Off the Record

Altoona-Johnstown: Maybe. Maybe not.

By Diogenes (articles ) | May 16, 2003 4:13 PM

Dom, I'm extremely skeptical about the authenticity of the letter you mention, and have to wonder whether it is what it purports to be (a manifesto of a clandestine group of homosexual priests), or whether it's the work of other folks who wish to jump-start the Adios to Adamec Campaign by stirring up outrage among the unaligned.

To my ear, the wording doesn't reflect the language of real priests: "Cease and desist sending seminarians to the present rigid seminaries used by our diocese and begin to use more pastoral seminaries for formation." It's off-key; perhaps this is the way a layman might imagine a priest talks.

In October of last year, the Lexington (KY) Herald Standard reported threatening letters sent to priests by a group calling itself the Gay Priests Association. No one had heard of the group, apparently, and for a secret cabal it too is named a little too clumsily for comfort. Again, there's a cracked-bat feel to the thing.

I have no doubts that there is no shortage of clergy in Altoona-Johnstown endowed in the way the letter suggests. But if past indications are any guide, they have had considerably more effective means of getting through to their bishop, alas, than an anonymous letter cc'd to the local media. Let's go slow on this one.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Progress toward our June expenses ($15,085 to go):
$30,000.00 $14,914.93
50% 50%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Think with the Catholic Leaders: Subscribe to Catholic Culture Insights Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Pope Francis the Frank 8 hours ago
“Illegals” are not “Immorals”: A Persistent Immigration Fallacy 10 hours ago
News coverage of the Vatican: the blind leading the blind 15 hours ago
Those Harleys again June 17
Happy Father's Day! June 14

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Vatican document demands governments protect refugees CWN - June 6
Pope acknowledges 'gay lobby' influence in Vatican CWN - June 11
Pope confirms he is completing encyclical on faith begun by Benedict XVI CWN - June 13