A Catholic church in Keller will stop sponsoring a Boy Scout troop in 2014 when a policy allowing gay Scouts goes into effect — mostly because, he admits, many Catholic priests are pedophiles.
Monsignor James Hart, the pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, cited his experience working with the Fort Worth Diocese and the lawsuits against pedophile priests as his reasoning — what he called a “very sad involvement in the various lawsuits filed against the Diocese for violations against the moral law in times past.”
He said these incidents “destroyed lives and caused many to lose their faith.” He blamed the crimes on priests “with a same-sex orientation.”
And he pointed out that those men had “taken an oath of celibacy in the service of a higher good.”
Because these priests had sex with young boys, the pastor concludes, obviously gay teens will have sex with each other.
“Given the facts of this known past, which as a Priest has broken my heart, do you honestly expect me to believe that when the time comes in the life of the Boy Scouts of America that there are 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 year old boys put together in overnight situations, some of whom with a self-professed same-sex orientation and attraction, that nothing undesirable is going to happen?” he said.
So, if priests can’t have sex with young boys, well he’s not going to let young boys who got together to go camping and learn how to tie knots and earn merit badges in things like citizenship have sex with each other.
He’s not disbanding the troop. They just can’t meet in his church.
That’s probably a good idea. The Scouts will be safer without any contact with Catholic priests.
Meanwhile, three Central Texas churches have already severed ties with their sponsored troops. One Pflugerville troop has found another sponsor, and another troop is in discussions with another church.
Baptist churches in the state may start cutting ties with the Boy Scouts as well. The Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution at its meeting last week formally opposing the new policy to allow gay youth. The resolution didn’t call for churches to drop their sponsored troops, but did call for the resignation of unnamed BSA executives who pushed for the policy’s passage. BSA president Wayne Perry publicly supported the change before the vote.
While churches are dropping troops, heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. recently cut funding to the BSA, following in the footsteps of Intel and UPS. Among its reasons was that the BSA still doesn’t allow gay leaders.
And some United Ways chapters are cutting funding, like a recent decision to not donate $11,00 to a Pennsylvania council. And previously this month from an Ohio United Way chapter withheld donations to its local council.
However, Dallas’ local United Way chapter continued its funding to the Circle Ten Council this year, announcing the decision the day after the National Council’s vote.
