Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.
Luke 1:1-4 (NRSV Catholic translation)
Recent days have seen a strong interest among the autistic Catholic cybersphere on the topic of autistic men and the Catholic priesthood. This interest has been sparked by a reference to autism in a report published by the McGrath Institute for Church Life earlier this year called Do You Know Them to be Worthy? This led to an article in the National Catholic Register called Autism and the Priesthood: How the Church is Responding.This was soon followed by an article on the Word on Fire website by Mark Bradford called ’Strange Vocations’: A New and Welcomed Conversation About Priestly Eligibility.
The initial reaction to each of these in the autistic Catholic cybersphere was largely negative, with some notable exceptions. What was more interesting was how some of the negative commentators soon “repented” of their critiques and pronounced these articles “very good” after all. Evening came, and morning followed… the eighth day. What is actually going on here? How should we – not only autistic Catholics, but all Catholics – understand these articles? It is worth noting that neither article, in referencing the McGrath report, looked at the autism issue in the context of the report itself. What was the report about? Why was autism mentioned there in the first place? How does this understanding color how we see the two subsequent articles?
With these concerns in mind, I have endeavored (like St. Luke) to “investigating everything carefully from the very first”, in order that you, my dear readers, may come to know more fully the truth concerning all these things. I shall look at the McGrath Report, the Register article and the Word on Fire article and then draw a few general conclusions from all of this. I do this in the form of an essay or blog post, not as a scholarly thesis or a book (though one could easily write either about this). Some citations may make their way into this post, but rest assured that I can support every contention I make here. Continue reading “Autistic Men and the Priesthood: Welcoming Embrace or Grudging Tolerance?”