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Show I Dilemma of a Religious Man TnrlAV the issue of priestly celibacy has become an imp0N ; Today "Vnf onen discuss on. How many priests tLa tannt,Sattempting to follow the celibacy rule set down Cn years a"eClP aro. and end up miserable and confused dreds of yea" ago. b honest about their sexuality? bTabriel Long" was one such priest He was eminently Gabriel Jersey City parish. But through it all he successful in his Jery .y ue tQ hig natural u he found that he was oe j s d and the Church . Finally, he left t ne p ardinal Bea described at the lhat;frn,mcil as "called to the priesthood but not to ' - , i I ? ' ' J!,CUliiei"-'' - , oiTtoS'is m-rried and the father of two. He has written an absorbing auto-bioeraphy, auto-bioeraphy, "Spoiled i riest whfchPhays already gone to three large printings, thanks largely to the demand for the book that snowed his recent appearances on national radio ra-dio and television shows. In "Spoiled Priest" Longo is compellingly honest. He describes his 15 years in the priesthood and his suffering. He talks with remarkable candor, taste and good humor .of the financial benefits of the priesthood. And he writes in a fascinating way about the Confessional and how it ai-fects ai-fects the priest. Inspired by the local parish par-ish priest who was both his friend and idol, Gabriel Longo at 15 decided to enter the priesthood. He was from a poor family that couldn t afford to educate him, but Longo was assisted by his friend to enter Seton Hall Permitted to date, the tall and handsome student met temptation, and was frequently fre-quently pursued by girls. During his seminary years, his sexual drives were sublimated subli-mated only with great difficulty. diffi-culty. He learned that his problem was one faced by many of his classmates. Finally, Fi-nally, after years as a priest, he realized with growing despair that he had made a mistake. Celibacy, and therefore there-fore the priesthood, was not his calling. Leaving the priesthood, he floundered in a world for which he was unprepared. A kind of outcast and exile, he solved the problems he sud- Gabriel Longo j denly faced with the deter- ! mination of a man caught in i an inescapable trap but nevertheless nev-ertheless determined to escape. es-cape. The engrossing account of this reverent 20th century man working in a faith he believed in but by which he couldn't fully live, will fascinate fas-cinate readers of all faiths and offend none. For ex-priest ex-priest Longo. presents the case against priestly celibacy with fairness and respect. I "Spoiled Priest" is pub- I lished by University Books and is sold in bookstores everywhere. It belongs to that body of stirring and provocative pro-vocative literature which is reshaping our world today. It is fascinating reading and will no doubt become the subject of considerable discussion dis-cussion among many people! for a long time to come- j i |