''Frociaggine" And a Non-Apology
"No! Don't admit gays to the seminaries. There is already enough frociaggine (Italian for "faggotry)!'" Pope Francis notoriously told the Italian bishops this past week. An inauspicious way to enter Pride Month for gay-affirming Catholics!
The Vatican retracted the statement with a weak apology. Such is worse than no apology at all. A genuine apology is a clear, direct, personal statement: "I did wrong. I am sorry. It will not happen again. Please forgive me."
For an incisive treatment of bad celebrity apologies and an exhortation to our bishops see: www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2023/07/17/miranda-sings-apology-videos-scandal-245693 by Laura Oldfather and Brigid McCabe (my granddaughter.)
Francis did not admit wrong doing; did not commit to correct this bad habit; did not ask forgiveness. Rather, a' bureaucrat announced: "The pope never meant to offend or express himself with homophobic terms, and he issues his most sincere apologies to all those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others."
Sincere! Really? The man does not speak personally. Responsibility is denied. There is no humble request for forgiveness. The wrongdoing is not denied but dismissed: "Sorry about your feelings! I intended no wrong and therefore am entirely innocent! The one to blame: whoever reported it!"
It is inconceivable that such a word would pass the lips of a Benedict, John Paul, Paul, Paul VI, John XXIII or Pius XII...of happy memory. For a Pope to use a slang term so seeping of contempt is a desecration of his office, of those to whom he refers, and to the dignity of human sexuality and virility.
Homophobia?
In my own life experience, homophobia was part of adolescence, but not adult life. I recall no awareness of it or conversation about it in college seminary 1965-69. In my adult life...Catholic schools and communities, life in Jersey City, and 25 years with UPS truck drivers and similar all-male environments...homosexuality and "gay" was almost entirely absent. No homophobia here! Don't ask, don't tell! No one was asking; no one was telling.
Homophobia is a real thing. But it is largely an aspect of adolescent male insecurity. Most of us suffer such insecurity. Some of us handle it aggressively by attacking the masculinity of others, usually with slurs related to homosexuality as a deficiency in virility. It is the worst possible insult in this world. There are, of course, old men who have not matured beyond this stage.
This is to be distinguished from a wholesome, virtuous reticence and (yes) shame around sexual sins of all sorts. The delicacy, vulnerability and sacredness of sex is such that a healthy culture surrounds it with reticence and respect. My Aunt Grace recalls that her first job, circa 1930 at the age of about 17, she was horrified when the new boss explained that she was replacing a woman who was pregnant. The use of that word between a man and a woman was shocking to her. We have come a long way from that!
Homophobia (much like white racism in USA 2024) is a marginal, virtually invisible reality, that has been vastly exaggerated by a narcissistic psyche afflicted with insecurity, self-pity, resentment, and craving for approval.
Wisdom Hidden in Slang
Nevertheless, in his regression to vulgar, street slang, Pope Francis is retrieving a core, common sense, populist, moral intuition, one that has been systematically repressed by cultural liberalism since the Great Revolution of the 1960s: sexual intercourse outside of marriage is unmanly, manipulative, dishonorable, shameful.
The most violent word in our language is "f...k." It means to violate another sexually. It is the most intimate, sacrilegious, contemptuous, violent of acts and of words. We saw this recently in the systematic raping of women in Israel by Hamas. We use the expression "jerk off" to insult a man as sterile, isolated, futile, self-isolated, pathetic. And of course we have a range of expressions to express contempt for the female body.
This is, of course, the language of hell. Entirely Luciferian! It is also the inverse of our Catholic sense of the sacredness of human sexuality and of masculinity and femininity. "The perversion of the best is the worst." The desecration of sexuality is a distinctive, privileged form or evil.
So, we might translate the spontaneous, emotive, unreflective words of Pope Francis: "We must protect and enhance the honorable virility of our priests! Our Church is in a crisis of masculinity."
Crisis in Priestly and Episcopal Virility
This is most evident, of course, in the priest sex scandal and its widespread coverup by our bishops. It is nauseatingly obscene that men we revere as spiritual Fathers abused our teen sons. And then this was largely covered up by our bishops. This is the most despicable symptom of a broader decadence: the demise of priestly virility.
Across our society, but most gravely in the Catholic Church, we have seen, since the Sexual Revolution, the demise of masculine virtue as: chastity, fidelity, humility, fortitude, sobriety, magnanimity, prudence, justice, authority, accountability, clarity, certainty, decisiveness, fruitfulness, and paternity. In its place: lust and sexual addiction, self-indulgence, narcissism, histrionics, weakness, pusillanimity, infantilism, self-righteousness, sterility, and the triumph of the therapeutic.
So we return to the word Pope Francis used: "faggot." If we hear "They are a bunch of faggots" we do not imagine them practicing sterile sex acts with each other. We imagine unmanly men: passive, weak, cowardly, self-obsessed, vain, insecure, and lacking male vitality. So when he sees "faggotry" in the clergy, it is not only homosexual practice itself that is of concern, but an overall malaise of softness, indecision, and weakness.
He is, of course, correct in his concern!
New, Clerical, Gay Subculture after 1970
In the post-war Camelot of 1945-65 there was a surge of virile, honorable men into the priesthood. Think: Bing Crosby in Bells of St. Mary's, Karl Malden in On the Waterfront, Gregory Peck in Keys of the Kingdom, Spenser Tracey in Boys Town, Pat O'Brien Angels with Dirty Faces. Every urban parish (in my world) had 4 or 5 priests: the youngest was a good athlete and oversaw CYO sports and youth athletics. In my elementary school, all the boys (even the worst) wanted to be a priest at some time. I myself, upon graduating high school, entered Maryknoll College Seminary, imagining myself as a missionary priest...tall, fit, competent, confident, charismatic, bringing the faith and the sacraments as well as American know-how (agriculture, credit unions, etc.) to the less fortunate. In those years Maryknoll was ordaining 40 to 50 men a year, all eager to set out on a missionary adventure.
That clerical world fell apart in my college years: a flood of men left the priesthood to marry. It is now apparent that in the 1970s, the clerical ethos of virility and Catholic orthodoxy diminished and large percentages of men with homosexual attraction and even gay identity came to dominate certain seminaries, dioceses and orders. In the wake of the Sexual Revolution, an entire culture developed: practice and approval of homosexuality, but an entire aesthetic, theology, sense of humor, style and way of life. Such men were drawn to each other; many were intelligent, competent and ambitious; they networked and promoted each other up the clerical career ladder. They adapted easily to the cultural liberalism of the broader society and flourished in the "spirit of Vatican II" and the urgency for reform which dominated the Church in the pontificate of Paul VI. It came to be called "the lavender mafia" and is epitomized by the sad "Father" (laicized, he retains the permanent seal of orders) Ted McCarrick.
Effeminate Church
The Catholic Church, Marian, bride of Christ, Mother, is receptive of the Word of God and sacramental grace as mediated by the masculine priesthood. The fruitfulness of this bride and mother requires the Petrine, masculine, hierarchical ministry that is authoritative, clear, gentle, humble, chaste, courageous, and virile. This Marian/Petrine fecundity has been obscured by a feminism that apes toxic masculinity and a clergy that has become, not merely gay, but largely effeminate. Catholic progressivism is best understood as a retreat from both femininity and masculinity into an androgyny that prefers softness in the male and emphases womanly tendencies (inclusion, acceptance, empathy) to the exclusion of the manly (truth, justice, tradition, boundaries, authority).
Pontificate of Francis
How strange to hear this prophetic message from this pope! His pontificate has been, in large part, itself a retreat from the virtues of virility. He is allergic to the heroic sexual ethic and moral clarity of his two predecessors; has indulged the LGBTQ cause; is emotive, inconsistent and incoherent in his loose comments; is submissive to the Chinese Communists; biased against the USA; disparaging of young priests in their respect for authority; repelled by things populist, traditional and conservative, and volunteered as chaplain to the causes (environment, open borders, etc.) of the effeminate Western elite.
Worst of all, his appointments have favored men in the emasculated McCarrick tradition: Parolin, Fernandez, Cupich, Tobin, Gregory, McElroy and others.
Butker Commencement Talk
I delighted in the kicker's talk as a heartfelt, courageous witness of a strong Catholic who loves his Church, his wife/family and his Latin mass. A war cry from the Catholic underclass! I would respond with some criticism: I respect and enjoy the TLM but my love is for the Catholic Eucharist, in any form. I applaud his exaltation of maternity and paternity but would also encourage the female graduates to bring their distinctive genius to every place in society. But mostly I would qualify his hard treatment of priests and bishops.
I share his disappointment and even sense of betrayal: the closing of the Churches during the pandemic was inexcusable. I have not heard a word of regret from a bishop. We have too many priests and bishops that are soft, accommodating, lacking in clarity, certainty, courage and Catholicity.
However, I know so many fine priests and bishops, honorable and virile men, who labor sacrificially for all of us. They continue the traditions we inherited from our ancestors. They are widely despised across our society. They are often lonely and discouraged. These men we cannot adequately appreciate and encourage! Let us fervently pray for them! And for our young men to follow on this path!
Lord Jesus, Spouse of the Church, thank you for the fine men who serve us so generously! Encourage, strengthen, comfort, guide and sanctify them! Raise up new priests from our young people! Guide and protect our pope, bishops and priests always!
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