Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on news stories involving gay priests:
Is there a “gay lobby” involved in blackmail that resulted in the decision of
the pope to resign? No serious observer in or out of the Vatican
currently accepts this account. But that hardly means there isn’t still a gay
subculture in the Catholic Church.
Father Donald B. Cozzens warned us many years ago that the priesthood was
becoming a “gay profession.” Notre Dame theologian Father Richard McBrien also
spoke about the “gay culture” in the Church, and the damage it was doing.
Father Andrew Greeley coined the term “Lavender Mafia” to refer to the way
homosexual priests cover for each other. All three priests have stellar liberal
credentials.
Now we have reports that Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Scotland
will not be going to Rome
to join the conclave because he does not want to distract from the proceedings.
He has resigned following allegations by three priests and one former priest
that he was involved in improper conduct. He says the accusations are untrue.
Is this another example of the “Lavender Mafia” at work?
Consider this. We don’t know the names of the four men making the accusations
because the British newspaper behind this story, The Observer, won’t
release them; the details of what allegedly happened have not been disclosed
(all we know are vague statements about “inappropriate” and “unwanted”
contact); the four accusers waited over 30 years to come forward before
coordinating their joint charges.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien must be considered innocent until proven guilty. But we
don’t need to wait any longer to conclude that the British media have
discredited themselves again (they do so regularly with all matters Catholic).
To withhold the names of the accusers, and the details of what allegedly
happened (dating back to 1980), without ever allowing the accused to rebut the
charges, is despicable. Am I alone in picking up the scent of lavender in the
air?