Advent Group - Supporting Priests & Religious since 1969
The Signs of the Times
- Written by: Alex Walker
Women outside Westminster Cathedral greeted warmly by church goers on the 1st February after the 10.30 am Sung Mass. There were about 10 members of the group handing out leaflets and there were clearly many people who were in favour of what they were doing. As the Church continues to lurch to the right, we need to remember that collegiality and the Spirit speaking through its members is still a reality in our Church, at least from those in the pews !
Dialogue is needed and needed soon. We can no longer ignore the signs of the times. The Church is imploading at the expense of regulations that have out-lived their usefulness or purpose. More information at www.catholic-womens-ordination.org.uk and http://www.womenpriests.org/index.asp
Pope praying for vocations
- Written by: Alex Walker
Pope Praying for Many New Vocations
Says They Are "Precious" Gifts to Church
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 1, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is asking the faithful to pray for many new vocations the consecrated life, which he said are "precious" gifts to the Church.
New Website for Europe !
- Written by: Alex Walker
The new web site for the European Federation of Married Priest has been launched. The site is manually translated into different languages rather than using automatic translation services. The automatic machine translation was removed on request from the Advent Group site due to its inaccuracy. If anyone would like to help in the manual transaltion of the content of this site please contact the web author, Alex Walker.
Priests to Face Sex Drive Test
- Written by: Alex Walker
Pope Benedict has approved new test >
The Roman Catholic Church has issued guidance for future priests to have psychological tests to weed out those unable to control their sexual urges.
A senior churchman said a series of sex scandals had contributed to the rewriting of the guidelines.
The authors said screening would help avoid "tragic situations" caused by what they termed psychological defects.
The guidance says the voluntary tests should also aim to vet for those with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies".
Among other traits that might make a candidate unsuitable for the priesthood, the advice lists "uncertain sexual identity," "excessive rigidity of character" and "strong affective dependencies".
The document also makes reference to heterosexual urges.
Seminarians should be barred if testing makes it "evident the candidate has difficulty living in celibacy: That is, if celibacy for him is lived as a burden so heavy that it compromises his affective and relational equilibrium", it says.
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 Catholic officials continue to fixate on the offenders and ignore the larger problem  US-based victims group SNAP
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The advice stipulates priests must have a "positive and stable sense of one's masculine identity".
The document, approved by Pope Benedict XVI and made public on Thursday, stresses that the screening must always have the candidate's consent.
The Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of sex scandals in recent years involving paedophile priests, notably in the US, Latin America and Europe, triggering lawsuits that have cost hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.
And a seminary in Austria was shut down in August 2004 after revelations that students openly indulged in homosexual conduct.
Gay rights groups have accused the Church of using homosexuals as scapegoats for abuse scandals.
The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a US-based group of victims of sexual abuse, said the revised guidelines did not go far enough.
"Catholic officials continue to fixate on the offenders and ignore the larger problem: The Church's virtually unchanged culture of secrecy and unchecked power in the hierarchy," it said in a statement.
"These broader factors are deeply rooted in the Church and contribute heavily to extensive and ongoing clergy sex abuse and cover up."
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