From the Depths of Our Hearts

From the Depths of Our Hearts
Author: Pope Benedict XVI
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2020-03-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1642291196

"The priesthood is going through a dark time", according to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Robert Cardinal Sarah. "Wounded by the revelation of so many scandals, disconcerted by the constant questioning of their consecrated celibacy, many priests are tempted by the thought of giving up and abandoning everything." In this book, the pope emeritus and the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments give their brother priests, and the whole Church, a message of hope. They honestly address the spiritual challenges faced by priests today, while pointing to deeper conversion to Jesus Christ as the key to faithful and fruitful priestly ministry and genuine reform. Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sarah "fraternally offer these reflections to the people of God and, of course, in a spirit of filial obedience, to Pope Francis", who has said, "I think that celibacy is a gift for the Church. . . . I don't agree with allowing optional celibacy, no." Responding to calls for refashioning the priesthood, including proposals from participants in the Amazonian Synod, two wise, spiritually astute pastors explain the importance of priestly celibacy for the good of the whole Church. Drawing on Vatican II, they present celibacy as not just "a mere precept of ecclesiastical law", but as a sharing in Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross and his identity as Bridegroom of the Church. of his collaboration with Benedict XVI in writing From the Depths of Our Hearts.

Why Celibacy?: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest

Why Celibacy?: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest
Author: Fr. Carter Griffin
Publisher: Emmaus Road Publishing
Total Pages: 125
Release: 2019-07-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1949013332

“The Church today demands a profound renewal of celibate priesthood and the fatherhood to which it is ordered.” Priestly celibacy, some say, is an outdated relic from another age. Others see it as a lonely way of life. But as Fr. Carter Griffin argues in Why Celibacy?: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest, the ancient practice of celibacy, when lived well, helps a priest exercise his spiritual fatherhood joyfully and fruitfully. Along the way, Griffin explores: the question of optional celibacy some pitfalls of celibate paternity the selection and formation of candidates for celibate priesthood why biological fathers are also called to spiritual fatherhood the powerful impact of celibacy on the Church and the wider culture In a critical moment for the Catholic priesthood, Fr. Griffin brings light and hope with a new perspective on the Church’s perennial wisdom on celibacy.

Freeing Celibacy

Freeing Celibacy
Author: Donald B. Cozzens
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2006
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780814631607

Cozzens explores priestly celibacy as a source of power and burden of obligation, as spiritual calling and gift of the Spirit. He affirms celibacy as a charism, a gift that is true for some, but only when received as a grace.

Washed and Waiting

Washed and Waiting
Author: Wesley Hill
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2010-11-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1458723941

Yet many who sit next to us in the pew at church fit that description, says author Wesley Hill. As a celibate gay Christian, Hill gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to wrestle firsthand with God's ''No'' to same-sex relationships. What does it mean for gay Christians to live faithful to God while struggling with the challenge of their homosexuality? What is God's will for believers who experience same-sex desires? Those who choose celibacy are often left to deal with loneliness and the hunger for relationships. How can gay Christians experience God's favor and blessing in the midst of a struggle that for many brings a crippling sense of shame and guilt? Weaving together reflections from his own life and the lives of other Christians, such as Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hill offers a fresh perspective on these questions. He advocates neither unqualified ''healing'' for those who struggle, nor their accommodation to temptation, but rather faithfulness in the midst of brokenness. ''I hope this book may encourage other homosexual Christians to take the risky step of opening up their lives to others in the body of Christ,'' Hill writes. ''In so doing, they may find, as I have, by grace, that being known is spiritually healthier than remaining behind closed doors, that the light is better than the darkness.

A Time of Sifting

A Time of Sifting
Author: Paul Peucker
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2015-06-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0271070714

At the end of the 1740s, the Moravians, a young and rapidly expanding radical-Pietist movement, experienced a crisis soon labeled the Sifting Time. As Moravian leaders attempted to lead the church away from the abuses of the crisis, they also tried to erase the memory of this controversial and embarrassing period. Archival records were systematically destroyed, and official histories of the church only dealt with this period in general terms. It is not surprising that the Sifting Time became both a taboo and an enigma in Moravian historiography. In A Time of Sifting, Paul Peucker provides the first book-length, in-depth look at the Sifting Time and argues that it did not consist of an extreme form of blood-and-wounds devotion, as is often assumed. Rather, the Sifting Time occurred when Moravians began to believe that the union with Christ could be experienced not only during marital intercourse but during extramarital sex as well. Peucker shows how these events were the logical consequence of Moravian teachings from previous years. As the nature of the crisis became evident, church leaders urged the members to revert to their earlier devotion of the blood and wounds of Christ. By returning to this earlier phase, the Moravians lost their dynamic character and became more conservative. It was at this moment that the radical-Pietist Moravians of the first half of the eighteenth century reinvented themselves as a noncontroversial evangelical denomination.

Single, Gay, Christian

Single, Gay, Christian
Author: Gregory Coles
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2017-08-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830890939

In an age where neither society nor the church knows what to do with gay Christians, Greg Coles shares his story—a story about a boy in love with Jesus who, at the fateful onset of puberty, realized his sexual attractions were persistently and exclusively for other guys. This honest, hopeful account shows life through one man's eyes and assures all people: "You are not a mistake."

Sacred Silence

Sacred Silence
Author: Donald B. Cozzens
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2004
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780814627310

Sacred Silence is a book about failed leadership in the Catholic Church. Donald Cozzens looks at various challenges and the scandal gripping the Church and offers an historical overview of our church leadership. He explains how the misplaced loyalties of those in leadership positions created the current crisis. Cozzens clarifies why bishops and church authorities think the way they do and why the ecclesiastical system might be the real villain in the abuse scandal. With compassion and understanding Cozzens answers the why of the present and past leadership failures and proposes a new direction. Chapters in Part One: Masks of Denial are "Sacred Silence," and "Forms of Denial." Chapters in Part Two: Faces of Denial are "Sacred Oaths, Sacred Promises," "Voices of Women," "Religious Life and the Priesthood," "Abuse of Our Children," "Clerical Culture," "Gay Men in the Priesthood," and "Ministry and Leadership." The chapter in Part Three: Beyond Denial is "Sacred Silence, Sacred Speech." Donald Cozzens, PhD, a priest and writer, is author of two award-winning titles, Sacred Silence and The Changing Face of the Priesthood, and editor of The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest, all published by Liturgical Press. He is writer in residence at John Carroll University where he teaches in the religious studies department.

Faith that Dares to Speak

Faith that Dares to Speak
Author: Donald B. Cozzens
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2004
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780814630181

The current crisis in the Church, while profoundly disturbing and troubling, offers possibilities for a renewed and revitalized Church. Cozzens underscores the critical need for laity and clergy to speak honestly and courageously to Church authorities.

Rethinking Celibacy, Reclaiming the Church

Rethinking Celibacy, Reclaiming the Church
Author: Michael H. Crosby
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2003-07-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1592442765

In this courageous work Michael Crosby offers a trenchant analysis of mandatory celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church. He shows how the imposition of celibacy has now revealed a deeper issue: the abuse of power as well as the abuse of women and homosexuals in the Church. Crosby asserts that: --to argue that the present discipline of mandatory celibacy is based on the New Testament is a misuse of scripture; --imposed celibacy continues to be used as a means of maintaining clerical control through fear and intimidation; --a religious system demanding celibacy exposes a deeper control: the abuse of power endemic throughout the system; --while difficult to live out even when freely chosen, enforced celibacy can result in dysfunctional behaviors at all levels. Integrating his personal experience as a celibate and cleric with biblical exegesis, historical study and the behavioral sciences, Crosby believes that: --healthy celibacy demands intimacy with God and others; --a healthy church will reorder its current power dynamics in a way that mitigates sexual abuse; --this will once again reveal Roman Catholicism to be a religion with an inspiring model of evangelical life and witness. This updated revision of Crosby's award-winning 'Celibacy: Means of Control or Mandate of the Heart?' also addresses the abuse of power in the Catholic Church by those male, clerical celibates who control it. He convincingly points the way to a Church that will be--with all its ministers--healthier and holier.