The war on conscience
Top British Jesuit suppresses Web site which pictured
males kissing LONDON (CNS) -- The British provincial of the Society of Jesus
has suppressed a Jesuit Web site that featured an image of two young men kissing.
The Web site was set up by Jesuit Father David Birchall of St. Wilfrid's Church,
Preston, to promote a weekend retreat for gay and lesbian Christians called
"Clear as Your Conscience." Incorporated into the design of the site was the
image of the two men locked in an embrace, juxtaposed with a picture of two
young women cuddling. Both images were under a single, superimposed cross. The
Web site also had links to gay Web sites. The provincial, Father David Smolira,
shut down the Jesuit-run site when he was told of the contents by The Catholic
Herald, a London-based weekly newspaper that reported the story Feb. 21. Ged
Clapson, province communications officer, told the paper: "It would appear that
the material there had not been approved by the provincial. It has now been
withdrawn until it achieves approval by the provincial."
[Source]
Clear as Your Conscience? Is the purpose now to transform our consciences into the proverbial "yes man" a brown nose faculty that echoes yes to every whim or temptation? Is a guilty conscience now a disorder to be eradicated at all costs? Just the use of this title is interesting since if your conscience is really so clear why is it that you even think of creating a retreat with that name. This might be a classic case of "The retreat master doth protest too much, methinks" I like the irony of the Jesuits suppressing something, but that last line by the communications officer saying "until it achieves approval by the provincial" is unbelievable (even for Jesuits). This isn't exactly a gray area in Catholic moral teaching that needs to be looked at before it can be approved.
Known as 
Ugh.
What more can I say?
The superior will make them remove the picture and then approve the site. Whaddya wanna bet?
Sorry, I might be a jester but not fool enough to bet where modern day Jesuits are concerned.
Of course most of the religious orders have been infected by relativism and the spirit of the world, but Jesuits seem to be in the forefront in reported news.
Dear Jeff
I was interested to stumble upon your site and read the comments that had been made. It is most unfortunate, and potentially damaging, when people, including (or especially) journalists, make statements or assumptions without knowing the full facts. If you had contacted me direct, I would have been more than happy to give you more detail about the site that was set up to advertise the retreat for gays and lesbians who may find it hard to reconcile their sexuality and their Christian faith.
These have been running for 12 years or so now, largely requested by gay Christians themselves, and are not designed in any way to "eradicate ... a disorder" or to "transform consciences", but rather to help people make an informed and mature choice about their lifestyles.
The picture of the young men kissing was removed because it was felt it unnecessarily sensationalised or trivialised this serious subject, and was open to misinterpretation.
I hope this clarifies the situation.