LET ME BANG MY SEMINARY DRUM IN A POSITIVE WAY FOR A CHANGE

Goodbye, Good Men was a book written in the 1990's and described how the lavender mafia was infiltrating the seminaries of the 1970's forward. Popes John Paul II and Benedict both authorized seminary visitations to deal with doctrinal, moral and discipline issues in the modern seminary as well as any homosexual subculture.

My seminary, St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore had been called by many as the "pink palace." I thought at the time of this book and still do that the gay culture was not as rampant has the book made it out to be. And in fact in my second year of seminary in 1977 two seminarians were booted by the faculty for homosexuality and they promptly went to the local press, print and television to tell their story and how poorly they were treated.

My seminary was very liberal, thought that academic theologians knew better than the pope and bishops and that they comprised a parallel magisterium.

There was a great deal of liturgical experimentation and down right denigration of the celebration of the Mass especially in the silly small group Masses we had twice a week in priest's apartments in the school. No vestments, no altar and sometimes no eucharistic prayer. But I digress.

We also were imbued with South American Liberation Theology and Jesuitical theology from South America, exactly what we hear Pope Francis espousing today.

We had no rule, came and went as we pleased, spent weekends away from the seminary and had no curfew and could have parties in our room where alcohol flowed freely.

My class in 1976 started with 60 men or so. Many of them conservatives like me, who had little or no college seminary experience, mostly secular colleges like me. The vocal conservatives did not fair well and by the second year we were down to about 40. By the time I was ordained our class number 23 men and one women. Yes, you read that right, one woman. I will explain further, because that was actually good. An no she wasn't a cross dresser or transgendered.

As far as I can tell, only 6 of us remain in active ministry. One committed suicide after having been convicted of homosexual harassment of men in the Navy. Several have been laicized due to sexual issues of abuse of minors and the like. Others left to get married. A couple died of aides.

And all of this was from a seminary that decried clericalism as is usually described by the likes of Cupich, Tobin, the bishop of Davenport and even the pope.

What was good about my seminary?

1. Lay men and women attended classes with us to earn degrees in theology. One of my very good friends, Marie Hall, whose son became a Jesuit priest, is the only women in the history of St. Mary's to appear on a class photo for would-be priests. She brought positive aspects to our seminary training.

2. We had priests, nuns and lay men and women teaching us to include Dr. Richard Sipe. Of course it was liberal theology of the day, but we were exposed to a variety of liberal thought from these teachers and a Jew was the counselor for the seminarians if needed. He taught pastoral theology to us.

3. We did have freedoms that for mature men was most appreciated. I would classify myself as one of the mature. But the "lifers" those who began seminary in high school, there was an immaturity that we non-lifers could detect and despised.

4. We were taught to be pastoral, not clerical. We did not wear clerics in the seminary unless we went on a pastoral placement. But there wasn't a dress code either until my third year. We wore casual dress to chapel and class, like shorts and flip flops.

It wasn't until one of our gayer seminarians began to wear flip flops and  bibb overhauls without a shirt that the rector thought that he might need to say something about that.