Sex, Priestly Ministry, and the Church


Book Description

"Would removing the celibacy requirement really eliminate priest pedophilia?" "Won't tough corrective measures such as a 'zero tolerance policy' only exacerbate the priest shortage?" These questions reflect the kind of concerns many of us are thinking and talking about lately. Despite the ongoing media coverage of sexual impropriety in the Church, there is relatively little known about sexuality issues involving priests. Sex, Priestly Ministry, and the Church provides an objective and authoritative account of psychosexual development in priests and key background information on the many sexual issues facing the Church today. It is a concise, comprehensive, one-of-a-kind resource of the most current information needed to understand these sexual issues and controversies and make reasoned, responsible decisions. Chapters under Part I: Essential Facts: Psychosexual Development are "Sex and Sexuality: Everything You Need to Know," "The Process of Psychosexual Development," and "Sexuality, Intimacy and Celibacy." Chapters under Part II: Essential Facts: Sexual Misconduct are "Determinants of Ministry Health and Sexual Misconduct," "Abusiveness and Sexual Misconduct," "Narcissism, Sexuality and Sexual Misconduct," and "Priest Sexual Misconduct with Children, Adolescents and Adults." Chapters under Part III: Pressing Sexual Issues are "Selecting Suitable Candidates for the Priesthood," "Homosexuality and the Priesthood," "Decisions About Removing Priests," and "Preventing Sexual Misconduct in Ministry."




Why Celibacy?: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest


Book Description

“The Church today demands a profound renewal of celibate priesthood and the fatherhood to which it is ordered.” Priestly celibacy, some say, is an outdated relic from another age. Others see it as a lonely way of life. But as Fr. Carter Griffin argues in Why Celibacy?: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest, the ancient practice of celibacy, when lived well, helps a priest exercise his spiritual fatherhood joyfully and fruitfully. Along the way, Griffin explores: the question of optional celibacy some pitfalls of celibate paternity the selection and formation of candidates for celibate priesthood why biological fathers are also called to spiritual fatherhood the powerful impact of celibacy on the Church and the wider culture In a critical moment for the Catholic priesthood, Fr. Griffin brings light and hope with a new perspective on the Church’s perennial wisdom on celibacy.




Sex and the Single Girl


Book Description

The 1962 blockbuster that took on “one of the most absurd (if universal) myths of our time: that every girl must be married” (The New York Times). Helen Gurley Brown, the iconic editor in chief of Cosmopolitan for thirty-two years, is considered one of the most influential figures of Second Wave feminism. Her first book sold millions of copies, became a cultural phenomenon, and ushered in a whole new way of thinking about work, men, and life. Feisty, fun, and totally frank, Sex and the Single Girl offers advice to unmarried women that is as relevant today as it was when it burst onto the scene in the 1960s. This spirited manifesto puts women—and what they want—first. It captures the exuberance, optimism, and independence that have influenced the lives of so many contemporary American women.




Made for Love


Book Description

In Made for Love, Fr. Michael Schmitz presents the Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction and same-sex "sexual" relations. He begins by giving background information regarding the different worldviews of the human person, the philosophical ideas of nature and purpose, the differences between objective and subjective truth, the principal of non- contradiction, and the fallen human nature that resulted from Original Sin. He then discusses in great detail the nature and ends of human sexuality and the nature of true love, while, in a compassionate and non-judgmental way, explaining the flawed nature of same-sex "sexual" relations. While this book is intended primarily for those who have same-sex attraction and their family and friends, its presentation of the compassionate truth of Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction will be of great benefit to everyone in today's society.




Master of Ceremonies


Book Description

Critically-acclaimed author Donald Cozzens that takes us behind the scenes of the Roman Catholic Church for an unflinching look at clergy sexual abuse and its very personal consequences. Cozzens weaves an intricate story of scholars and trained killers, bishops and priests, church ladies and clandestine operatives struggling--each in their own way--to protect the institution they venerate or to blow the lid off the oldest boys' club in the world.




A People Adrift


Book Description

In this national bestseller, the most influential layman in the United States reports that the Roman Catholic Church in America must either profoundly reform or lapse into permanent irrelevance.




Sex, Priests, and Power


Book Description

Richard Sipe examines the continuing sexual crisis facing the Catholic Church today. Has the storm of publicity and controversy caused the church to acknowledge any of the accusations? Will the church accept statistical evidence or alter the way it trains its clergy? How has it come to grips with reforming or retraining abusers? Has it acknowledged the spread of AIDS among its ranks? Why does the church oppress women and react with hostility and fear towards them? Sex, Priests, and Power: Anatomy of a Crisis addresses these and other questions.




Confessions of a Gay Priest


Book Description

Tom Rastrelli is a survivor of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse who then became a priest in the early days of the Catholic Church’s ongoing scandals. Confessions of a Gay Priest divulges the clandestine inner workings of the seminary, providing an intimate and unapologetic look into the psychosexual and spiritual dynamics of celibacy and lays bare the “formation” system that perpetuates the cycle of abuse and cover-up that continues today. Under the guidance of a charismatic college campus minister, Rastrelli sought to reconcile his homosexuality and childhood sexual abuse. When he felt called to the priesthood, Rastrelli began the process of “priestly discernment.” Priests welcomed him into a confusing clerical culture where public displays of piety, celibacy, and homophobia masked a closeted underworld in which elder priests preyed upon young recruits. From there he ventured deeper into the seminary system seeking healing, hoping to help others, and striving not to live a double life. Trained to treat sexuality like an addiction, he and his brother seminarians lived in a world of cliques, competition, self-loathing, alcohol, hidden crushes, and closeted sex. Ultimately, the “formation” intended to make Rastrelli a compliant priest helped to liberate him.




The Priests We Need To Save the Church


Book Description

While dissolute bishops and priests around the world grab headlines for their untoward words and deeds, too many other unfruitful priests minister as little more than glad-handing bachelors doing social service work. Top and bottom, is this the Church that Christ intended? Are these the priests we need? “No!” cries author Kevin Wells in these compelling pages that showcase how heroic priests can faithfully tread the narrow path of holy self-sacrifice first blazed by the apostles themselves. From scores of insightful interviews with modern priests, exorcists, seminary formators, and even disillusioned laity, Wells here draws forth a blueprint for priestly holiness that can once again fill our Church with priests abounding with sincere, supernatural faith, on fire with God's love, and moved by the irresistible impulse to save souls, no matter the cost to themselves. Reading this book will deepen your own faith and help you understand what all priests, by their vocation, are consecrated and called to be. Giving a copy to your parish priest will help him – and encourage him – as he strives to become a member of the small but growing contingent of holy priests we need.




Professional Sexual Ethics


Book Description

Sexual health is an essential part of maintaining professional relationships in ministry. Focusing on implications for the practice of ministry, this book engages all dimensions of theological education and academic disciplines. Each chapter includes an analysis of common ministry situations, discussion questions, practical guidelines, and resources for further study. The volume is ideal for use in courses on professional ethics for ministry, advanced leadership training, and continuing education for clergy.