Infiltration of the priesthood. How did it happen? How bad is it?

A priest friend of mine sent a link to a piece at his site: Padre Peregrino.

I think he over estimates the number of priests who are homosexual. However, I will agree that the percentage is probably higher among bishops and, at least once, seminary faculties. And let’s not even start on religious, especially Jesuits.

“Padre Peregrino” has some good observations. Inter alia… the title:

WHY DID SO MANY GAY MEN ENTER THE PRIESTHOOD IN THE 20TH CENTURY?

From the start he makes a good observation… which in a way echoes one of the readings from Ambrose today in Matins about the Apostles. Christ chose guys who weren’t soft of nuanced.

Jesus Christ chose twelve fishermen as His first Catholic bishops. Let that reality set in for a minute: Tough, blue-collar workers who never made it to rabbi-school were chosen as Apostles. To be sure, neither were they impious doofuses. They were tough, blue-collar workers who took their faith seriously, even when they had to say things to Our Lord like “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”—Luke 5:8. They thought in black-and-whites like that, not Hegelian greys.

Or mauve.

He goes on…

In a little known passage from the Gospels, Jesus contrasts his saintly second-cousin John the Baptist to the filthy Herod who would one day kill the Baptist.  St. Matthew writes: “As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.’”—Mt 11:7-8 ESV.  [Matthew has the Lord repeat the word.]

That word translated above “soft” in Greek is μαλακοῖς, and Jesus is saying that John the Baptist would never be caught in soft garments like rich kings. But the adjective μαλακοῖς (pronounced malakois) which is indeed accurately translated as “soft,” also has a very telling etymology. μαλακοῖς comes from the noun μαλακός (pronounced malakos) and my Greek-English dictionary defines it as this: “μαλακόςsoft, soft to the touch, metaph. in a bad sense, effeminate, of a catamite, of a boy kept for homosexual relations with a man, of a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness, of a male prostitute.”

He is right.  Malakós does have that connotation: effeminate passive homosexual male.

So we have the examples of rough blue collar guys, etc., for bishops and ascetic John for priests.

I liked this line…

If a priest is not allowed to do the Mass of Vatican II according to the rules of Vatican II in a conservative diocese, under five conservative pastors…then there is no order to the Novus Ordo.

Let me write that again with no exaggeration: Even in conservative dioceses, there is no order to the Novus Ordo liturgy. This means the Mass of Vatican II was not just mis-implemented. It was written to have no order. The Dutch, Dominican Father of Vatican II, Fr. Edward Schillebeeckx said: “We have used ambiguous phrases during the Council and we know how we will interpret them afterwards.”—Fr. Schillebeeckx, Open Letter to Confused Catholics,” pg.106.

Ahhhh… Schillebeeckx! We had a steady stream of his fluid dreck in my US seminary. What a load of crap that was. Hardly a surprise from that faculty. Of course we were also forbidden to use the word “priest”, which we called “The P Word”. We were to say “ordained minister” or “non-ordained minister”. EVERYONE is a minster! Which, come to think of it, was a welcoming and soft point of homosexualist activist Jesuit James Martin’s talk in Ireland.

The post goes on to talk about what I too have written about: homosexuals self-perpetuated themselves and advanced each other up the hierarchical ladder. That’s why there is a high percentage among those who have power.

He did a good job with his post. He hits it hard.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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26 Comments

  1. mepoindexter says:

    If Fr Martin is so afraid to proclaim the boldness of Christian truth then he’s the one who’s homophobic.

  2. Nigelteapot says:

    As reports show, priests are least likely to do any sort of things sodomites are known for out of any group. This means that if there is a preponderance of sodomites in the clergy, they aren’t acting like sodomites do elsewhere.

    Of course, there is politicking to be had and so the actual figures of “infiltration” are irrelevant as interested parties will just say whatever they think hurts the Church the most.

  3. PetersBarque says:

    How ironic that bad priests caused this seismic cataclysm from which only good priests can save us. Father Z, keep the faith. But for you and your faithful brother priests, the present abuse revelations and resulting impact would be more than one could abide. 2 Cor. 4. May the Lord open our eyes to His presence. 4 Kings 6:15-17.

  4. veritas vincit says:

    Bingo! Practicing, active homosexuals in the priesthood and the episcopate is exactly the problem the Church faces today!

    Even though I take some of Padre’s claims with a grain of salt, I say “Bravo!”

  5. Dismas says:

    I recall that the Ven. Fulton Sheen stated that Christ called Herod a vixen, using the feminine form of fox. I can’t say that I could conclusively determine that, as my own Greek is still quite sophomoric.

  6. Sandy says:

    “……we know how we will interpret them afterwards.” There it is in his own words (Schillebeeckx) “Ambiguous” is the word I have heard/read for years to describe what was intentionally written in V II docs, especially the “new” liturgy. Regarding the present and ongoing crisis of homosexuality, I still believe “AA1025”, the little book. The people were planted and now look how many are bishops.

  7. Someone please be the Garrigue says:

    Some of my friends in olden days were into malacology. They studied spineless slimy creatures, with or without a whorly shell.

  8. Massachusetts Catholic says:

    A comment I liked at The Boston Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston. As someone from a family of cops, this makes sense to me:

    Cardinal Sean should read up on the “broken window” theory of crime and apply it to the Church:
    “The broken windows theory is a criminological theory that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment hat encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes. The theory thus suggests that policing methods that target minor crimes
    such as vandalism, public drinking and fare evasion help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness, thereby preventing more serious crimes.”

    “In parishes where homosexual activists are celebrated, bad theology is taught and accepted, bad behavior is excused, and pastors grow lax or worse. [Here the author names specific parishes that won’t surprise any locals]”

  9. There’s a lot of good points in the blog post, but someone should tell Padre Peregrino that “AA-1025” is a novel, so it shouldn’t be trusted as evidence of the extent of Communist infiltration of the clergy.

  10. Eoin OBolguidhir says:

    cf. Molites in Aquinas.

  11. SKAY says:

    The link to the Lepanto Institute was very informative
    I appreciate the article Father. I keep thinking of Christ clearing out the Temple.

  12. rcg says:

    The support of Communists and Masons seems more than plausible it seems likely. Once they were in place as bishops they could actively recruit to the priesthood. I think it happened early in the 20th century.

  13. chantgirl says:

    Padre Peregrino hints at something that I believe is essential to diagnosing the problem- narcissism.

    I think if you dig deeply under the personalities and sexual tendencies of the priests who committed the crimes in the Penn. report, you will find narcissism as a root cause. The offenders, whether they offended against children or adolescents, males or females, exhibited the same sort of entitled mentality. Clearly, homosexuals committed most of the crimes, but in calling these incidents crimes, we might lose sight of the fact that chicken-hawking is a well established practice among the gay community. Joseph Sciambra has statistics on his website about the age of an adolescent male’s first homosexual partner, and it is overwhelmingly the case that an older man initiates a teen into the homosexual lifestyle. So these types of crimes should not be a surprise among a priesthood which leans homosexual. They should be expected.

    Another component which seems to be involved is satanic activity. Some of the victimization included religious objects, and all of the incidents included sacrilege as the priest himself is consecrated to God.

    I wonder if these rectories/confessionals/churches where abuse took place have been exorcised?

  14. magister63 says:

    I have always said that the New Mass is a gay Mass for the reasons Father gives. Also, the lack of rigor in the seminary, in priestly life and discipline, combined with the individualism that has infected the religious life and the clergy attracts “soft” men. I can imagine few Novus Ordo priests I know saying the traditional Mass and Office. I believe that getting up, concelebrating a 20 minute Novus Ordo, reading your six required psalms (3 for morning and 3 for evening prayer) is not the rigor required of a priest of God. That is why Tradition has been largely spared this scourge.

  15. Spinmamma says:

    Surely the guilty ones have crowned our Lord with a new and terrible crown of thorns–mocking Him. the true King, in a way that makes the Roman soldiers’ abuse of Him look almost paltry. This, I think, is the root of our dismay (and sometimes the edge of despair.) How can there possibly be enough reparation to make up for this? He came unto his own, and his own received Him not. And they call US Pharisees.

  16. Dismas says:

    My only criticism of the article is that Fr. gets the timeline of the Lavender Mafia by at the very least 10 years later than what happened. Also, the 80% SSA ratio for bishops can also be extended to the college of cardinals.

  17. Dismas says:

    @Spinmamma – Perhaps, but let us remember that there were good Pharisees, such as Nicodemus, but not one account of the same said of the Sadducees.

  18. jaykay says:

    “of a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness,”

    Father’s Greek-English dictionary certainly doesn’t pull punches! Then again, as the Catechism has it: “disordered”. And that’s true, because if only a small percentage of the population has it (and the 10% thing is a total canard) then it’s not “normal”, logically, and hence, yes, “disordered”, against the natural order.

    The same Catechism says that we must not be uncharitable towards them. And Christian Charity has always demanded that, of course, even if, as in many other instances, this wasn’t lived up to. But no, you don’t suddenly deserve special treatment because of it. If you want to be a Catholic, accept that cross and try to overcome it. Do not try to change the rules to accommodate your state. What is so hard to understand about that?

    Yeah, yeah, I know. I can almost hear the chorus of the useful idiots and zeitgeist puppets. Who can avoid it, these days?

    Anyone who has been in Greece will of course be familiar with the modern Greek insult based on “malakos”.

  19. Elizabeth D says:

    “How can there possibly be enough reparation to make up for this?” This is a wonderful question that I want to suggest an answer to; bear in mind that even the smallest sin, in its aspect of being an offense against God, is beyond human means of atonement. Only God Himself (God the Son) can atone for it. That doesn’t mean that penance and reparation is pointless, but the point of it, joined always with Faith in Christ the Redeemer Who has made the perfect atonement, is the purification and restoration of order in souls, which ultimately and most importantly means perfection of the virtue of Charity. Charity is the goal of penance/reparation. The communal, social dimension of this penance or reparation done for the Body of the Church is the beginnings of or at least plowing the ground for restoration of order, justice and Charity in the Church and society. The devil’s lie is that sin is legally binding and final; the devil wants us to disbelieve that faith in Jesus and penance can actually restore Charity. I think we should pray for the grace to believe that God can make our penance, done in faith, fruitful.

  20. RuralCatholic says:

    Jesus and St John the Baptist were 3rd cousins. Mary and John were second cousins. Mathew was a tax collector, Judas a zealot rabble rouser like a modern day Bill Ayers…not fishermen. But whether there are ten or fifty percent homosexuals in the Church isn’t important. A handful is too many, like a drop of strychnine in a piece of cake. I think we’re going to have to have an outside audit as Raymond Arroyo recommended and follow the money.Cut off the bishops bottomless funds and they’ll be jumping ship like rats. Allowing these wicked men to live out their days in luxury in Rome has got to stop. It’s always the money with these types.

  21. Spinmamma says:

    @Dismas and Elizabeth D. Thank you for pointing out two truths (at least.) To Dismas I wonder if the Holy Father would recognize a Nicodemus among we Pharisees. (<: To Elizabeth, of course you are right about Christ's atonement covering all who repent, and his ability to restore is limitless. Perhaps I got a little beyond the edge of despair.

  22. Dismas says:

    @Spinmamma – That likelihood is as low as Caiaphas recognizing the good from the bad.

  23. hwriggles4 says:

    Schillbeeckx’s verbiage reminded me of Nancy Pelosi when she said “we need to pass the bill so we can find out what is in it.”

    Anyway, I read something yesterday that priests who gave in to temptation (with women) usually left the priesthood, were laicized, married, and lived out the marriage vocation (several as practicing Catholics). Those priests who were sodomites – a number of them hid in the priesthood.

    I heard back in the old days, a homosexual out of the closet was committed to a mental institution. That was until the APA removed homosexuality as disordered circa 1973. These sodomites should have been dealt with much earlier.

  24. Semper Gumby says:

    Interesting articles by Padre Peregrino and, by his his link, the Lepanto Institute.

    Manning Johnson’s 1953 HUAC testimony in that Lepanto article seems insightful: “In general, the idea was to divert the emphasis of clerical thinking from the spiritual to the material and political..The plan was to make the seminaries the neck of a funnel through which thousands of potential clergymen would issue forth…”

    For comparison to the infiltration of the Catholic Church, there is the infiltration of Hollywood in the 1930s. A few points below from Peter Schweizer’s book “Reagan’s War” (Reagan was a Screen Actor’s Guild member then SAG President in the 1930s and 1940s). Schweizer’s sources here are “Hollywood Party: How Communism Seduced the American Film Industry in the 1930s and 1940s” by Kenneth Lloyd Billingsley, “Communism in American Unions” by David Saposs, and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

    – In 1935 the CPUSA (the Communist Party of the USA) in New York secretly dispatched Stanley Lawrence to Hollywood to “capture Hollywood’s labor unions.” Lawrence in Hollywood reported to CPUSA New York, which in turn reported to Moscow.

    – In Moscow the chief of the Comintern (Communist International) Willie Muenzenberg is quoted as saying: “One of the most pressing tasks confronting the Communist Party in the field of propaganda is the conquest of this supremely important propaganda unit [the film industry]…We must wrest it from them and turn it against them.”

    – In the US, Harry Bridges was the leader of the International Longshoremen and Warehousemen Union in the 1930s. According to Soviet archives he was a Communist Party member and agent.

    – Herb Sorrell was a protege of Harry Bridges. Sorrell joined the CPUSA and led violent strikes in the San Francisco area in the 1930s. Sorrell later admitted these strikes were funded by the Soviets. Sorrell was a member of more than twenty Communist front organizations. Eventually, Sorrell moved to Hollywood, organized strikes, sometimes transported dozens of “tough guys” from San Francisco to assist, and about 1941 became leader of the Conference of Studio Unions.

    – The CPUSA newspaper, “People’s World,” quoted Lenin favorably: “Of all the arts, the cinema is the most important.” Actors, actresses, producers, directors, script writers, and workers were all targets. The “People’s World”: “The prize will be the complete control of the greatest medium of communication in history.”

    That is a brief sketch of the background that Schweizer provides in the first few pages of his book to set the stage for Reagan’s clash with Sorrell in 1946. Reagan eventually won that particular battle but obviously Hollywood is problematic to this day.

    Schweizer also notes that Sorrell was assisted by Vincente Lombardo Toledano, a lawyer and head of Mexico’s largest labor union. Toledano provided Sorrell money and also pressured Mexican film executives to boycott Hollywood films. Toledano was a Communist agent. (Schweizer’s source here is from a FOIA request of “Venona” material. Venona are Soviet radio messages that were intercepted and decrypted by the US Army beginning in 1943.

    Regarding the infiltration of the Church, Bella Dodd (in the Lepanto article), the books such as “Goodbye Good Men” and “AA-1025” (though commenter Richard Chonak has a fair point) all seem to shed some light.

    Commenter rcg above made a good point about Communism and the early 20th century, which helps explain later developments. Liberation Theology, the KGB and Warsaw Pact intelligence service’s activities against the Catholic Church, Pius XII (the Hitler’s Pope myth), and St. John Paul II are described in the Mitrokhin Archives, some of George Weigel’s writings, and Gen. Pacepa’s book “Disinformation.”

    Massachusetts Catholic: Good point about the Broken Windows Theory.

    “A no-order liturgy and a no-order doctrine are going to attract a man who is aberrantly-ordered sexually. ” – Padre Peregrino.

  25. teomatteo says:

    I can’t think of the explosion of disorders being normalized behavior without pointing to pornography. Maybe when normal, middle American men and and women (mommies & daddies) accepted porn in books, tv, magazines, etc then their attitudes flipped. Overnight. Just my 60 yr old perspective.

  26. Unwilling says:

    The “confessions” of Carlo Maria Viganò give some sense of how much. But when?

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