Thursday, October 16, 2008

Pro-Gay Marriage Priest Trained at Infamous Seminary

The Catholic priest in Fresno who defied his bishop and preached a sermon in support of gay marriage instead of one affirming the Catholic doctrine of marriage and supporting Prop 8 is a graduate of the infamous seminary St. John's Camarillo. Here's some of what Bishopaccountablity.og has posted about St John's Camarillo:
About 10% of St. John's graduates reported to have been ordained in the Los Angeles Archdiocese since 1950 — 65 of roughly 625 — have been accused of molesting minors, according to a review of ordination announcements, lawsuits, published reports and the archdiocese's 2004 list of alleged abusers. In two classes — 1966 and 1972 — a third of the graduates were later accused of molestation.

The St. John's figures are much higher than the nationwide rate of alleged molesters in the American priesthood, as calculated by a church-commissioned survey. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice study found that 4% of priests and deacons between 1950 and 2002 have been accused of abuse.

and
The John Jay survey determined that the quarter-century from 1960 through 1984 was particularly troublesome for alleged abuse by clerics nationwide. At St. John's, about 15% of priests who graduated during that period and served in the Los Angeles Archdiocese were accused of sexual abuse, records show.

The SF Chronicle article said that Farrow is 50, so I am thinking that he would have graduated from St. John's during that period.

Please understand that I am NOT suggesting Farrow is a child molester. I am suggesting that he was trained in his religion at a seminary where deviant behavior was the new normal. For example, consider this snippet from Bishopaccountablity.og:
Luis Godinez, who briefly attended St. John's in the late 1980s, said he left because he was offended by the promiscuity on campus.

He said he often could not use his dorm bathroom at night because it was occupied by men having sex.

2 comments:

Robin said...

I think this post can be conveniently boiled down to the rather statement "gay marriage = deviant behaviour".

While this weasel-worded article may provide you with evidence that gay men and their supporters are all ghastly kiddie fiddlers, any reasonable reader will probably deduce that it suggests there's probably just something wrong with Catholic priests.

Perpetua said...

Hi Robin,

What part of "Please understand that I am NOT suggesting Farrow is a child molester," do you not understand?

The intention of this particular post was to point out the connection with a particular infamous Catholic seminary in California and the disturbing behavior there.

The article does not make generalizations about either gay men and their supporters or about Catholic priests.