Just as many seminaries had homosexual subcultures (many were even dominated by it in the 70s and early 80s), so did religious houses. The difference is that seminaries have natural turnover, even if offenders aren’t kicked out. It’s much easier to get rid of, anyway. Many religious houses “went gay” without having the natural turnover, while never reorienting, and they love to promote it.
A lot of dissenting so-called 'Catholic' organisations misuse St John Henry Newman's name, based on the utter falsehood that he was in some kind of homosexual relationship with his friend Ambrose St John. This lie has been repeated often. And also has been refuted. When Ian Ker reissued his biography of Newman in 2009, he added an afterword in which he put forward evidence that Newman was heterosexual …More
A lot of dissenting so-called 'Catholic' organisations misuse St John Henry Newman's name, based on the utter falsehood that he was in some kind of homosexual relationship with his friend Ambrose St John. This lie has been repeated often. And also has been refuted. When Ian Ker reissued his biography of Newman in 2009, he added an afterword in which he put forward evidence that Newman was heterosexual. He cited journal entries from December 1816 in which the 15-year-old Newman prayed to be preserved from the temptations awaiting him when he returned from boarding school and met girls at Christmas dances and parties. As an adult, Newman wrote about the deep pain of the "sacrifice" of the life of celibacy. Ker comments: "The only 'sacrifice' that he could possibly be referring to was that of marriage. And he readily acknowledges that from time to time he continued to feel the natural attraction for marriage that any heterosexual man would." In 1833, Newman wrote that, despite having "willingly" accepted the call to celibacy, he felt "not the less ... the need" of "the sort of interest [sympathy] which a wife takes and none but she - it is a woman's interest".
Do you have any further insight into that business about Newman being buried with his "lover"? I've heard different takes on it, including that such burials (involving friends) were common in England. Thank you for your perspective.
@Chris Muniee Yes, St John Henry Newman was buried with Fr Ambrose St John. Alan Bray, in his 2003 book 'The Friend' saw the bond between the two men as "entirely spiritual", noting that Newman, when speaking of Ambrose St John, echoes the language of John's Gospel. Shortly after Ambrose St John's death, Bray adds, Newman recorded "a conversation between them before Ambrose St John lost his speech …More
@Chris Muniee Yes, St John Henry Newman was buried with Fr Ambrose St John. Alan Bray, in his 2003 book 'The Friend' saw the bond between the two men as "entirely spiritual", noting that Newman, when speaking of Ambrose St John, echoes the language of John's Gospel. Shortly after Ambrose St John's death, Bray adds, Newman recorded "a conversation between them before Ambrose St John lost his speech in those final days. Ambrose expressed his hope, Newman wrote, that during his whole priestly life he had not committed one mortal sin. For men of their time and culture that statement is definitive ..." Newman's burial with Ambrose St John cannot be detached from his understanding of the place of friendship in Christian belief or its long history". Bray cites numerous examples of friends being buried together. Newman's burial with Ambrose St John was not unusual at the time and did not draw contemporary comment. It's only recently that we've had this problem of completely innocent same-sex friendships being brought into question by perverts who are trying to project their own disorder onto other innocent people. Many historical characters, both inside and outside the Church, have been misappropriated by 'gays', so that the LGBT lobby can construct a fake 'gay history'.
Just as an addition, I once knew a wonderful Jesuit priest (I know, a real rarity) who died about 20 years ago. He is buried about 30 minutes drive from where I live, and I have visited his grave. There are a line of graves which have obviously been reserved for the Jesuit Order. Two priests are buried in each single plot, so I would say this is a fairly common practice, even now.
Yes, I would imagine even just as a matter of managing space, it would not have been uncommon to bury multiple clergy in a single lot (similar to the way many cemetaries bury married spouses vertically in a single area).
I don't know about other places, but I live near London and space is at a premium. Most people - Catholic and non-Catholic - I think opt for cremation now. I have stipulated in my will that I am to be buried. Our local cemetery doesn't have a lot of space left and ridiculously (rules vary from borough to borough) in my borough you can't buy a plot in advance. The cost comes out of your estate and …More
I don't know about other places, but I live near London and space is at a premium. Most people - Catholic and non-Catholic - I think opt for cremation now. I have stipulated in my will that I am to be buried. Our local cemetery doesn't have a lot of space left and ridiculously (rules vary from borough to borough) in my borough you can't buy a plot in advance. The cost comes out of your estate and I also have a pre-paid funeral plan. I did enquire about the price and one single plot in our local cemetery - which could contain one or two coffins - costs £3,000 (approx $3,783 dollars) then there is a 'burial fee' of about £1,500 ($1,892 dollars) on top of that. The 'death industry' has become a money-making racket.
@Chris Muniee Sister Lucia of Fatima gave us the answer to your question in her 1957 interview with Fr Fuentes: "Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that offends God the most, and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus the devil does everything to overcome souls …More
@Chris Muniee Sister Lucia of Fatima gave us the answer to your question in her 1957 interview with Fr Fuentes: "Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that offends God the most, and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way the devil will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.” “That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell. … The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of laypeople and thereby lead them to final impenitence . . . " Silencing of the Messengers: Father Fuentes (1959 – 1965) | The Fatima Center
