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4 / ...So that's what \ / s@% \ /. ’\ ' they mean by I ./SjX X."higher education"! / A HIKE J), t! 0 jk r ,I\ \// i O £ 'K ■> ' IMrS \ - “ ->1 V77 \ V 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 JASPER - Headquarters Crescent w Jasper. GA 30143 TSEI (678) 454 2265 -O/lINIV (800)872 7941 , , Fax (678) 454 2"'99 People You Know... People You Trust 18 month CD -i MARBLE HILL I 90 Steve fate Road 't cctt/ A 1 surbic Hili, ga ions 2.55% Annual ’ Percentage Yield Fax (678) 4>4 2339 d condition below $50,000 in your Crescent Bank checking account CARTERSVILLE 880J1X- Frank I iarris Parkway I p ° Box 1120 2. 70% Annual Cartersville, GA 30120 <678)454 2140 Percentage Yield lax (6,8) 4G 2369 condition over $50,000 in your Crescent Bank checking account TOWNE LAKE 4475 Towme lake Parkway OJ niOtlth CD H Woodstock, GA 30189 VJLX (678)454 2300 Fax(678)454 ' 2310 2.60% Annual canton Percentage Yield 170 Riverstone Parkway condition below $50,000 in your Canton, ga 30114 Crescent Bank checking account —i (678)454 2370 Fax (678) 454 2 399 | 2.85% Annual cumming Percentage Yield condition mer *50,000 in your (678) 454 2320 Crescent Bank checking account t=2 fdic HRKHhSSMMm 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* PAGE 11A ■ c;-• U HL ■ Corbeil n Pickering