Joining the Seminary - Priesthood

Studious

Freinds,


I am in the discernment process with the view of joining St.Patricks College in Maynooth.
I am taking my time and if I do go ahead with trying out the seminary I wont be ready to join until septermber 2013 in my opinion.

I would like to hear from other board users who are in the discernment process, (or have been), those of you who are in the seminary and those of you who are now active priests!

I am a young man in my 20's who is not entirely certain on what path to choose.
I feel as if I am a natural leader, I have a yearing to teach and guide others. My Catholic idol is Fulton Sheen (after Christ of course )..

I would be interested to learn more about the current state of the seminary.

God Bless you all

HamletOrHecuba

Be aware that you will probably encounter homosexuals there. If Fulton Sheen is your hero you will probably be way to conservative for them there (though you would be to liberal for me!).

Are you good at languages? I would look carefully around for a seminary that suits your personality and interests before choosing one.

Doc Farrell

Studious wrote: »

Freinds,


I am in the discernment process with the view of joining St.Patricks College in Maynooth.
I am taking my time and if I do go ahead with trying out the seminary I wont be ready to join until septermber 2013 in my opinion.

I would like to hear from other board users who are in the discernment process, (or have been), those of you who are in the seminary and those of you who are now active priests!

I am a young man in my 20's who is not entirely certain on what path to choose.
I feel as if I am a natural leader, I have a yearing to teach and guide others. My Catholic idol is Fulton Sheen (after Christ of course )..

I would be interested to learn more about the current state of the seminary.

God Bless you all

Are you for real? You're going to base the rest of your life on the views of anonymous members of an Internet site? You need to speak to a few bishops and a dozen priests, not some strangers on the net.

Go along to the Eucharistic Congress and get busy talking to real people. Frankly, either you have been misinformed about the nature of this forum or you are very very naiev.
everybody here has been excommunicated!

ChocolateChip

Studious wrote: »

Freinds,


I am in the discernment process with the view of joining St.Patricks College in Maynooth.
I am taking my time and if I do go ahead with trying out the seminary I wont be ready to join until septermber 2013 in my opinion.

I would like to hear from other board users who are in the discernment process, (or have been), those of you who are in the seminary and those of you who are now active priests!

I am a young man in my 20's who is not entirely certain on what path to choose.
I feel as if I am a natural leader, I have a yearing to teach and guide others. My Catholic idol is Fulton Sheen (after Christ of course )..

I would be interested to learn more about the current state of the seminary.

God Bless you all

You sound like you're very sensible and are doing your research before serving God, so well done to you!:) I wouldn't know too much about the seminaries, but what I will say is that there are quite a few people in there who do not conform fully to God's ways which is a real pity. However, there are students in the seminaries who are 100% Catholics and have the same morals and ethics as you so do not worry with regard to that!:)

My idol is Fulton Sheen too-love the repeats on Sunday nights on EWTN;)

Listen, you are understandably eager to obtain info on the path you are thinking about taking, but boards.ie isn't the best place to get this info. Go to your Parish Priest, someone you trust, and discuss this with them! What county are you from? I know a few priests in my area who specialise in vocations.

God bless you!:)

Fanny Cradock

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Be aware that you will probably encounter homosexuals there.

:pac:

If I kept a quote file just for stupid remarks that would be right up there.

true

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Be aware that you will probably encounter homosexuals there.

lol its like saying you will find four legged animals in a zoo.

From wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_Roman_Catholic_priests

"It has been estimated that at least 33 percent of all priests in the RC Church in the United States are homosexual."[5]

"Father Donald Cozzens, an author, psychologist, and Catholic seminary president says that there is such a high percentage of gay priests in the church that he is concerned that 'the priesthood is or is becoming a gay profession.' 5 In his book, "The Changing Face of the Priesthood," -- published in the year 2000 -- he estimates that 50% of Roman Catholic priests have a homosexual orientation"

"A NBC report on chastity and the clergy found that "anywhere from 23 percent to 58 percent" of the Catholic clergy have a homosexual orientation. "

"Author and sociologist James G. Wolfe estimated that 48.5% of priests were gay"

"During 1990, Rev. Thomas Crangle, a Franciscan priest in Passaic, N.J., mailed a survey to 500 randomly selected priests. Of the 398 responses, about 45% said that they were gay"

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_rcc.htm

lmaopml

Please remember those Priests are human, and have something to contribute, and have given their lives over to the service of others -

There are heterosexuals who fail badly sometimes too, in fact lots who do, and have done too, and very many who are champions of the vows they have taken too, lets not forget.

The problem, imo, is not so much the vow of chastity that one signs up to to be married to the Gospel, a vow one makes freely, but the problem is keeping it is the difficulty whether one is homosexual or heterosexual - it's the 'vow' that's broken and not the sexuality of the person, it's the vow..to serve the poor etc. above all else, when one vows a death to self and fails badly.

Most normal folk must know and identify and certainly admire those who stay the course and mean what they say, and do what they say - Like any marriage, one admires those who mean what they say and do what they say too. That's what it's all about...it's not about deception, but hard work and living for others too??

HamletOrHecuba

true wrote: »

lol its like saying you will find four legged animals in a zoo.

Sad but true, however I have seen naive good young people have their souls destroyed because of this.

HamletOrHecuba

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

:pac:

If I kept a quote file just for stupid remarks that would be right up there.

Why?

qrrgprgua

lmaopml wrote: »

Please remember those Priests are human, and have something to contribute, and have given their lives over to the service of others -

There are heterosexuals who fail badly sometimes too, in fact lots who do, and have done too, and very many who are champions of the vows they have taken too, lets not forget.

The problem, imo, is not so much the vow of chastity that one signs up to to be married to the Gospel, a vow one makes freely, but the problem is keeping it is the difficulty whether one is homosexual or heterosexual - it's the 'vow' that's broken and not the sexuality of the person, it's the vow..to serve the poor etc. above all else, when one vows a death to self and fails badly.

Most normal folk must know and identify and certainly admire those who stay the course and mean what they say, and do what they say - Like any marriage, one admires those who mean what they say and do what they say too. That's what it's all about...it's not about deception, but hard work and living for others too??

Exactly,, If have Man has a firm identity of his sexuality, but decides to become a priest and live celibate he is doing nothing wrong and is committing his life to God. To many people jump on the sexuality of priests because in today's society men seem to have to prove themselves be choosing. At work I remember the rumours for years that so and so was gay because he did not have a GF, once he did have a GF and got married people move on to the next person. Society does not understand celibacy. There well may be priests who have a HS tendency but who have never acted on it and who have dedicated themselves 100% to their service to parish. Its not a sin or wrong to have a tendency.. the problem is when you act on it or have never fully dealt with it or is still confused.

A Man can say, I am going to be a Priest, I believe in Christ and his Church, and with his Grace and constant prayer I will serve him faithfully and dedicate my life to helping others, Minute my Minute/Day by Day. If you are committed to his path and his grace then you will be a good Priest. The question around is he this or is he that.. its irrelevant.. If he hasn't done anything and only wants to live his life committed to his mission does it matter?

true

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Sad but true, however I have seen naive good young people have their souls destroyed because of this.

Good point. Studies indicate there is a far higher than average numbers of homosexual men (active and non-active) within the Catholic priesthood and higher orders.

"A number of anonymous studies have also suggested a prevalence of homosexual leanings in the Roman Catholic priesthood. Studies by Wolf and Sipe from the early 1990s suggest that the percentage of priests in the Catholic Church who admitted to being gay or were in homosexual relationships was well above the national average for the United States of America"
"One report suggested that since the mid-1980s Roman Catholic priests in the United States were dying from AIDS-related illnesses at a rate four times higher than that of the general population; with most of the cases contracted through same-sex relations, and the cause often concealed on their death certificates.[8] Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of the Archdiocese of Detroit suggested, "Gay priests and heterosexual priests didn't know how to handle their sexuality, their sexual drive. And so they would handle it in ways that were not healthy." Furthermore the report suggested that some priests and behavioral experts believe the church had "scared priests into silence by treating homosexual acts as an abomination and the breaking of celibacy vows as shameful"."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_Roman_Catholic_priests

Is it healthy that a large group of men- containing an above average % of homosexuals - is kept celibate? Does such behaviour apply to other species in the animal kingdom? Is it surprising we have had the goings-on in the Church that went on, both uncovered and not?

Benny_Cake

Does it matter if a man joining the priesthood is straight or gay? The same rules apply regardless, one of which is the vow of celibacy. If a guy can live up to that - and it isn't easy - his sexuality should be irrelevant. I do think problems could arise if a man was in denial over his sexual orientation though, even those who are celibate need to be aware of who they are and accepting of who they are or I could see psychological problems down the line.

OP, it isn't a decision to be taken lightly and I'll echo what others have said - take any advice you see here with a massive grain of salt, and try to talk to as many priests as you can.