LONDON (AP) — The cardinal who until recently served as Britain’s highest-ranking Catholic leader on Sunday acknowledged unspecified sexual misbehavior and promised to play ‘‘no further part’’ in the public life of the church, an admission which comes at an awkward time for the Vatican.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien resigned Monday from his position as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh after a newspaper published unnamed priests’ accounts of unspecified inappropriate behavior.
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How many more cardinals live in fear of exposure? How long before the church acknowledges that celibacy is unnatural? The church would do well reflect on its history of marries priests, including a reported 39 popes, some of whom were themselves the sons of popes. The church's legitimacy will continue to be undermined by its failure to acknowledge this reality--for it spawns multiple challenges that it is increasingly incapable of surmounting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sexually_active_popes#Popes_who_were_married
http://johnshuster.com/thirtynine_popes.htm
I am commenting under "Reply" because I can't get on under "Comment." Globe, please fix it.
The common sense of this man's comments above stares and glares at us with stunning logic. The Church asks too much from these dedicated priests and nuns by asking them to vow to wage war with the powerful force of nature and the natural instincts of man. God is holy. God made sex. Sex is holy. A sex life does not stand in the way of a strong spiritual life. In fact, it enhances it.