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March winds blow in fun memories
The strong wind sent the
porch rocker into a nosedive.
The dog barked waking the
“man of the house” from a
deep sleep in his recliner.
Jumping to his feet, the man
of the house tripped, scaring
the dog and frightening me
into believing a home invasion
was in progress.
The Ides of March as
Shakespeare called March
winds, took over the home
front this week and it was time
to consider kite flying. 1
remember times in the past
when the winds of March
meant a trip to Fambro’s Five
and Ten or down to Jackson’s
Dime Store to pick out a kite
suitable for high flying.
After two energetic boys
finally decided on the appro
priate kite we would purchase
a long ball of string and head
home to find light weight
cloth to make colorful tails to
help the kite fly.
As I recall there was a
great deal of running with kite
extended above the head of the
runner. The boy runners
quickly tired and decided
mom's arms would extend
Ethics & Religion
Catholic priests work for change
on issue of mandatory celibacy
"Obligatory celibacy and
the church’s official teaching
on human sexuality are at the
root of the worst crisis the
Catholic Church has faced
since the time of the
Reformation," writes Father
Richard Mcßrien, professor of
theology at Notre Dame in the
Foreword of a new landmark
book "Celibacy in Crisis," by
A.W. Richard Sipe.
In an interview. Father
Mcßrien explained, "The
Eastern Orthodox do not have
celibate clergy, and they have
no sexual abuse crisis. When
you require celibacy as a life
long commitment from arfy
control group, you are
inevitably, automatically and
infallibly limiting your pool of
potential recruits to one of the
thinnest slices of the popula
tion.
“There are some healthy
people who practice celibacy.
But that requirement of the
priesthood will attract a dispro
portionately high percentage of
men who are sexually dysfunc
tional, sexually immature, or
whose orientation will raise the
question are they attracted
to the pnesthcxxl because of the
ministry, or because it is a pro
fession that forbids one to be
married?”
The issue goes far beyond
the sexual molestation of
minors. Sipe writes in his new
book, “I estimate that at any
one time 50 percent of priests
are practicing celibacy." He
makes these shocking esti
mates; “Thirty percent of
priests are involved in hetero
sexual relationships, associa
tions. experimentation or pat
terns of behavior. Fifteen per
cent of priests are involved
with homosexual relationships
... Six percent of priests involve
themselves with minors.”
(In a new study commis
sioned by Catholic bishops, the
John Jay College of Criminal
Justice calculated that 4,392
priests 4 percent of those
I V
W ’ fr Julianne
t s Bolin 9
much higher and she would
more than likely be able to get
the kites airborne.
Needless to say, the enjoy
ment after the endeavor to get
the kites in the air was short
lived because the excitement
of retrieving them from trees
and shrubs and patching a few
holes grew tiresome. I could
never understand the dynamics
of getting our kites in the air
when less mature children
nearby were shouting encour
aging words about their high
flyers solely for our less than
perfect attempts.
It is in the moments of
memories when I realize just
how much fun I had growing
up with our children. How
much they recall is still ques
tionable even though they do
remember the spill mom took
in the creek. Building dams in
the creek, riding perilously
down the driveway on big
Mike J"
serving over the last 50 years
sexually abused minors. In
Boston where the court forced
the archdiocese to disclose
internal records. 7 percent of
priests were molesters.)
Sipe’s numbers are not
casual estimates, made in the
wake of the current crisis, but
were actual counts of the sexu
al practices of 1.500 priests and
were originally published in
Sipe’s 1990 book, “A Secret
World.”
Sipe himself was a monk
for 18 years and a priest for 11
of them. He left the priest
hood, married and became a
therapist who interviewed hun
dreds of priests. He taught in
seminaries from 1967 through
1996. and even wrote a book
on how to be celibate:
“Celibacy: A Way of Living.
Loving and Serving.”
However, he gathered 1.500
case studies: 497 involving
priests who were in therapy,
512 who were priests not in
therapy and another 504 from
sexual partners of priests.
As a social scientist, Sipe
takes no position on whether
the celibacy rule should be
changed. Others are not so
silent.
Last August, 166 Catholic
priests in the Diocese of
Milwaukee signed a letter to
Bishop Wilton Gregory, presi
dent of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, asking that
the priesthood "be open to mar
ried men as well as to celibate
men ...The primary motive for
our urging this change is our
pastoral concern that the
Catholic Church needs more
candidates for the priesthood,
so that the Church's sacramen
tal life might continue to flour
ish."
wheels scaring me half to
death seems to be their
favorite recalls.
In a recent declaration, I
was determined to rid my
closets of items that belonged
to our grown children. I can
tell you right away the process
never took place. Instead 1
found myself caught up in
“remember when” episodes. 1
looked at books, school
papers, old tests and report
cards and marveled at how fast
time had passed.
I suppose the best advice I
could give to hard working
parents, and especially moms,
is to be available for times to
have fun. I am certain of this
one thing: Children do not
remember how much laundry
you did but they will remem
ber the fun you had with them.
As the wind whipped and
churned the rockers, the dog
barked and 1 recalled the kite
flying days, I enjoyed thor
oughly reliving the days of
growing up with tw-o wonder
ful boys.
Cumming resident Julianne
Boling writes a weekly col
umn.
In 1960 there were 5.3,796
priests to serve 42 million
Catholics. Today there are only
4.3,(XX) to serve 66 million.
Only 479 new priests were
ordained in 2002. The average
priest has 10 times as many
parishioners as the average
Protestant pastor.
The Milwaukee letter was
the first time in 25 years that a
group of priests has spoken out
on celibacy, according to Dean
Hoge, a prominent Catholic-
University sociologist. He
said, "I do think it’s impressive
because it’s a risky thing, and
any priest would think twice
before signing his name."
Bishop Gregory did not
respond to them directly, but
wrote to Milwaukee
Archbishop Timothy Dolan,
who had a cordial meeting with
the three organizing priests,
though he disagreed with them.
With half of Milwaukee’s
active priests signing the letter,
they have taken a second step
to organize an independent
Milwaukee Archdiocesan
Priests Alliance.
Their major concerns are
being overworked and having
low morale over the fact that
the number of parishes has
shrunk from 265 to 219 and the
diocese wants to shrink further
to 175 due to declining num
bers of priests, although the
Catholic population is growing.
"We should be moving to 275
churches, and expanding the
pool of people allowed to be
priests,” said Father Dave
Cooper.
Hundreds of priests from
Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul,
New York and other dioceses
have written letters to Gregory
supporting optional celibacy.
The bishops are opposed, but a
national organization of priests
pressing for reform will be
organized next month.
The demand for change has
only begun.
Mike McManus is a nation
ally syndicated columnist.
Different approach needed
to solve county’s problems
By Paul Corbell and John Pickering
As issues come before the Board of
Commissioners or people of this special coun
ty, such as the recent public safety bond refer
endum, almost invariably we choose sides, put
forth arguments that support our interests, fre
quently engage in finger pointing, and then go
away mad at each other. Rarely does this cycle
result in good answers to the county’s needs.
Too often, we all lose in the end. Forsyth
County is not unique in this regard, but we can
be different going forward.
We should learn from this experience. Why
can’t we make a commitment to prioritize all of
our needs, insist on an open dialogue, listening
to alternatives with respect for each other’s
views, and be willing to make appropriate com
promises to arrive at good, constructive solu
tions? While there is no simple, magical
answer, we would welcome the opportunity to
support a continuing, true team effort similar to
the following:
• It has long been suggested that our form of
local government, headed by five commission
ers, would benefit by having a Citizens
Advisory Board to act as a communications
channel, sounding board, and facilitator. Keep
it manageable, but include the people, Chamber
of Commerce. Board of Education, churches
and non-profits. This is the “Forsyth communi
ty." We've all got an important stake in this.
This group could also help steer a continuing,
balanced Comprehensive Plan process. And,
while we applaud the Chamber of Commerce
initiative to reach out to the people, isn't this
first and foremost a responsibility of govern
ment?
• Ask the BOC, county administrator and
CFO, working w ith the Board of Education, to
put together a single, comprehensive list of the
county's needs and estimated costs. Then seek
input on their priorities, and how to address
them, avoiding making these problems worse
Letters Policy
The Forsyth County News welcomes your opinions
on issues of public concern. Letters must he signed and
include full address and a daytime and evening phone
number for verification. Names and hometowns of letter
writers will be included for publication without excep
tion. Telephone numbers will not be published.
Letters should be limited to 350 words and may be
edited or condensed. The same writer or group may onlj
submit one letter per month for consideration
Letters must be submitted by noon Wednesday for
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Sunday, March 14,2004 -
before we start to make
progress in closing criti
cal gaps.
• Establish and regu
larly publish an easy to
understand county
“report card”. Let people
know where their money
is being spent, and how
our coverage and service
levels compare with stat
ed goals. If we’re doing a
good job, let’s tell people.
If we have room for
improvement, let’s be
honest about that too. Are
we paying our deputies,
firefighters, teachers, and
county staff fair salaries?
What is the right alloca
tion of tax dollars for
parks, recreation and
libraries? Set quality goals
and measure our progress.
• We all know that we have a severe tax
digest imbalance and it’s getting worse.
Imagine what might be achieved if. instead of
our continuing fights, we spent our energy and
resources working together with quality
employers and the Chamber, to attract jobs?
And let's look at opportunities to really share
resources and solutions between the county and
city of Cumming as true partners.
We understand that this direction is much
easier to visualize than to accomplish, and that
there are other important pieces of the puzzle.
But we have a choice. Business as usual, and
more of the we-they destructive in-fighting and
gridlock, or we can show why the Forsyth com
munity really is different.
Paul Corheil in the president of the South
Forsyth Homeowners' Coalition. John
Pickering is the president of the Federation of
Forsyth Counts Homeowners.
, Sunday publication. We do not
I publish poetry or blanket letters qjjq
and generally do not publish let- V /
:r ters concerning consumer com
plaints. Mail letters to the Forsyth ySFif
County News, P.O. Box 210,
Cumming. GA 30028, hand deliver to -G
ly 302 Veterans Memorial Blvd., fax to
(770) 889-6017 or email to edi-
tor®forsythnews.com. Gs*
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