From
Jane Anderson’s “Priest in Love: Roman Catholic Clergy and Their Intimate
Friendships” (a book of interviews with Australian priests) (p. 63):
“Before
I can tell this, please realise that I was in my midsixties before I ever
touched a woman’s breasts and genitals.
What I did may have been the actions of a twenty-year-old but I was
doing this with the wisdom, knowledge, and religious attitude of a
sixty-four-year-old priest. This
difference is important.
“The
first time we were in the bedroom, in the first week of January, she stood
naked before me and said, ‘I didn’t give you a Christmas present so I want to
give you the best gift I can give you, the gift of my own body.’ This is Eucharist – my body given for
you. Kissing and sucking her nipples
helped me to see a link with the spiritual drink of Eucharist.
“I saw
her vagina as sacred and holy, and I saw my penis as a sacred holy part of my
body, and a gift from God. In the giving
and receiving, I accepted this as being similar to the Eucharist. We talked about this, my friend and I, and we
spoke about circumcision as the Jewish dedication to the Lord and the most
evident sign of belonging to the community of God’s people. Our lovemaking was our dedication, and this
was a mutual interpretation. Sexual
intimacy helped me understand Eucharist, and Eucharist helped me to understand
intimacy.”
. . .
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