"Let me first acknowledge that I consider Father Robert Sirico to be a great priest and a great friend. Anyone who knows him can testify to the depth and sincerity of his faith, as well as to his great sense of humor.
"In 2007, I gladly defended Father Sirico against an attack from the right that appeared in Culture Wars; the author, Thomas J. Herron, has since passed away. Now Father Sirico is being attacked from the left by Michael Sean Winters. The central issue in both cases is the same: Sirico's gay activist years before he became a priest.
"Winters tells us that in the early and mid-1970s, Sirico, who had quit Catholicism at the age of 13, became a minister and performed gay marriages. Then he had a conversion: he came back to Catholicism and eventually became a priest. No one, including Winters, has ever even hinted that he hid his past from those who accepted him back and ordained him. So what's the point? The point is that Winters, a Catholic dissident, is unhappy that Sirico is not in rebellion against the teachings of the Catholic Church. That's true, and that is why he doesn't write for the National Catholic Reporter.
"What seems to be bothering Winters the most is the prominence which Father Siricio has achieved, especially his appearances with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN. One can almost hear Winters say that if only the orthodox Catholics who watch EWTN learn that Sirico was once a gay-friendly guy, they'll throw him under the bus. Wrong. Orthodox Catholics actually believe in redemption."
The priests who ordained him were the Paulists and no apologies were needed for a gay past.Sirico slipped into the conservative meovment through the heavily moneyed libertarian right and he was never forthcoming about his pat unless expiosures from the traditional right forced his hand in selective settings. I agree the leftist complaint is special pleading.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about playing the system, and priests like this one are very good at it. The internet enables some of them, but it exposes more.
DeleteMy critique of him is not of his personhood,or of his past history. I couldn't care less. What I am concerned about is his affiliation with the right wing economic think tank Acton Institute which espouses a libertarian philosophy to be taught in seminaries,and that the state should not help the poor,rather they should help themselves. This is not congruent with the Magisterium of the Church. Also, why is this political view allowed on EWTN and why does the local bishop who oversees EWTN allow this conservative view?
ReplyDelete