Reply #41: Read what defocked Catholic Priest says here... (dismissed by the Vatican) [View All]

[Bryn]

Matthew Fox is former Roman Catholic priest. He has written 14 books, exploring the theme of spirituality in the modern world in all of them. Fox clashed with Vatican repeatedly and he was eventually defrocked.

Fox was a Catholic priest for more than 30 years. He became an Episcopal priest in 1994

Former Catholic priest Matthew Fox doesn't think of his views on "creation theology" and other theological issues as renegade, even though the pope had him dismissed from the Dominican order in 1993.

from www.matthewfox.org (read books and articles by Matthew Fox, he has such a sweet face. He would have been an excellent pope!)

"This pope and his self-appointed German mafia headed by Cardinal Ratzinger will have to face the judgement of history (and very likely God also) over issues that include but are not limited to the following:

A pre-occupation with morality as sexual issues even when this morality is deeply flawed. I include the following examples:
--The forbidding of one billion Catholics world wide to practice birth control even while the human population explodes at the seams.
--The forbidding of the use of condoms even in a time when AIDS is killing individuals and whole populations the world over.
--The head-long pursuit of Augustine's theology of sexuality (all sex must be legitimized by having children)
--Ugly attacks in the pope's name against homosexuals and the complete ignoring of what science and professional psychological associations have learned about homosexuality (for example, that it is a natural phenomenon for 8-10% of any given human population as well as over 460 non-human species).'

'Other attacks include documents against yoga (yes!); against Buddhism (calling it "atheism"); against Thich Naht Hahn (calling him the "anti-Christ"); against feminist philosophers; against women (girls cannot serve at the altar; nor can women be priests); against theologians in general. Priests are forbidden to use the pronoun "she" for God at the altar.'

<snip>

'When I think of this pope I think of a hard-working priest who came to see me a year ago from southern California. He cried as he told me how ALL of the budget for the ministry to the poor was being cut to pay for a big new cathedral and for priestly misconduct. He himself was close to leaving the priesthood. I think of another priest who came to me three years ago and who was the person who actually ran his entire diocese on behalf of his bishop. He was at his wit's end with the hypocrisy and lies emanating from Rome--he knew many secrets. Rather than leave and rather than play the game, he quit his position and diocese and found a ministerial position in another diocese thousands of miles away."

"Now that this pope has passed, let readers reflect on the seriousness of these matters. And pray for this pope. I for one would hate to have to face my Creator with a track record like this one."

Copyright 2005 Matthew Fox