among victims beyond 20 years of age--94.5% female and 5.5% males, compared to 93% clergy sexual abuse male victims in the adolescent category. While there was very little research available on sexual abuse in other religious denominations in 1999, which could be compared to Catholic clergy abuse, we found one study which indicated that, "all the Protestant survivors (among the study population) were abused as adults and all were women" (1994 McLaughlin)</p><p>
Based on our findings, therefore, the only clergy sexual abuse perpetrators or victims that can be compared to general population abuse would be the abuse of adults by priests. Our research findings, therefore, disprove that child sexual abuse by priests is the same as general population abuse. Additional data is available in The Bingo Report: Mandatory Celibacy and Clergy Sexual Abuse (available through Amazon.com or via the bookstore at <a href="http://www.rentapriest.com/">http://www.rentapriest.com/</a>.</p><p>
4<strong>. Homosexuality in Clergy Sexual Abuse</strong></p><p>
We investigated homosexuality as a possible factor in clergy sexual abuse for our Victim Report. The only papers we were able to find in 1999 regarding deviant sexual activity in same-sex institutions reported that in prisons the prevalence of homosexual behavior was 69% versus 13% among the general population, and that 90% of the prisoners who engaged in homosexual activity in prisons were heterosexuals who began that practice in the prison system and who reversed to heterosexual activity once released (Ward and Kassebaum 1964). </p><p>
According to Christopher Hensley (2001) of the Institute for Correction Research & Training in Kentucky, "Men immersed in single-sex environments, such as boarding schools, the military, remote work sites and correctional institutions, have been long known to engage in sexual activities with one another, yet staunchly maintain a heterosexual identity. Sexual activities with other men are defined as simply a response to the deprivation or a lack of mixed-sex interactions. General belief holds that most men engaged in situational same-sex activities would return to heterosexual sexual activities once removed from the segregated environment."</p><p>
There is further research referred to in The Bingo Report that supports these statements. John Jay College of Criminal Justice has conducted its own research on possible causes of clergy sexual abuse has also indicated homosexuality is not a factor (AP,2009). With reference to priests and male children, logic would tell us that in the era of our study population (victims abused in the 1960s-1980s), there were no female altar servers making young male altar servers more convenient. The fact that girls were “off limits” and boys were okay was also admitted by Fr. Canice Connors at the 1993 NFPC Conference. We therefore conclude that homosexuality is not a factor during the period of our study population.</p><p>
<strong>5. When Was Abuse Reported?</strong> </p><p>
At the time of our Victim Study in 1999: </p><ul><li>18% of our total respondents (children and adults) still had not told anyone about their sexual abuse by priest perpetrators.</li><li>39% took 20 or more years to tell anyone. </li><li>5% reported it twice with many years in between because no one believed them the first time. </li><li>3% reported it when it happened. </li></ul><p>
65% of the respondents said they told two or more people.
We concluded that once the secret was out, the more people who were told, the better the healing. Of the people who were told, 28% were church officials, 9% legal authorities, 10% professionals (counselors, etc.), 9% media and only 2.7% parents.</p><p>
<strong>6. What Were His (Priest's) Needs?</strong> </p><p>The options for response to the priest perpetrator’s needs were Biological (described as natural sexual need), Emotional (loneliness), Authoritarian (abuse of power) and Other (open ended). The respondents were asked to check off as many "needs" as they felt applied.</p><p>
Over 50% of the victim/survivor respondents retrospectively indicated that the needs their perpetrator(s) had included Biological (natural sexual need) and Emotional (loneliness). A large percentage of clergy victims/survivors today hate not just their perpetrators, but all priests as a result of their own victimization, so we found significant that victims would have any kind of sensitivity towards priest perpetrators. </p><p>
<strong>7. The Loneliness Study--2003</strong></p><strong></strong><p>
That 60% of priest respondents and over 50% of victim/survivor respondents would acknowledge "loneliness" and "lack of intimacy" as reasons for either breaking celibacy vows or in the case of victims, needs of the priests, suggested further research prior to the publishing of The Bingo Report. A literary review of books and articles on the celibate priesthood was therefore pursued in 2003. </p><p>
The following quotes appeared in various publications:</p><ul><li>Dean Hoge 2002: "Among priests who resigned their clerical ministry, the only thing in common in the four sets of reasons for leaving was loneliness" (102).</li><li>James Gill (Hoge, 2002): "...13 stresses that priests have. Number one was loneliness" (102).</li><li>Donald Cozzens 2000: "Among priests who came to [him] to announce leaving, few expressed anger at Church, pastor or of unforgiving parishioners. Not one mentioned loss of faith...many did, however, speak of loneliness and a desire for intimacy" (25).</li><li>Schoenherr and Young 1993: "NORC [National Opinion Research Center] found resignations more frequent among young priests who found loneliness a personal problem" (222).</li><li>A.W. Richard Sipe 1990: "The depth of the aloneness that must be embraced to support celibacy cannot be minimized" (63). "Lonely is one of the most frequent replies when one asks a celibate how he feels" (260). "The person who cannot tolerate true aloneness cannot move beyond this level of celibacy and therefore remains vulnerable to sexual compromises even after years of discipline" (261).</li><li>A.W. Richard Sipe 2003: "for priests in for 22-27 years [37-42 years of age--see age of perpetrator], it is lack of companionship rather than sexual discharge that threaten the celibate commitment" (298).*</li><li>Archbishop Rembert Weakland to The New Yorker 1991: "Men who leave the priesthood because of loneliness are not weak. They are simply good men who have fallen in love with good women" (53)</li></ul><p>
*Sipe’s research supports our findings in both the Priest Study and the Victim Study in terms of the longer a priest remains in the priesthood, the more he struggles with loneliness (Priest Study); as well as the average age of priest perpetrators (Victim Study).</p><p>
Further, general research on persistent intense loneliness clearly demonstrates strong correlations with low self-esteem (in some instances, high self-esteem leading to an authoritative nature), substance abuse, suicide, and crime (Rokach 2001, 2000b, 1990, Kim 1997, Nurmi et al. 1997, Jones and Carver 1991, in Nurmi et al. ibid, Jones 1982, Weiss 1982, Brennan 1982). Researchers also agree that, "Voluntary solitude is not synonymous with loneliness. Lonely people do not voluntarily enter into that emotional state; rather they 'find themselves' feeling sometimes desperately lonely for reasons even they may not fully understand. Loneliness is fundamentally debilitating" (Booth 2000).</p><p>
One of the reasons “loneliness” may not have been considered, or acknowledged, in the causal factors is that for the hierarchy or for a priest—a male—to admit intense loneliness would be to admit weakness among a subgroup whose persona projects authority and spiritual strength. The idea of being weak makes the priest fallible in a culture that has idealized him as a divine being and puts him on a pedestal with other Catholic icons such as Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is a difficult role to play, tough even for some priest researchers though not so tough when they are reporting on one of their priest research subjects.</p><p>
Prior to 1993, the American Psychiatric Association's DSM listed "intense loneliness" as a "differential diagnosis" under the heading of "pedophilia." It was eliminated in future editions, however.</p><p>
Loneliness is discussed in more detail in <em>The Bingo Report</em>.</p><p>
<strong>8. General Conclusion</strong></p><strong><p>
</strong></p>The church is not questioned when it claims that clergy sexual abuse is the same as general population abuse. Its authority is still believed in some circles. Yet there is so little research on the subculture of the priesthood using mandatory celibacy as a variable that is not present in general population sexual abuse nor other research on same, and the church hierarchy has done a good job discouraging it as previously stated. <p>
Evidence in The Bingo Report indicates that both the demographic profiles of the majority of priest perpetrators and the characteristics of sexual abuse victims that they inflicted are too different to suggest any similarities between clergy sexual abuse and sexual abuse in other segments of society. The only exception would be the sexual abuse of female adults (approximately one-third of female clergy abuse victims among our study population), characteristics of which mirror the general population studies.</p><p>
We conclude that just as loneliness/depression/low self-esteem/substance abuse/crime/suicide are overlapping problems in general society, the problem of clergy sexual abuse is related to loneliness made more intense because of mandatory celibacy, not celibacy that was freely chosen. Our data indicate that for the majority of priest sexual perpetrators, the abuse is more a result of the length of time they are forced to live a lifestyle without an intimate relationship, be it male or female, than it is a pre-existing condition. This would be consistent with the Gratification Theory coined by behavioral scientist Abraham Maslow, in which he lists as the first level of basic needs necessary for an individual to reach self-actualization [self-esteem]: food, water, sleep and sex (Maslow 1954:16). </p><p>
We also conclude that, with the exception of a few extreme cases, the majority of perpetrators are neither pedophiles nor ephebophiles when they first enter into the priesthood. In a transcribed speech given in 1990 to the U.S. Conference of Bishops and used in part in several U.S. clergy sexual abuse trials and other published pieces, civil and canon lawyer Bishop A. James Quinn states that there were biological (sex drive) and psychological (loneliness) consequences of mandatory celibacy. An older report that pre-dates the celibacy discussions in the year 1139 indicates that Bishop Imola of Italy told the Council in his efforts to stop the Council’s vote on mandatory celibacy, “When celibacy is imposed, priests will commit sins far worse than fornication. Since some men cannot live by the council [sic] of perfect chastity, they will seek sexual release wherever they can find it” (Barstow 1982:112). More recent research regarding celibate Japanese monks has provided evidence that over a hundred years ago at the turn of the twentieth century, the Japanese government abolished mandatory celibacy among Japanese monks because of the deviant behavior that was taking place among them (Jaffe 2001). The church has therefore been aware for many years of the connections between mandatory celibacy and clergy sexual abuse in the United States and elsewhere. The unfortunate victims have been our innocent children.
</p><p>Finally, there may be accusations of bias regarding this research and report because of my association with CITI Ministries, a married priest ministry. The only reason for my involvement in the research was that I was unable to find anyone in or out of the church or academia who was willing to study clergy sexual abuse as a subculture in order to examine possible differences between that abuse and general population abuse. All studies conducted to date (1996), with the exception of those regarding Infantophilia, combined all victims making it impossible to find potentially hidden statistics and demographic disparities. I had not been prepared to give up a career that would reduce drastically our family’s income and was also not able to obtain research grants due to the controversial nature of the subject matter. I realized, however, that if I did not follow up scientifically on my earlier observations, children would continue to be sexually abused by priests and the pattern might not be broken. </p><p>
It was crucial that whatever research was to be conducted be both valid and reliable. A diverse academic research team at Framingham State College with the help of Sociology Professor Dr. Marion Cohen, and later the Center for the Study of Religious Issues with sociologist and criminologist Lucille Lawless as consultant and mentor, gave the work the integrity it needed. In particular, Professor Lawless’ assistance was invaluable. My discoveries had been rejected by church reform organizations as was the whole issue of clergy sexual abuse. In fact, one such organization forced me to sign a document that I would not tie my CITI work with the research. There also was resistance at Framingham State College during the Priest Study--threatening calls to Dr. Cohen from church officials trying to stop the study on the basis of the First Amendment, an argument they are still using in some court cases. </p><p>
“<em>But if any of you causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose his faith, it would be better for you to have a rock tied to your neck and be thrown into the sea</em>” (Matthew 18:6).
<em>The Bingo Report: Mandatory Celibacy and Clergy Sexual Abuse</em>, the scientific research from which the above was written is available through Amazon.com and the <a href="http://www.rentapriest.com/">http://www.rentapriest.com/</a> bookstore.
Louise Haggett, 2010 All Rights Reserved.
<a href="mailto:CSRI99@AOL.COM">CSRI99@AOL.COM</a>
207-729-7673
###
</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-91456949096864647732010-03-16T16:17:00.015-04:002010-04-07T11:12:47.833-04:00Why I Had to Research Clergy Sexual Abuse -- Chapter NineIf you are new to this blog, you may wish to read the archived blogs first since the story is being written somewhat chronologically. What is posted directly below is the most recent. Thank you.
<p>
In 1996, I quit my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">full-time</span> sales job so I could return to college in order to learn the methodology of doing quantitative research. Like Karen <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Silkwood</span>, Erin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Brokovich</span> and Rachel Spring to whom I dedicate this and the next two chapters, I felt compelled to investigate more thoroughly observations I had made in the church that did not seem right. It was, however, important for me to do my research in an academic setting so that the findings would not just be anectodal.</p><p></p><p>Having been a devout Catholic as long as I could remember, I was very overwhelmed by my discoveries regarding the lack of integrity in my church and the fact that I had been unable to raise consciousness about priests leaving to marry, priests secretly married or having affairs. The most egregious of all, however, was the discovery of clergy sexual abuse and I had not been able to find anyone who cared. </p><p></p><p>Publicity was my forte having previously spent 13 years in advertising and 4 years in television, and by 1996, I had written several news releases and had spoken with several reporters about the church's dark secrets. Whenever anyone contacted me about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">CITI</span>/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Rentapriest (<a href="http://www.rentapriest.com/">http://www.rentapriest.com/</a>),</span> I would explain the program and then tell them about clergy sexual abuse. The latter was never published by anyone from the Boston Globe to the New York Times to Catholic publications. These were long interviews that apparently never made it past Catholic editors.</p><p></p><p>I had even witnessed with my own eyes, the first ever presentation given to a group of 300 priests by Fr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Canice</span> Connors, the then director of St. Luke's clergy sexual abuse treatment center near Baltimore, Maryland. The workshop was conduction in May 1993 at the 25<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">th</span> Anniversary National Federation of Priests' Council Conference (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">NFPC</span>) in Chicago where I had been invited to do a workshop on married priests.</p><p></p><p>Fr. Connors' goal was to reintegrate into new parish settings, predator priests he said had received treatment and were "recovered" and ready to get back into parish ministry. Fr. Connors' appeal was for sensitivity to St. Luke's "victim" against the "voyeurism of the laity and the press," the reason he was looking to relocate them in unknown parishes. </p><p></p><p>He explained that "most priest predators are not pedophiles, but rather '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ephebophiles</span>,' that pedophiles have a mental disorder and abuse <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">pre</span>-pubescent children. An <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">ephebophile</span> was described as a predator who was sexually attracted to adolescents up to 19 years of age, indicating that he did respond to treatment and could do normal ministry after "recovery."</p><p></p><p>Fr. Connors indicated at this <strong>1993</strong> workshop that clergy sexual abuse cases were becoming public in New Zealand, Australia, Africa, Ireland, England, Holland and France, and that St. Luke's representatives were in England that very week, training therapists. (Two months later, Pope John Paul II told the news media that clergy sexual abuse was only an "American problem" [Time Magazine, July 5, 1993].) </p><p></p><p>I publicized my notes from the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">NFPC</span> Conference the following October (1993), but they were not picked up by any member of the press. It was obvious to me that the media knew about these church crimes but chose to keep the information quiet. One Washington Post reporter explained to me that most bishops visited press rooms regularly and their presence to Catholic reporters and editors kept them "in tow" regarding bad church publicity.</p><p></p><p>My curiosity regarding further research also peaked because of the many denials by the church that mandatory celibacy was related to clergy sexual abuse. Sociologist Fr. James Gill wrote several articles including one in American Catholic arguing that the matter "should not be investigated" because there is "no conclusive evidence" that mandatory celibacy is connected to clergy sexual abuse. The July 2, 1993 issue of National Catholic Reported (p.3) reported that when a Canadian Ad <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Hoc</span> Committee on clergy sexual abuse was named to study the problem and issue its <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">recommendations</span>, the Canadian bishops gave "specific instructions not to study the nature and causes of sexual abuse."</p><p></p><p>During the question/answer period at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">NFPC</span> workshop for priests, I introduced myself, perhaps one of only two women present, and suggested that a scientific study be done to see if there is any connection between mandatory celibacy and sexual abuse since no study had ever been conducted. Fr. Connors' answer was that it "would be a tremendous waste of time and money" because "there is no connection." Yet, in the weeks that followed when the first case of Federal Racketeering (RICO) was made against the church in New Jersey, Pope John Paul II told the news media that "celibacy is not essential to the priesthood." (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">NYTimes</span>, July 18, 1993) </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported on November 24, 1993 that in a Philadelphia abuse case, the archdiocesan attorneys were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">counter-suing</span> parents, blaming them for not discovering that their child was being <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">abuse</span>. (Priests of course threatened children with stories of being <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">damned</span> to hell if they told.) The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">WSJ</span> piece also related stories of other victims being subjected to private investigators hired by the church and wiretaps for use by defending attorneys. </p><p></p><p>In the very public Fr. James Porter case in Fall River Massachusetts, one of the plaintiffs told the court that the church had held back $5000 from the final settlement in a "hush money" escrow account. There were also numerous unsuccessful gag orders attempted on other Boston attorneys because of the numbers of pending cases and in the $119 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">million Dallas</span> case, the church's attorneys attempted to have the judge removed prior to his judgment being written.</p><p></p><p>The Catholic hierarchy then and even today (2010) in Europe is having <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">influential</span> people believe that clergy sexual abuse is no different than sexual abuse among the general population. From the beginning as a bewildered Catholic, I saw "smoke and mirrors," defined as something intended to disguise or distort in order to draw attention away from an often embarrassing or unpleasant issue. It was almost unbelievable to me too.</p><p></p><p>Because my discoveries were all <em>simultaneous</em>--married priests, priests secretly married, priests in sexual relationships, priests sexually abusing adolescents; the church hiding the fact of married priests, blackballing some from obtaining jobs, suggesting to some that they have affairs instead of leaving to marry, denying that abuse was happening and finally denying that mandatory celibacy was connected--all these reasons made me feel compelled to research the abuse by priests. "Was it indeed the same as general population abuse or did mandatory celibacy make a difference?"</p><p>#30</p><p></p><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-23217993917243435962010-02-27T08:09:00.010-05:002010-03-27T07:13:33.870-04:00CITI's International Connection-- Chapter Eight<strong><strong>If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read the archived blogs first since the story is being written somewhat chronologically. What is posted below is the most recent. Thank you.</strong></strong>
CITI's first "live" introduction to the international movement of married priests occurred at a 1993 U.S. married priest conference where I happen to be seated next to the Rev. Dr. Heinz-Jurgen Vogels of Germany. Heinz was president of the German married priest movement and he and Lambert Van Gelder of The Netherlands had helped Paolo Camellini found the International Federation of Married Priests (see previous chapter), which first meeting was held in Ariccia just outside of Rome. Theologian and author Heinz saw the value of CITI's mission, and suggested that I attend August's Madrid conference of the International Federation.
My French pretty much forgotten (I didn't speak English 'til I turned seven), I invited my sister Pauline who was both fluent in French and Spanish to come along, promising some touring after the conference since attending a religious conference was not enough of an incentive for her to travel to Spain with me in the middle of the summer. Though she had been supportive of my work thus far, she was accustomed to first class hotels and wasn't excited about committing to five days in a convent in the outskirts of Madrid during the hottest month of the year when everyone in Spain is at the beach.
"Outskirts" is putting it mildly. We took a plane to Madrid, a train as far as it could reach, then a bus as far as it would go, and finally had to awaken the only taxi driver in a village from his siesta so that he could drive us the rest of the distance. We were dragging big suitcases across dirt paths in this little town in a 100 degree/100% humidity climate, following someone who spoke only Spanish and hoping he was taking us to the right place.
Pauline remembers explaining to the taxi driver that we were traveling to attend a married priest conference. He stopped the car, turned to us and said, "There's no such thing as 'married' priests." And, so began my education through her translation, and in three or four days she was able to explain CITI's mission in both Spanish and French without my assistance.
The convent itself was 15th century vintage with obviously no air conditioning except in the auditorium and the bedrooms were probably designed for cloistered nuns of that era--10 x 12, a small lavatory and two wire spring beds with just sheets and a bathroom down the hall. It was too hot for blankets. In fact, everyone on our floor left their room doors open to catch the slightest breeze, nonexistent for five days.
The dining room reminded us of the eating scene in the movie, "Oliver." Unaccustomed to European meal habits, it seemed we were hungry all the time and of course, there were no vending machines. But, like other married priest conferences I had attended, the joy of the gathering was in the beautiful sacred people we met daily and experiencing the international flavor of talks and presentations in different languages.
Because of the meekness I had previously witnessed among the beautiful gentle and spiritual married priests and their spouses, the strength that I saw in the global gathering enlightened me to the power and courage they had in numbers, especially with their colleagues across the waters. Neither individual organizations, nor individual married priest groups, nor individual convents nor retreat houses would ever stand up to the Vatican by themselves. Collectively, however, they had "chutzpah."
Apparently, a few months before the conference when it became public that the International Federation of Married Priests would be meeting at the Dominican House of Studies in Madrid, the Papal Nuncio contacted the Convent Director threatening to "permanently close down [his] entire operation if he allowed married priests to meet there." The Convent Director responded to the Papal Nuncio that he "wanted that in writing, explaining which law he was breaking; otherwise the Congress would be held as planned." No letter came and the meeting was held without incident.
Rent A Priest was met with mixed emotions by the various countries. Though the French booed me off the stage, others like England, Australia, India, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ireland and some in Spain were supportive. The people from the Philippines called CITI the <strong>Number One</strong> married priest movement in the world, this after only one year in existence. What made CITI different as a new organization was that it was started and run by lay people and our mission was to serve those among the public who needed sacramental and pastoral care, defying any church law that opposed the ministry of married priests. All other married priest organizations at the time were founded and run by married priests and the mission of most was to engage or attempt to engage in dialogue with the hierarchy to try to get the church to change the law of mandatory celibacy. These priests obeyed their promise to their respective bishops that they would not celebrate Mass.
The European movement, with the exception of CITI's three new allies Paolo Camellini, Heinz-Jurgen Vogels and Lambert Van Gelder, never accepted CITI as one of its affiliate members.
We were too different and they especially didn't like the name Rentapriest. We were later contacted by Kirche Intern, Austria's Catholic magazine who subsequently ran a three page story on CITI/Rentapriest, leading to two new Rentapriest-type movements in Austria and Switzerland. They did not survive, however, because they used a less catchy name and the organizations were run by married priests rather than lay people who could stand up to the hierarchy if need be.
There were splits between Camellini and the International Federation during the next year and Paolo and Heinz scheduled their own international synod similar to the original (Arricia), in Assisi in 1995 and then another in Atlanta, Georgia USA in 1999, the latter at which I was invited to preside. The international synods were profound gatherings of married priests and other interesting parties from throughout the world. Without a specific agenda, something the left-brainers were not understanding especially in Atlanta, everyone came to the meetings with inspirations/papers that arrived at a common goal--almost like the people had been hand-picked by the Holy Spirit. At the Assisi meeting for instance, the majority of profound papers presented from several countries spoke of the future of the Catholic Church in the form of small faith communities--like the early days of the church. Former Carmelite contemplative, Donna Amy Podobinski and her Holy Ghost Father and husband William presented a related paper on Freedom-Unity-Integrity, now a new blog, accessible through the rentapriest website.
A retired Venetian judge presented a paper on the corruption in the Vatican; and I, on clergy sexual abuse being a rampant international problem, something I would later study from a scientific basis. (See The Bingo Report: Mandatory celibacy and clergy sexual abuse available on Amazon.com).
#30<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-73484539279018218732010-02-12T16:11:00.005-05:002010-03-27T07:11:08.789-04:00CITI-The Formative Years: Getting to know you--Chapter Seven<strong><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read the archived posts first since these are written chronologically with the following being the most recent. Thank you.</span></strong>
The first two to three years of CITI's existence were spent becoming educated about church reform and connecting with the reformers themselves. I am still amazed today at the opportunities that were afforded me so that I could become fully engrossed--a crash course so to speak--in church reform. Those who are sports professionals or are in the academic or medical arena or politics will understand the subculture climate to which I am referring. It is literally like stepping onto the threshhold of another world. I was never aware of this quiet revolution among people who were dissatisfied with the way the Catholic institution was run at its highest level, with particular groups well seasoned in the issues--and had been for as much as 10 or 15 years at that point.
I soon discovered that my reading material would henceforth begin with National Catholic Reporter's weekly independent newspaper, religious academic studies and the myriad nonfiction books that had been written by theologians, mystical theologians and especially resigned/retired priests and nuns. I needed to catch up on so much, beginning with the Vatican II Synod. It is amazing what Catholics in the pews don't know, even today. It took me a few years of reading plus attending "church reform" conferences of every sort in order to be brought up to date and understand the innuendos especially at the church reform round table meetings.
I guess it was also important for me to know personally founders of these various organizations because the Holy Spirit seemed to put them all in my path--either via personal meetings or in witnessing their presentations. Besides the thousands of married priests I met, memorable people include Joseph Girzone, author of the Joshua series of spiritual books; Margaret Starbird who researched Mary Magdalene and Jesus as husband and wife; Edwina Gately, another saintly lay woman whose inspirations led her to open safe havens for Chicago's prostitutes; German theologian Hans Kung; Frances Kissling whose work to protect "choice" in America will go down in history...and many others. Even though CITI was just getting its feet wet, the Holy Spirit was also making sure that our own existence was being recognized around the reform movement as well.
Perhaps the most phenomenal experience during the early years was attending the International Federation of Married Priests' Conference in Madrid, in August, 1993 a year and a half after CITI's founding. Backing up just a bit, in the spring of 1992, I had been given a copy of "Shattered Vows" by David Rice, an award-winning journalist and married priest now living in Ireland. The book featured several transitional stories of married priests from various countries and talked of their mistreatment by several bishops because of their new status. It was heart-wrenching to read what they and their spouses endured because of their decisions. For instance, German theologian Heinz-Jurgen Vogels was excommunicated when he married Renata and lost his Church editing job, helping edit the complete works of Albert the Great. The Pope lifted the excommunication once Heinz divorced Renata, an annuled Catholic, but Heinz never regained his job with the Church or elsewhere. He and Renata are still living together, however.
One particular priest's story was profound. Paolo Camellini who lived in a remote Italian town had been approached by Carla, a woman who had previously been confirmed a mystic by several among the Catholic hierarchy. Carla had been married and had a revelation to approach Paolo, a parish priest, and relay the message that they were to be married and dedicate themselves to the cause of married priests. "Jesus had told her that he wanted married priests, but only in holiness, "holy as priests and holy as spouses." Paolo wrote to his bishop and was dispensed from his celibacy vow within weeks so they could marry.
I was particularly moved by that story because I too believed I was called to the mission of married priests in the United States and like Carla, felt a special closeness to St. Teresa of Avila though I didn't know why at the time. When I read the story of the Camellinis, indeed when I finished reading "Shattered Vows," I contacted David Rice in Ireland. I wanted to talk to David and I wanted to meet the Camellinis. David discouraged me because of the language barrier and the remoteness of their home in Italy.
(<em>Note: "Shattered Vows" had been published in Ireland and became a best seller in eight languages throughout Europe. When it was first published in the U.S., however, 89 pages implicating the bishops were eliminated. An unabridged paperback version was later released and its U.S. publisher immediately purchased by the Catholic institution. The unabridged version never made it to the U.S. book shelves.)</em>
<em></em>
On our second day in Madrid just as the International Conference was starting, I was setting up my little exhibit table with materials on CITI when a reporter approached me to ask if I knew where Paolo Camellini was--he had an interview appointment. I said, "Camellini is here?????????????" The next hour was spent looking for him--I had no idea what he even looked like. When Paolo was finally pointed out to me, my sister and travelling companion Pauline said, "Why he was sitting right next to you at last night's general session." There were 700 people in attendance!
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I located an interpreter and asked Paolo if I could meet with him privately. I needed to share my CITI vision with him. Paolo said during our discussion that the "message/vision/inspiration/revelation" we each received was the same:
1. We must pray that priests be allowed to freely choose between celibacy and marriage so that the sinfulness in the priesthood can stop.
2. Vite, vite, vite! (Hurry, hurry, hurry!) Too much time has been wasted--too much damage has been done.
Over the next few days, I would sometimes sense that someone was staring at me. I remember piercing eyes, stares that would say, "Who are you?" And perhaps what others had already said, "You're not what I envisioned God would send to help us." I had been told by many that married priests prophesied that someone from the "pews" would someday come to their rescue. Of course, they probably expected a clone, not some mainstream Catholic lay woman. It was obvious that Paolo wanted to communicate directly with me; the language barrier was very frustrating. We didn't know if we would ever see one another again. (Ironically, I was scheduled to live in Rome for a year back in the 1960s. The office job, however, was cancelled the day before my trunk would be shipped. Had I gone, I would be fluent in Italian.)<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-7086543431269856472010-02-08T14:25:00.003-05:002010-03-15T06:46:48.809-04:00Some award winning ads and ABC-TV 20/20--Chapter SixThe responses from the February 6th ad in National Catholic Reporter in 1992 inspired me to reach out to more people, but I needed to find a way to get to the people on the street, not just priests, religious, and the new subculture I discovered in the process--"church reformers"--people who had spent years trying to get the church to change their rules regarding birth control, married priests, women priests, abortion, gays and other issues in the church that they felt were antiquated. In fact, I was invited to attend the second meeting of a new coalition of these organizations, 25 or 30 individual groups later to be named Catholics for Renewal or COR. Run by mostly resigned priests and nuns (only two of us around the table were lay folk), their strategy was public statements of protest about the way things are, that would be signed on by various organizations supporting the particular issue in question. Since CITI's work became more of a ministry to the public rather than an advocacy to the institutional leaders, the decision was made to drop out after a few years.<br />
<br />
With $10,000 in the bank and a background in advertising/marketing, it was obvious to me that I needed to begin creating awareness among the Catholic on the street regarding mandatory celibacy, shortage of priests and the fact that there were 20,000 priests who married, somewhere out there in the U.S. Since regular news releases on mandatory celibacy were getting nowhere, I became inspired to write a few ads, something I had never done in my thirteen years with a major Boston advertising agency. I had done some media buying and was their first female account executive back in the early 1970s--more the business end than the creative side of advertising.<br />
<br />
I hired a media-buying service to research the best publications for CITI's consumer ads. My needs: small space, regional, quick turnaround as oppose to long due dates for copy. While the media-buying service was reviewing the market, I was doing my own research: finding which dioceses had the worst shortages combined with the highest percentage of Catholics. The top media recommendation was <em>TV Guide Magazine, </em>pocket size in those days. It was also a good buy because their 30% discount for nonprofit organizations and placing space as a "house" agency made the ads more affordable. <br />
<br />
One-quarter-page ads were scheduled in 7 out of 106 U.S. <em>TV Guide</em> markets during the spring of 1992. Copy was geared toward the general public, asking for comments and letters regarding mandatory celibacy that would be sent to the bishops. At the same time, I wrote a series of corresponding small space ads that were directed to the bishops and would run in NCR. These poked fun at the silliness of the law of mandatory celibacy, perhaps the first time anyone publicly made wisecrack comments about anything in the church.<br />
<br />
Just for the heck of it, I entered a batch of ads in the prestigious New England Hatch Awards advertising competition. CITI's series of the following five ads were among the few hundred chosen out of 2,300 entries for public exhibition at the Prudential Center in Boston (as did other CITI ads for the following two years). This creative work was being recognized alongside topnotch print ads for such nonprofit advertising clients as the Archdiocese of Boston. What a rush!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More importantly, the response to the TV Guide advertising was overwhelming. These ads reached people like myself--those who had never heard about the impact of mandatory celibacy on priests and nuns. (At this point, I had heard that many priests had married nuns.) <em>TV Guide </em>later wrote that they had not received this many comments on <em>any</em> advertising in 13 years...and we had run ads in only <strong>7 out of 106</strong> TV markets. One woman wrote TV Guide, "To whoever has charge of ads in TV Guide: Will someone please send me a copy of the TV Guide that had an ad in it about an organization trying to get people to try and get permission for priests to marry. I lost this copy and I want to send for this literature...I am 93 years old and I'd love to see this problem solved before my days are over. P.S. Mother of 10, Grandmother of 40 Great grandmother of 32."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The overall public response was 90% in favor of optional celibacy in the priesthood with the most popular comment from people who couldn't understand how priests were counseling about marriage if they themselves were not married and had not even lived at home with their parents since they were 12 or 13. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the ads ran in the New York City edition of <em>TV Guide </em>and caught the attention of the producers of ABC-TV's 20/20. They subsequently interviewed various people and produced a 20 minute segment on mandatory celibacy that ran the following December, the first of its kind on national television.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">No response ever came from the hierarchy of the church regarding the above ads that had been running every other week in National Catholic Reporter, though I did meet an Archbishop at the annual November bishops conference in Washington D.C. My one question to him was, "How can the church justify throwing out the front door, priests who marry when they bring in the back door, married priests with families from other denominations and ordain them into the Roman Catholic priesthood?" He replied, "When a priest is trying to decide whether or not to leave, there is a lot of love and understanding on the part of the institution; but when he walks out that door, resentment sets in." That this comment would come from a man of God confirmed what I had read in books like <em>Shattered Vows </em>(Rice, David) about the shabby treatment of priests who marry.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-32465156697579939342010-02-07T13:56:00.002-05:002010-03-15T06:46:29.345-04:00CITI founded--Chapter Five<div>In December 1991, nine months after Mom's death, I read an article in <em>Time Magazine</em> (12/31/91) about the Blessed Virgin. There was a paragraph in which her virginity was compared to mandatory celibacy in the priesthood. A q<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">uote</span> from a Vatican official read, "<em>The church doesn't have a problem with sex. The world does." </em>Having become newly enlightened about the secret sexual <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">world</span> in the priesthood, I found the Vatican statement somewhat strange specially since I also had just read a 15-page story in <em>Vanity Fair</em> (12/91) about a clergy sexual abuse problem in New Orleans, LA. The abuse had been hidden for two years from the courts because the district attorney (Harry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Connick</span>, Sr) was a friend of the priest and he "<em>didn't want to embarrass Mother Church." </em><br />
<br />
I suddenly became curious, went to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">library</span> and plugged in the word, "celibacy."</div><div></div><div>Over the next few weeks in early 1992, I did some cursory research and found the following that I had never known about American priests:</div><ul><li>Jesus' disciples were married men, except for John (too young).</li>
<li>Mandatory celibacy was a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">manmade</span> law, passed in 1139.</li>
<li>In the first twelve hundred years of the church's history, popes, bishops and priests were married.</li>
<li>20,000+ priests had left clerical ministry in the United States (110,000 throughout the world) since late 1970s, 90% to marry.</li>
<li>There was a 90% drop in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">seminarians</span>.</li>
<li>Over 2,000 parishes had no resident priest (5,300 parishes in the 2000s)</li>
</ul>When I read, however, that since the early 1980s, the Catholic hierarchy had been ordaining into the Roman Catholic priesthood, married Protestant ministers and in some instances, placing them in the same parishes where priests were being defrocked because they married, I saw such an injustice toward cradle Catholic priests that something snapped inside my soul. I couldn't <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">believe</span> that I had never learned any of these things, either in church or parochial school or among the many priests and nuns whom I had befriended over the years as an adult church-going Catholic. (I later discovered that this was a program under the direction and jurisdiction of Bernard Cardinal Law, a key figure in the 2002 clergy sexual abuse revelations.)<br />
<br />
Had I been living in a vacuum? Did other mainstream Catholics know this? How could it have been going on so quietly? Is the world of religion different from the "secular" world, I thought? What is going on here?<br />
<br />
In January, 1992, I felt that God was calling me to a mission when I heard the following at Sunday Mass:<br />
<em>"See my servant whom I uphold; My Chosen One in whom I delight. I have put my Spirit upon (her); (she) will reveal justice to the nations of the world. (She) will be gentle--(she) will not shout nor quarrel in the streets. (She) will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the dimly burning flame. (She) will encourage the fainthearted, those tempted to despair. (She) will see full justice given to all who have been wronged. (She) won't be satisfied until truth and righteousness prevail throughout the earth, nor until even distant lands beyond the seas have put their trust in (her)." </em>(Isaiah 42:1-4)<br />
<br />
I had never felt so singled out by any passage heard in church before and I knew God was calling me to do something very important. I just didn't know what!<br />
<br />
In my research on mandatory celibacy, I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">discovered</span> an independent Catholic publication, the National Catholic Reporter (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">NCR</span>). I decided to run a small ad in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">NCR</span> just to see what kind of response it would draw.<br />
The following ad ran on February 6*, 1992:<br />
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</div>Expecting to hear from other mainstream Catholics like myself, imagine my surprise when the letters I received over the next two weeks came from priests and married priests thanking me for "being involved," some including money without even knowing who I was. Some of the responses:<br />
<br />
From a priest in New Jersey, "...<em>you've touched many (perhaps more than you realize) individuals and given them healing and hope."</em><br />
From a priest in New York: "...<em>those of us who <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">are</span> interested in getting involved in this cause are given caution signs or veiled <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">warnings</span> by the hierarchy...for these reasons there are probably more priests interested, but who find themselves unable to say much about the matter...My fervent prayers are that someone in authority listens to the voice of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">the</span> people...The unfortunate situation is the silence of the American bishops and Rome. The official policy is that, we've seen this all before (in the last 8 centuries) and if we hold out in silence it will all go away..."</em><br />
From a priest in Pennsylvania: "...<em>Many good men are lost to the priesthood through Celibacy; plus the very high degree of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">effeminacy</span> indirectly caused by Celibacy."</em><br />
From a priest in Africa: "<em>...I saw your ad in National Catholic Reporter...Here in Africa, Celibacy is absurd. To me it seems obvious that the first, and essential, step to forming an African Christianity is to eliminate mandatory celibacy."</em><br />
From a former seminarian in Ohio: "<em>I am a former seminarian who would be a current seminarian if it weren't for this issue."</em><br />
And from a seminary director (by phone): <em>"...Priests are not human. They are divine."</em><br />
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Having experienced the loss of my parents, especially Mom with whom I was so close, reconnecting with my friend and learning about her priest lover, reading <em>Time </em>and <em>Vanity Fair, </em>feeling called by God to a mission and finally receiving these responses <span style="background-color: yellow;">to</span> the ad, I decided that I needed to get involved. Just then, my husband Dick and I received a major sales bonus from our previous year's sales achievements (we had been partners in a sales firm for seventeen years). Dick bought himself a member at the local golf and country club and I put my share in the bank and founded Celibacy Is the Issue (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">CITI</span>), having no idea what I would do next, only that I didn't want <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">anyone's</span> senior parent like mine to die without seeing a priest.<br />
#<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-69648073422775504752010-02-06T13:40:00.001-05:002010-03-15T06:46:08.063-04:00My Story -- Chapter FourOur parents both died of heart disease 5 weeks apart in February/March 1991. This was after a year of illness--<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">angiograms</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">angioplasty</span>, pacemaker, congestive heart failure, etc. My Mom was 76 and Dad was 83. My siblings and I (10 including spouses) spent the bulk of 1990 traveling to Maine from as far as California to spend one to two weeks in rotation to take care of them, offering support when one of them would be in the hospital, and generally seeing to their comfort.
In December 1990, a major celebration took place over the holidays because they both seemed to be doing well and we were all together once again. But the day after Christmas while we were all still in Maine, Dad developed a blood clot in his leg and was hospitalized and died there six weeks later on February 19, 1991.
Dad was basically a good man. He worked hard, played hard and made a difference in our lives. He was a self-starter, self-taught and a self-made man. With little education as a youngster (no high school), he managed to run the sales departments of one or two franchised auto agencies in my hometown. He was also a land developer and built houses. Above all, he enjoyed politics. He and his Sunday morning cronies would love it when Washington notables Edmund Muskie or George Mitchell would drop in on their discussion group. And former Senator Bill Hathaway lived on the second floor of our two-story home for a few years when he first moved to Maine to establish residency for his upcoming career in national politics.
Dad ran for the local city council a couple of times and was part of the that council for one term. During the period he was in office, he noticed funny things going on with the city's books and exposed the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">information</span> to the local media, cleaning up mess in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Lewiston</span>. He also enjoyed writing "letters to the editor" about various local issues. In fact, as he lay in his hospital bed in early February 1991 just before his death, he received an invitation from the Chair of the New Library Building Committee inviting him to be on that committee because he had expressed so much interest in the project via his letters to the editor.
Dad did have some demons which manifested themselves in alcohol abuse. In light of recent revelations regarding clergy sexual abuse in Canadian boarding schools, some family members attribute some of his behavior to possible Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse at a Catholic boarding school he attended in the province of Quebec in his adolescence. He had also prevented my brother from becoming an altar boy or even attending any Catholic all-male religious retreats, and he did not attend church with us for as long as I can remember.
Mom was a homemaker and our "angel." She was loving, caring, spiritual and an avid churchgoer who put priests on pedestals. She was also a "gatherer" in the sense <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">that</span> she loved being around people. I remember as a youngster how she would load up the car with all the neighborhood kids and take us to the beach on a hot day. All we needed do was ask and help pack a picnic basket.
Mom too, had a limited education. She had to quit high school in her senior year in order to work and help support a houseful of 13 children. She was an avid reader and particularly enjoyed historical novels, especially books on the Civic War, and would engage in discussions and debates with her closest brother, a disabled World War II veteran who was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">also a</span> voracious reader.
Because my husband Dick and I lived in Massachusetts and owned property in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Freeport</span>, Maine, we spent a lot of time with my parents before they died. We typically visited them one weekend a month during the winter and they would come to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Freeport</span> in the summer. They, as we, enjoyed playing cards so we always managed to include a few games of Pinochle after a feast of lobsters. In fact, the family buried in my parents' casket, their respective little card game "dime purses."
Winters can be difficult in Maine because of many snow and ice storms and Dad's hospitalization in late December 1990 presented a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">problem</span> in terms of my Mom's care. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Her</span> congestive heart failure was unpredictable and she would have difficulty breathing, landing in the hospital every other week it seemed. It was especially hard during my Dad's hospital stay because she would extend beyond her own physical energy in order to visit him daily. She could no longer live alone, did not want any other relative or stranger in the house and would not leave <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Lewiston</span> to come live, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">even temporarily</span>, with one of us. Hence, the family decision was made to find a suitable one-bedroom apartment in a nearby assisted living facility, providing there would be no problems if we came to spend a few days with her. The facility also assured us that any of her non-breathing bouts would be attended to professionally if she were alone.
In our search for the most suitable place, it did not occur to us that there may not be a weekly Mass in their non-denominational chapel. Since 90% of the facility's occupants were Roman Catholic--mostly French--certainly a priest/chaplain would come to visit every week, so we thought. When I visited Mom after the first two weeks of her five or six-week stay and discovered that there had been no priest there the entire two weeks, I decided to ask around to see if someone would visit her. One priest agreed, but never went I later discovered, and she never saw a priest again until she was nearly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">comatose</span> in the hospital three days before she died in March, 1991. Living in the Boston diocese where priest shortages were either safely hidden or not yet severe, I had no idea about the dire need for priests. That it was a problem in the M<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">idwest</span> and other parts of the country never made New England press unless someone were to read religious newspapers and magazines.
At Dad's funeral, an old parochial school chum whom I had not seen in 35 years came to visit. She had continued to live in our hometown and was now 50 years old and divorced. During our conversation, I asked, "So what does someone our age do for excitement around here?" to which she replied, "Oh, my life is quite complete. I've been involved with a priest for thirteen years." My mouth nearly dropped to the floor. I had never heard of such a thing. That my friend should talk so openly about this, especially to someone whom she had not seen in this many years was a shocking as the message itself.
My friend and I reconnected over the next few months when I would come to Maine to help clean out the old homestead and get it ready for sale. It was during these lunches and dinners that my eyes were opened to what I now know is a "farce"--celibacy in the Catholic institution. She told me that many "housekeepers" who walk the malls on Saturday afternoons with their parish priest are not really "housekeepers," that many priests were secretly married, a fact that was later confirmed to me by a Pentagon official especially among priests in the military.
My friend also said that 20,000 married priests had left their clerical ministry since the late 1960s mostly to marry. As a devout traditional-bordering-conservative Catholic at the time who attended church regularly and was teaching CCD (religion classes to youngsters), this information astounded me. I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a <strong>married </strong>priest! (When a parish priest was replaced in a particular parish, I like others just presumed that he had relocated to another parish, not left to marry.)
In order to prove to me that there were "sexual shenanigans" going on in the church, my friend showed me a very explicit book about the male and female anatomy. Written by a Canadian priest, it educated and discussed for other priests the combination of spirituality and sexuality. The little book was so worn, it was obvious that it had seen many hands.
#<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-36943823189848406612009-10-17T08:50:00.002-04:002010-03-15T06:45:45.123-04:00Is Canon Law like the Catechism?--Chapter ThreeDuring a break at a recent Bible Study, I was talking with someone about married priests and the canons that allow for and validate their sacramental ministry. The individual asked, "Is Canon Law like the Catechism?" I was shocked by her question, apparently she didn't know about Canon Law. Later, however, I was reminded that I too had no idea what Canon Law was back in 1992. Our parochial education was more about The Catechism than it was the internal workings of our religion--the laws that the hierarchy use to govern the church or those that empower the people in the pews.
Crossing the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">threshold</span> into the world of church reform is like being on the inside of academia among the politics of the profession, or being in the political world itself. These are really "other worlds" unto themselves--a different subculture. I didn't realize this when <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">CITI</span>/<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rentapriest</span> propelled me into the church reform movement in 1992, but living it for the next four years made me curious about the origin of Judaism's "3-tenet" religion. Because of all the Catholic protesting going on regarding so many issues beyond a married priesthood (divorce and remarriage, women priests, homosexuality, etc.) I wondered if Jews had their own reform issues some years before that might have led to the branches of their religion: Orthodox, Conservative and Reform (plus a few in between), so that Jews with particular philosophies could worship together in respective groups. Somehow, I wondered if this might be a solution to church reform in Catholicism.
A good friend of mine loaned me a copy of <strong>The Jewish Book of Why</strong> (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kolatch</span>) in which I read of a "<em>Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch who believed in harmonizing Judaism with the ways of the world and in maintaining a working relationship with all elements of the Jewish community."</em> He wrote the book <strong>The Nineteen Letters about Judaism by Ben <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Uziel</span> </strong>back in 1836, a book that was very hard to find. It, however, was translated into English in 1995 by a Rabbi Elias in Israel. The manifesto is a clever but fictitious dialogue between a philosopher and a youthful intellect challenging the identity and religious belief among Jews, and is fascinating for anyone to read, not just Jews, because these spiritual challenges can apply to anyone.
The <strong>19 Letters</strong> not only opened my eyes to reform issues in general, but especially how similar both religions are and that many of our Catholic traditions were adopted from the Jewish religion. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Since the</span> early Christians were none other than Jewish converts, it makes sense. Some of our similarities include:
<ul><li>They have Circumcision (bris); we have Baptism.</li>
<li>They have Bar/Bat <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mitzvahs</span>; we have Confirmation.</li>
<li>The Torah (Old Testament) that is central to Jewish worship is kept in a curtained "ark" in synagogues; in the Catholic Churches, a Tabernacle holds the Communion Host, and both are isolated from the public when not in use.</li>
<li>We each have a Sabbath, though on different days.</li>
<li>Vestments are an important part of each religion's rituals.</li>
<li>We have both have had dietary laws--some Jews still don't eat pork or shellfish; Catholics used to not eat meat on Fridays, now observe the law only during Lent.</li>
<li>Our hierarchy even wear a Catholic version of the "Yarmulke," a type of cap worn by Jewish men during worship.</li></ul><p>Apart from our hierarchical structure which contrasts Judaism's Home Rule, we believe that Jesus was the Messiah, not just another prophet. </p><p>There are also major differences between Catholicism and Judaism in the process used to arrive at practical laws for worship and conduct, and this is where Canon Law and our Catechism come in:</p><p>In Judaism, great emphasis is placed on the <strong>Torah (Old Testament)</strong>which contains the Ten Commandments. The<strong> Talmud</strong> is<strong> </strong>a written version of the old Jewish Oral Law and is an explanation of the <strong>Torah.</strong> The practical applications of the <strong>Talmud</strong> are then published in<strong> The Code of Jewish Law<em>,</em></strong> all direct <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">descendants</span> of the<strong> Torah. </strong>So the evolution of Jewish follows as such:</p><p>1. Torah (Old Testament)</p><p>2. Jewish Oral Law, based on Old Testament</p><p>3. Talmud, written version of Oral Law</p><p>4. The Code of Jewish Law, taken from Talmud which is based on Old Testament</p><p></p><strong><em></em></strong>
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The Catholic lineage, on the other hand, is not so clearly defined. Our original "catechism" was called the <strong><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Didache</span> </strong>and was written in the first century of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Christianity</span>. (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">McBrien</span>, Richard. 1981. Catholicism; Minnesota: Winston Press). It too, was an interpretation of the <strong>Old Testament</strong>; the New Testament had not yet been published. The <strong><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Didache</span></strong> evolved through the centuries to our current <strong>Catechism, </strong>the newest 1995 version of which is a combination of the Old and New Testament<strong>, </strong>non-infallible Catholic teachings and Canon Law, a body of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">manmade</span> laws by the church hierarchy, first published in 1917 just prior to the first printing of the original <strong>Catechism </strong>(1918). The evolution, therefore:
1. Old Testament and only a few chapters of the New Testament
2. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Didache</span> (original name of Catechism), based on above
3. Catechism and Canon Law were published almost simultaneously in the early 20<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span> century, and were a combination of Old Testament, New Testament and non-infallible Catholic teachings (laws made by the Catholic hierarchy) with newer versions more of the same.
So, while the <strong>Code of Jewish Law</strong> is a direct descendant of the of the oral law (<strong>Talmud</strong>), a direct descendant of the <strong>Old Testament</strong>, the <strong>Catechism</strong> is a conglomeration of the <strong>Old</strong> and <strong>New</strong> <strong>Testaments</strong>, the <strong>Code of Canon Law</strong>, and non-infallible Papal Declarations.
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Because Catholics are taught the Catechism, they are not aware of the body of laws that appear in The Code of Canon Law, even though several sections are written to empower the laity (i.e., inviting a married priest to celebrate Mass inside a Catholic Church building when no other priest is available). These appear in Book II entitled "The People of God", part I of which is called "The Obligations and Rights of all the Christian Faithful." The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rentapriest</span> website (<a href="http://www.rentapriest.com/">http://www.rentapriest.com/</a>) lists the 21 canons that empower the people of God to use married priests without permission from anyone.
#30
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</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-32320998119634557222009-10-11T06:58:00.001-04:002010-03-15T06:44:58.270-04:00What do the Bishops Say about CITI/Rentapriest?--Chapter TwoThe question, "What do the Bishops say about <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">CITI</span>/<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rentapriest</span>?" has been asked, especially by conservative Catholics and the media. Our experience with bishops since 1992 has been a positive one. Only one, however, has made a public statement supporting of our work.
In the early days of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">CITI's</span> existence, I was introduced to Bishop Michael Kenny of Alaska. I wrote and sent him materials. He responded that he would be happy to serve as a "behind th<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">e</span> scenes" board member. He unfortunately died of a brain <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">aneurysm</span> several months later.
While attending a workshop at a Directors of Religious Education Conferences (DRE) in Washington, D.C., I asked a pertinent question at the end of Bishop McCarthy's talk, and at the same time introducing myself and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rentapriest</span> to him and the audience. After he responded, he pointed his finger at me and in front of 350 people said, "Don't stop what you're doing. God bless you."
On another occasion in the late 1990s, I was on my way back to the airport after attending the Call to Action Conference in Milwaukee, WI. The only other passenger on the airport shuttle bus was Bishop Raymond <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lucker</span> of New <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ulm</span>, MN. I was aware of the tremendous shortages of priests in his diocese and so during our conversation, I asked the Bishop what he would do if we placed married priests in some of his <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">priestless</span> parishes. He replied, "Oh, I would have to stop it." I then asked, "What if no one complained?" He said, "I would look the other way." I contacted one of the married priests in the area and asked for names of parishioners so that I could call them. Unfortunately, the married priest was unsure and called Bishop <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lucker</span> for his approval. Naturally, the Bishop said, "No." His public approval would have sent a red flag to Rome. (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lucker</span> was obviously saying, "Just do it!" but don't ask/tell me about it.)
For several years, one Maine married priest has celebrated Mass, at the request of the congregation, when the regular priest <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">presider</span> is not available. The Bishop has known and does nothing, presumably because he is aware that his flock is well taken care of.
A later meeting with an East Coast bishop revealed that he refused to accept into his diocese, married priest converts from other religions in protest of priests who married. I applauded his position.
During the very early days of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">CITI</span>, I attended one of the Bishops' Conferences and met with a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">midwestern</span> Archbishop. I was really curious about the injustice (I felt) between the use of married priest converts, while priests who married lost their "faculties" in the church. When asked "Why?", the Archbishop responded, "Resentment." I said, "Resentment? What do you mean?" He replied, "When a priest is in discernment about whether to leave and get married or stay in the clerical priesthood, there's a lot of love and understanding on the part of the church. But, when he walks out that door, 'resentment' sets in." I thought, what a strange attitude from Jesus' representatives on earth.
So, the bottom line messages are:
1. "Mandatory celibacy" is about "resentment" for those who have the integrity to leave when they struggle with lack of intimacy or they fall in love. (We certainly have heard enough stories since 2002 about priests who hide behind the collar and abuse women and children.)
2. If a parish is without a priest for Eucharist, especially during the holidays/<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">holydays</span>, they can invite a married Roman Catholic priest to celebrate, without obtaining permission from anyone. Just do it! According to Canon Law, the bishops have an obligation to the people of God, to provide sacramental ministry and if they cannot send a cleric, a married priest in your congregation will do...and chances are, the bishop will look the other way.
#30<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757028459966731025.post-15988126311417532682009-10-06T21:49:00.003-04:002010-03-15T06:44:22.893-04:00Rentapriest, the name--Chapter OneSo, let's begin with the name "Rent A Priest." When I became aware of the severe shortage of priests in 1991 (almost everywhere except New England where I live), my inclination was to find out why we had not seen news articles about churches that had already closed by then in San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago and elsewhere. I had been a pay, pray and obey Catholic all of my life--attended parochial school, served the public at church suppers, taught religion classes to youngsters as well as being a weekly communicant at my local church. Yet, I had never heard--ever--that 20,000 priests had left clerical priesthood to marry in the U.S. between 1968-1992; that Canon Law says they are priests forever and by using certain Canon Laws, the public can bypass a bishop and request sacramental ministry from a priest who married--that their sacramental ministry would be valid. When I read in my research, however, that as far back as 1980, the church hierarchy began inviting Protestant ministers to convert to Catholicism and become ordained into the Catholic priesthood, yet were throwing out the front door priests who married, something about a terrible injustice made me snap inside. It happened right in Maine where I live. Rev. Harry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Vickerson</span> from the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Buxton</span> area was relieved of his church duties when he married, but was replaced with a married priest convert with wife and family. My professional background had included marketing, advertising, television and sales. That I should write news releases about my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">newfound</span> discoveries was therefore a normal reaction. Armed with the research I had done, the newly-f0<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">rmed</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">CITI</span> (Celibacy Is the Issue) began releasing data to the news media. The instant positive response I expected, however, never came. This was nothing new to reporters. Their reaction was something like, "Celibacy in the priesthood? That's been around for 860 years. Ho Hum!" A few months later, I met married priest canon lawyer Rev. Delmar <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Smolinski</span> of Michigan. He handed me 20 years of his research to justify his own ministry as a hospital chaplain in a local Catholic hospital. I sent the 21 canon laws to one of the authors of The Code of Canon Law and asked, "Is this legitimate?" He said, "Yes!" OK, so here I was sitting with this new knowledge from my cursory research: 1. The realization that celibacy was a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">manmade</span> law passed in 1139 because the church wanted the homes where priests lived; in some instances, they even sold their wives and children into slavery (Thomas, Gordon-<em>Desire and Denial</em>). 2. Canon Laws that say priests are priests forever and people could call them to ministry without permission from anyone. In fact, there are 21 such laws. And no one in the media--the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">threshhold</span> to the public--cared. Meanwhile, I was hearing horrible stories <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">about</span> married priests being blackballed in their communities by their bishop and having difficulties getting decent jobs to support their families. Some had been told to move as far away as 500 miles. All had been told to put their chalice in the closet and, "Don't you dare celebrate Mass." I prayed. During the summer of 1992, I prayed. "OK, God, you've given me all this. So, what for? What do you want from me anyway?" I honestly didn't know what to do next. One of my sisters came to our Maine cottage for a visit in September. She slept upstairs, I downstairs. The following morning, she said, "You talked all night in your sleep. What was going on?" I told her about this dream I had, so vivid that it was like a vision. I saw a brochure in pale blue paper stock. On the cover were a pair of male hands holding the Eucharistic Host the way a priest does when he is consecrating it. The difference was that there was a brilliantly shining ring on the third finger of his left hand. Above the image were the words "Rent A Priest." That day, I called my canon lawyer friend and another married priest and together, we developed the brochure still being used today. Another friend, artist and illustrator Patricia Woodward designed the logo--an illustration of the image described above. It too is still being used today. <br />
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Media recognition and interest was almost instantaneous. Over the next five years, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Rentapriest</span> publicity attracted Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes, Time Magazine.com and front pages of the New York Times and International Herald Tribune along with scores of newspapers, magazines and online media. Belgium, Austria and Switzerland TV stations sent their camera crews to our front door and we were also featured on the BBC and CBC (Great Britain and Canada). No longer was celibacy a "ho-hum" issue and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Rentapriest</span> attracted not only the public, it brought married priests out of the woodwork, especially the 60 Minutes segment that ran in January 1995. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">CITI</span>, through <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Rentapriest</span>.com, has provided sacramental and pastoral ministry to over half a million people in the past ten to twelve years.<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read from the bottom up (archives) since the story is somewhat chronological and began with the Oct. 6, 2009 post.</div>Louise Haggetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13251592423584183483noreply@blogger.com