Priests In Love

Deals with the moral, psychological, and social challenges faced by Roman Catholic priests who left the active ministry in the 1960s and 1970s to get married--men who chose responsible sexual relationships over a life of obligatory celibacy.

Thirteen-year-old Danny Bates is obsessed with becoming a Catholic priest, and he enters Southport, Wisconsin's, Resurrection Seminary in 1957. But a tragic fire in Chicago ignites doubts about the God Danny is so eager to serve, and he falls in love with Jessica Fernettan, his best friend Pat's twin sister. As Jessica urges both Danny and Pat to leave the seminary, and with the Church in a period of dramatic change following its second Vatican Council, the young seminarians face agonizing choices. In a powerful and sensitive account of competing personal values, To Become a Priest-a Love Story follows the intertwined lives of Danny, Pat, and Jessica over the next forty years to a memorable ending at the place where their story began. "An engrossing account of the seminary and priesthood during this period, with the best depiction of the troubled terrain of sexual longing among seminarians that I have read." -Raymond Hedin, author of Married to the Church Professor of American Literature, Indiana University "A conflict of fundamental values, and a great love story besides." -Phillip Gaustad, author of The Ordnance "An incredibly sweet story." -Christine DeSmet, author of Spirit Lake University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Rooted in the lessons of history and the saints and woven together with prayer, Archbishop Emeritus Hughes calls present and future ministers of the Church back to the transformative basics of the priesthood." —From the foreword by Bishop Robert Barron Clerical sexual abuse, COVID-19, declining parishes, and racial unrest—these are some of the many challenges facing Catholic priests and bishops today. Where can they find the wisdom they need to address these and other daunting difficulties? Archbishop Emeritus Hughes draws on the some of the greatest spiritual guides the Church has ever known to offer a vision for contemporary priestly life—Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and beyond. He also turns to the timeless advice found in great conciliar documents. What emerges from his survey of the past is the understanding that the Catholic priesthood has overcome many trials throughout its history and the confidence that it will do so in our own day by rediscovering the timeless sources of renewal. This book is intended to serve a double purpose. It can be used as a text for seminarians, together with a reader drawn from the cited classics, or as a rich source of spiritual reading for priests and bishops.

Love stories are always captivating. And when it is the love story of a catholic priest, it is intriguing. This book is about the love story of two priests. "Both stories reveal their pain and struggles to decide against a law imbedded for centuries in the solid structure of an institution and in the cultural psyche of both laity and clergy. In the end, love and grace triumph" (From a peer review).A highlight of this book is my reformist concern related to clerical behavior. And I speak from my experience and expertise of forty years in the ministry. Ecclesiastics should know that when I left the service of the altar, I bore no bitterness or regret. I am, therefore, their best ally to tell them the truth in love. An added weight for my credibility is because my observations are based mostly on the pronouncements of Pope Francis.The book will make some clerics uncomfortable. Many will find it comforting and uplifting. All will find it a good resource for reflection and a compelling guide for examination of conscience to hopefully bring about the clergy reform in attitude and lifestyle.I have a chapter on celibacy. Some will ask, what more is there to talk about this topic. And I say, because I present celibacy with a focus on chastity. Celibacy without chastity is a farce. Perhaps someday the church will change its law on celibacy, definitely not in my lifetime. But it will. This book will tell you why.This book can be used as a primer in the seminary formation program. As Cardinal Robert Sarah has warned, "The Christian priesthood is going through a major crisis," and at the root of this quagmire "is a deep flaw in their formation."The laity will benefit from this book, especially among the churchgoing, those engaged in religious formation, those in search of their faith's relevance or simply the spiritually hungry and the families and friends of priests all over the world. The book strongly emphasizes the equality in dignity of all Christian faithful (clergy and lay) based on the grace of baptism. This will help the laity value and uphold their proper role, viz. that together they build up the Church of Jesus Christ.

In the 1960s and '70s, thousands of Roman Catholic priests left the active ministry to get married. Nothing like this had been seen on this scale since the French Revolution, and before that since the Reformation. Now a different phenomenon seems to be at work: priests who have formed long-time, intimate sexual friendships. These men are not pedophiles or sexual abusers. They are adult, mature men who can no longer find a rationale for a life of obligatory celibacy and enter into responsible sexual relationships. Some of them are straight, some gay. Based on interviews, conducted over a nine-year period, with 50 Australian priests, Priests in Love tells the stories of these priests and their friends. It deals with the moral, psychological, and social challenges they face on the less traveled road of social change. >

There are many rules a priest can't break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God. I've always been good at following rules. Until she came. Then I learned new rules. My name is Tyler Anselm Bell. I'm twenty-nine years old. Six months ago, I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church, and God help me, I would do it again. I am a priest and this is my confession.

Now, when celibacy for Roman Catholic priests is being questioned as never before, Evelyn McLean Brady shares a memoir of her own lived experience. Based on her journals and Father Hugh Brady's love letters written from 1965-1970, Evelyn intimately chronicles the interior conflict between her desire to become a Catholic nun to "live only for God to serve others" and the unexpected attraction she feels for the handsome, charismatic Father Brady. When this novice and priest finally confess their feelings for each other, the mystery of human love unfolds, as do tests and trials they could not have imagined. The tension between Evelyn and her mother also adds unexpected turns and detours to the tale. In the tradition of Abelard and Heloise and St. Francis and St. Clare, this is a love story of two celibates who desire to follow the ways of God yet are lured by the pull of the human heart.

Living Celibacy presents five pathways toward promoting the psychosexual health of Catholic priests: (1) Live close to God and one's deepest desires; (2) Develop broad and deep interpersonal relationships and communities of support; (3) Ask for love, nurture others, and negotiate separation; (4) Cope with stress and recognize destructive patterns of behavior; (5) Celebrate the holy. The pathways are not a theology of celibacy, nor do they explain why one chooses a celibate lifestyle. Rather they describe how chastity is experienced and enacted, what some of the opportunities and struggles might be, and how the experience of celibacy can enrich priestly life and ministry. Sensible, thoughtful, sane, informed by real-life examples, and well-grounded in both Catholic spirituality and contemporary psychology, Living Celibacy will prove a valuable resource to all priests who seek to be loving, celibate men. Too often books on this important aspect of priestly life neglect the psychological dimensions of the celibacy, view it only from a "sacrificial" point of view, or rely on an overly abstract theology. But as a longtime priest and professional psychologist, Sonny Manuel brings a perspective on the celibate life that offers insights both spiritual and practical. This is an ideal book for anyone frorn-4 first-year seminarian to an experienced priest. Book jacket.

Priests: An Inside Look is the story of one Roman Catholic priest living out his call to ordained life. Rev. John P. Mack Jr. reflects on his ministerial journey in the light of the sacrament of Holy Orders and the rite of Ordination. He describes the requirements, the opportunities, the work, the rewards, and the challenges of the priesthood.