CATHOLIC: LA ARCHDIOCES ADMITS TO ...

... hundreds of possible cases of priestly misconduct dating back to the 1920s.

I am a firm believer in the "iceberg" theory of public revelations; as with rape, I must insist that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

I wonder aloud to my readers: is the current shortage of priests indirectly or directly the result of continuous revelations of priestly perversion? Not because the news shocks and repels potential applicants, but because homosexuals and pedophiles see their door of opportunity closing on them?

The Vatican had already signaled that the priest shortage was a major issue surrounding the eucharist. A working document prepared for the synod noted that in 1978, there was one priest for every 1,797 Catholics. In 2003, it was one for every 2,677 Catholics. In the United States, it is one for every 4,723 Catholics.

Is the light of public exposure too intense for these perverted Sons of Belial or is their another explanation?

Some church experts predict that the shortage may become worse, especially in the United States, if the Vatican releases a long-expected document on excluding homosexuals, even celibate ones, from seminaries.

Others appear to be pointing to celibacy as the root cause of sexual abuse and shortages.

The priest shortage has been a major topic at the synod, but there have been no explicit recommendations to relax the celibacy requirement for priests to combat it, the Rev. John Bartunek, a synod spokesman, said Wednesday.

Some liberal Catholics and church reform groups say removing the celibacy rule for priests would encourage more men to join the priesthood and alleviate the shortage, which has forced the closure of hundreds of churches and clustering together of others.

Others point to a failure to enforce extant doctrine and a failure of leadership; especially bishops.

It seems obvious to me: public revelations of sexual abuse, followed by declines in applicants for the priesthood, both then moving at a similar rates; one increasing, while the other declines ... hhmmmm?

But then again, who am I but a sinner saved by grace that doesn't deserve the ministry call for the sins I commit daily?

Catholics; Catholic Priest Shortage; Gay Priests; Priesthood; Priest sexual Abuse; Priests