Priest Arrested Naked in Bathhouse While Praying the Rosary - A Case of Arrested Development

Perhaps nothing is left of the Church in Hospice weblog by Fr. Paul Stanosz of St. James Church here in Franklin except the copy I saved from the Google cache when I learned he'd deleted it from Blogger. In this post, Fr. Stanosz continues his discussion of the training of priests.

Many observers believe that the influence of Pope John Paul II's I Will Give Them Shepherds remedied many of the faults of earlier seminary programs. From my perspective, John Paul II's greatest contribution in the apostolic exhortation was to add a fourth dimension to the already established spiritual, academic, and pastoral dimension. The Holy Father wisely added human formation, saying it is the necessary foundation for all other priestly formation. He states that a priest's personality should be a bridge rather than an obstacle to others in meeting Christ.

See 43-44.

Psychosexual development and affective maturity thus become central to seminary formation.

That's not quite how the Pope expressed it.

Of special importance is the capacity to relate to others. This is truly fundamental for a person who is called to be responsible for a community and to be a "man of communion." This demands that the priest not be arrogant, or quarrelsome, but affable, hospitable, sincere in his words and heart, prudent and discreet, generous and ready to serve, capable of opening himself to clear and brotherly relationships and of encouraging the same in others, and quick to understand, forgive and console... (43)

The post title refers to an acquaintance of Stanosz who he calls "Father Bo." As Stanosz tells it, Bo was of a conservatively orthodox bent, then some years after being ordained a priest realized he had repressed homosexual desires which he acted on, living something of a double life.

When I shared my desire to write a blog named "Church in Hospice" about a Church in crisis, Bo chided me for being "depressing" and not writing something more positive that will give people hope. This is where Fr. Bo strikes me as most schizophrenic or conflicted.

This is where Bo struck me as wiser than Stanosz credited him.

Unfortunately, I know other priests like Fr. Bo. Laity's trust will not be misplaced if he (and other priests in his quandary) maturely choose celibacy or leave the priesthood in order to satisfy their affective needs. Then we will have a Church worthy of trust.

It might take that but it will take more than that.