Confraternity of
Catholic Clergy
Office of
the President
Rev. John Trigilio, Jr, PhD, ThD
Fraternity
of Mary, Inc.
P.O. Box
60542
Harrisburg,
PA 17106-0542
717-957-9309
; 957-4247 fax
Most Reverend Wilton D.
Gregory
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th
St. N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20017-1194
Your Excellency,
The
Confraternity of Catholic Clergy denounces the petition of the 163 priests of
the Archdiocese of Milwaukee seeking optional celibacy in the priesthood of the
Latin Rite. We declare our unequivocal support for the ancient discipline of
priestly celibacy in the Western Church.
Furthermore, we do not believe that modifying or abandoning mandatory
celibacy in the Western Church, normative since the Council of Elvira (306 AD)
and obligatory since Pope Gregory VII (1074 AD), is the answer to the current
problems facing the universal and local church.
Unlike the Byzantine Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
Churches which have had a consistent tradition of optional celibacy, the Roman
Church decided long ago to follow a different path. There is no evidence whatsoever, that
ending mandatory celibacy would have prevented any acts of sexual misconduct,
from pedophilia to ephebophilia.
Studies show that the overwhelming majority of perpetrators of these
heinous crimes are non-ordained, non-celibate family
members.
The
fact that some celibate clergy (bishops, priests and deacons) have sexually
abused children and adolescents, however, warrants realistic remedies which
conform to traditional discipline and defined doctrine. The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy,
founded in 1975, is composed of over six hundred diocesan and religious priests
and deacons from the United States and Canada, and is committed to the ongoing
spiritual, theological, pastoral and fraternal formation of the clergy. Unlike some national associations of
priests, the CCC has no desire to interfere with the authentic teaching
authority of the Magisterium nor do we seek to usurp the legitimate jurisdiction
of the national or local hierarchy.
Optional celibacy is not the answer, nor is it the
panacea; it is a placebo. It will do nothing. The current crisis in the Catholic
Church in America is three-fold.
Bad theology, bad liturgy and bad morality have caused the damage and
like a malignant tumor, needs to be excised. Heterodoxy as taught by dissident
theologians in seminaries and Catholic colleges, supported by liturgical abuses
and an iconoclastic crusade to remove reverence from public worship, will
inevitably produce immoral behavior. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex
agendi.
We
ask you and the entire Conference of Bishops to thoroughly,
completely and systematically investigate and eliminate all vestiges
of heterodoxy, homosexuality and liturgical abuse from all seminaries
and to fully implement Ex Corde
Ecclesiae in every Catholic college.
We ask you and all the bishops as our chief shepherds to inaugurate a
Catholic renaissance of reverent celebrations of the Sacraments, especially the
Holy Mass, respecting the valid options allowed by the universal church; of
conforming all teachers and their teachings to the Magisterium; and of fostering
solid, manly vocations, obedient sons of the Church who will live chaste and
prayerful lives. Only by restoring
the sacred, by defending the revealed truths and by upholding the natural moral
law can we achieve any victory over the current crisis of faith now affecting
the Church.
You
can count on our prayers and support in these endeavors. May Christ the High Priest and His Holy
Apostles watch over, guide and direct all the deliberations and discussions held
by the American Bishops.
Respectfully Yours,
Rev. John Trigilio, Jr., PhD, ThD
President