Bishops' Schedules: Bishop Robert C. Morlino Tuesday, November 29 - Thursday, December 1, 2005 National Catholic Bioethics Center Board Meeting, Philadelphia, Penn. Thursday, December 1 - Saturday, December 3, 2005 Annual Board of Visitors Meeting, Fort Benning, Ga. Saturday, December 3 - Friday, December 9, 2005 Apostolic Visitation of Seminaries, The Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio Bishop William H. Bullock Saturday, December 3, 2005 11:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Eucharist, 39th Annual Mass of the Apostolate to the Handicapped, Monroe Senior High School, Monroe Sunday, December 4, 2005 10:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Rose of Lima Parish, Cuba City

Jesus Christ:
Only sure anchor of our hope

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Dear Friends,

I knew that the Thanksgiving - Christmas season would sneak up on me and surely this has been the case. It is hard for me to believe that this past Sunday we have just begun a new year of faith in our Church with the beginning of the Season of Advent.

Advent is a time for spiritual growth. It differs from Lent in that the focus of Lent is on repentance for our sins and sinfulness. The focus of Advent is hope, a virtue which does call us to examine our consciences and to repent for our failure to hope.

Hope is not the same as optimism but hope and optimism are surely related. Hope is related more to faith than to optimism because "hope is not hope if its object is seen." If I see the beautiful clear sky as the sun rises and receive the gift of another radiant dawn, it would make no sense to say, "I hope that it doesn't rain as I wake up in the morning." Hope is not hope if its object is seen, thus the object of hope, precisely, is not seen.

Jesus Christ has overcome the power of sin and death through His glorious resurrection, but that victory is working itself out as history passes according to the mysterious plan of God's Providence. In so many ways we do not see the resurrection victory everywhere we look, but precisely because it is not seen, we are able to hope for it.

We are able to see the hurtful or difficult things that happen in our own lives, our own failures, our own weakness, our own illness - we are able to see all of this as the fabric which God's Providence permits to be woven not only to bring good out of us but to bring the best out of us. Hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ leads to endless hope for ourselves, whatever our difficulties may be, because Christ is the only sure anchor of our hope.

Be witness to hope

The virtue of hope also calls us to hope that the Lord will bring the best out of every single sister and brother of ours in the world according to His mysterious plan. Pope John Paul the Great was a magnificent "witness to hope," and we are called to be such witnesses in our relationships with one another. Having hope for the best to be revealed in one another is a source of energy for others which is very tangible and palpable. We show others the high hope that we have for them if they appear, in some way, to be in error or to engage in some misbehavior, we forebear, keeping ourselves from immediately passing judgment on them which may prove to be rash judgment which is sinful.

Rather we should place the best possible interpretation on whatever words or actions strike a note of discord within us and give the other the benefit of the doubt, until such time as we have unmistakable evidence that the person is choosing error or evil, and then it becomes our responsibility lovingly to correct them as a brother and sister in the Lord. Forbearance, placing the best possible interpretation on the words and deeds of others, giving the benefit of the doubt - at the beginning of a new Church year we should examine our consciences about hope in the Lord, hope for ourselves, and hope for others.

It would be Christmas everyday if all of us would live out this attitude of hope. Often it is reported to me by our good and faithful people that somehow in the parish family the worst possible interpretation has been placed on some action or word of theirs without the appropriate forbearance. Often I hear that the worst possible interpretation has been placed on the words or deeds of the parish priest by some parishioner or group of parishioners. Often I hear that the worst possible interpretation has been placed on the words or deeds of the bishop by some individual or group.

The recent media commentary about my acceptance of membership on the Board of Visitors, an external evaluation board, of what was formerly the School of Americas, is a case in point. It is hard for me to have someone who really doesn't know me pass judgment on my motives and intentions. And it is hard on you or them when this happens to you or your parish priests.

Have hope in each other

Our common humanity, let alone our faith in Christ, demands that we have hope in the resurrection victory of Christ which tells us that all of us are called to be winners so that we should never act so as to turn someone else into a loser. Our common humanity and our faith teach us that we are to have the highest hope for one another and to express that hope both in word and in action.

Hope is one of the most important keys to the peace of Christ to which all people of good will are called at Christmas. But this hope is built on the truth of God's glory revealed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is why we pray so often, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on Earth!"

Thank you for reading this. God bless you and your loved ones-have a joyful and holy Advent! Praised be Jesus Christ!

Statement by Bishop Morlino

By Bishop Robert C. Morlino
BISHOP OF MADISON

Dear Friends,

As you probably realize from media coverage, the Vatican, under the direction of Pope Benedict XVI, has issued its document, long awaited by some, about the admission of homosexuals to seminaries and to candidacy for the priesthood.

Let me say at the outset, as I have so many times, that homosexual persons are our sisters and brothers who find themselves carrying a particularly heavy cross. As we encourage them to live chaste lives, we should see ourselves as Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus to carry his cross and, we should never cause our sisters and brothers who are homosexual to stumble under the burden of the cross they carry through unjust discrimination.

No 'right to ordination'

The new Vatican document is brief, clearly and well written, and can speak for itself. It is widely available on the internet and I would encourage all to give it a very careful reading. (It can be downloaded as a PDF file at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Web site: http://www.usccb.org/instruction.shtml)

The document generally forbids the admission of homosexuals to seminaries or to candidacy for the priesthood. In no way could this be called unjust discrimination because the Church can refuse men admission to the seminary for a variety of just reasons, for example a young man might be so selfish and self-centered in his whole approach to life that he could not be formed in the selfless generosity which has to be part and parcel of the life of a priest. Others have been refused admission to seminaries or dismissed from them for their inability to break the habit of circulating harmful gossip.

In short, no one has a right to be a priest, it is a call which the Church must confirm, and when the Church makes a determination that a young man is not called, for whatever reason, this in no way constitutes unjust discrimination since no one is deprived of a right.

The Vatican instruction repeats the discipline of the Church as articulated in the 60's by Pope John XXIII with greater specificity. The document should surprise no one because the matter of admitting homosexuals to seminaries or candidacy for the priesthood is reliant for its rationale on the Church's teaching on homosexuality as such, and that teaching cannot change, so neither can the discipline and the disciplinary measures that flow from that teaching.

Orientation not evil

Homosexual acts are intrinsically evil and always seriously sinful. Any sexual behavior outside of the marriage covenant is objectively seriously sinful.

Homosexual orientation is not intrinsically evil. Homosexual orientation is objectively disordered. This means that human reason can discern the nuptial meaning of the human person, that is, the male is ordered to spousal intimacy with the female and the female with the male. This is the proper ordering which is consummated and lived out in the covenant of marriage.

Thus same-sex attraction is objectively disordered, that is, the proper nuptial inclination, for whatever reason, is out of order. A deeply rooted homosexual attraction changes the way in which an individual relates both to men and to women.

The priest is called to be in the person of Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom who is married to his bride, the Church. The celibate priest is to relate to the Church as a loving husband to his wife. And with the Church he is called to raise up daughters and sons in Baptism as a loving father. The psycho-spiritual underpinnings of the celibacy to which the priest is called are weakened by a deeply rooted homosexual tendency.

Called to chastity

Any person who is not married is called to chastity, that is, abstinence from sexual behavior as a way of avoiding sin.

This is, in fact, far different from the gift of celibacy. Celibacy is not only a matter of abstaining from sexual behavior and thus as unmarried, avoiding sin. Celibacy means the sacrifice of the companionship of marriage for the sake of the Kingdom. It means the sacrifice of marriage to a single woman because the Lord has called the man to be the bridegroom of His bride the Church.

A man is called to sacrifice being a great husband and father in a single family unit for the sake of being the loving husband whose bride is the Church, and the father of many children through the conferral of Baptism.

A deeply rooted homosexual inclination presents obstacles to a man's complete entry into this sacramental mystery of being in the person of Christ. In fact, it is really out of concern for young men who are homosexual, that in general, they would be forbidden from entering the seminary because the inclinations which they have are at odds with their full participation in the mystery of the priesthood of Christ, who is always the Bridegroom of His bride the Church.

Sacramental system

The truth of gender and its mystery are the foundation for sacramental signs. Sacraments take seriously what is concrete, visible, and physical. God created human beings, male and female.

As I wrote recently, the foundational differentiation among human beings is the differentiation of gender, not the differentiation of sexual orientation. Our culture has become comfortable with putting aside gender as foundational differentiation in favor of orientation.

Our sacramental system as Catholics, both in terms of Marriage and Holy Orders, compels us not to accommodate in any way this tendency in our culture which threatens to collapse the institution of marriage and thus undercut parental rights - the proper education of children, and thus democracy itself.

The defense of both authentic marriage and authentic celibacy are what lie at the base of this instruction recently received from the Vatican which substantially contains nothing new, nor could it, because the truth of reason about the human person never needs to be updated, nor can it be. The truth about the human person was inscribed in our hearts and our bodies by the Creator and finalized by Jesus Christ Himself through His bodily Resurrection.

Homosexual priests

Lastly, let me say in all candor that there are fine, dedicated, holy, and unselfish priests in our Church who are homosexual and who faithfully live out their priestly chastity. As I said at the beginning, they have their own struggle to endure and their own crosses to carry. I hope that they will always find strength and support in your friendship, collaboration and prayers, and I promise them my friendship and prayers, as well as to support them as they strive to live out in fidelity their priestly consecration which is the gift of Jesus Christ to them.

Thank you for reading this. God bless each one of you. Please continue to pray for all of our priests and seminarians. Praised be Jesus Christ!