An Open Letter to 23 Chicago Priests

The following is courtesy of Catholic Citizens of Illinois:

1/12/2004 9:57:00 PM
By Dan Cheely - Catholic Citizens of Illinios
For background see Chicago Priests Openly Rip On Church Teachings
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An Open Letter to 23 Chicago Priests

In a time of crisis in the Catholic Church it is truly counter-productive to heap scorn on the moral teachings of the Catholic Church, and even the Pope himself, as he reiterates that age-old teaching. For Catholic priests to be the heapers is a grave scandal.

Let’s be frank. If the Church’s moral teaching on homosexuality had been fostered, embraced and followed by the criminal priests who preyed on Catholic children, and if those priests had accepted the need to struggle heroically to preserve chastity, 90% of those crimes never would have occurred. Moreover, if the Church’s teaching on chastity in general were fostered, actively preached, and practiced, none of the crimes would have occurred at all.


Secondly, the only public statements on the issue which have used rhetorically repugnant language are yours, not the Vatican’s. I challenge you to find a single document from the 25 year Pontificate of John Paul II where he uses the term evil or hateful to describe homosexuals. There are none. It is only your letter that uses this language to demean those who disagree with you. Does this exemplify the dialogue you claim to favor? It is obvious that it is this teaching of the Catholic catechism that you find offensive, and that any articulation of it whatsoever is painful to you. Your purpose in your public letter is to change the Church’s teaching, and to use wrongfully your position in the Church to undercut the clarity of that teaching. As you probably know, the Vatican’s statements are measured and mild as compared with the text of the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. Perhaps you consider these evil as well.

On the contrary, the traditional Biblical teaching on sexual morality is beautiful, uplifting, and transforming. It demands the best from human nature, calling into action high-mindedness, self-discipline, perseverance, dedication, fortitude, patience, mental focus, loyalty, honor, temperance, and self-control. Granted, it does necessarily involve the single dirty word condemned by our contemporary society. No!, but that self-mastery exercises and makes possible all those qualities which foster heroism in personal and social life, and thus energizes the truest kind of freedom: the power to be good and do good habitually, even when it is difficult.

Unlike your call to conform the Church to the times, the Church’s traditional morality is timeless, valid in all seasons. Christ, we believe, came to us as a revelation from the Eternal. Thus, his Church is constituted, not to conform to modern mores, but to create new men and new women, living lives radically different than what might be the prevailing practice around them. So it was in the first Christian centuries. So it must be now.

Your letter calls for dialogue, as if Christian Revelation were as negotiable as a services contract. There is a place for dialogue, but never at the expense of the critical mission of the Church. Dialogue on the part of the Church can only occur meaningfully if the Church has something unique to affirm which flows from her very nature and her unique role in passing on eternally the teaching of Christ as handed on through his Apostles. You seem to be scandalized that the Church dares make such affirmations at all. You would rather have the Church silent, simply to listen to the monologue of homosexual activists, implicitly denying the Church any authority or ability to teach.

If the Church cannot proclaim its own long-standing morality, it is not even free. St. Paul wrote to Timothy that the Church leader should be prepared to preach the traditional teaching in season and out of season, even at the risk of being unpopular. A Church that says yes to every moral difficulty is not a Church at all, but rather, useless. Is it any wonder that when the Church spoke with a clearer, more united voice in matters of faith and morals that Catholic identification, solidarity and commitment was high, and that the reverse is true today? Is it mysterious that those Communities and Churches which promote the most challenging & demanding adherence to traditional faith and morals are those which are healthy and growing, both within and outside the Catholic Church? Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, it is fit for nothing. . . .

Despite your misguided desires, the authority of the universal Church will never lose its savor; we have the Holy Spirit’s guarantee for that. We would encourage you to re-examine the beautiful moral teachings of the Church you once pledged to serve, and to recommit yourselves to her as Mater et Magistra.

Dan Cheely, Director
Catholic Citizens of Illinios

This is a great letter. I'm not sure sure what else could be said.