Church to bar new gay priests
CELIBACY NOT ENOUGH
The Roman Catholic Church is preparing to bar homosexuals from becoming priests even if they are celibate in what could prove to be a defining act of Benedict XVI’s papacy.
An “instruction” spelling out the policy has been drafted by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries.
Vatican officials say it is expected to be published within weeks. The long-awaited policy review was initiated three years ago by Pope John Paul II, who died in April.
It has been fought over bitterly among the Catholic hierarchy amid fears it will trigger a witch hunt against gay clergy and increase the current shortage of candidates to the priesthood.
But conservatives say it is needed to redress the balance after a period of liberalization in theological colleges, particularly in the United States.
The news of the impending publication was leaked to the U.S. press in what some Vatican insiders believe could be a ploy to test the level of feeling about the issue among Catholics in the United States.
Gay Catholic groups in the United States fear the document could make homosexuals a scapegoat for the child abuse scandals there. More than 80% of the 11,000 alleged victims of abuse by Catholic priests were young males. Benedict XVI, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger headed the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican body charged with looking into the abuse claims, is said to have been horrified by many of the cases and he has made clearing up the image of the Church one of the priorities of his papacy.
He has also consistently taken a hard line on homosexuality, condemning it as “intrinsically disordered.”
While the exact wording of the instruction is not known, sources believe it will say candidates for the priesthood who identify themselves as homosexual should be barred, even if they are sexually abstinent, because their condition could detract from their ministry.
Many Vatican officials are determined to suppress what they see as a growing gay sub-culture in the priesthood. Liberals fear, however, a crackdown will drive the issue underground and set the Church back by decades.
The instruction is not thought likely to have any direct impact on gay priests who have already been ordained, although some leaks have suggested it will urge them to “renew their dedication to chastity.”
Other Catholics say, though, the test should be celibacy, not innate sexuality, and they predicted resignations from the priesthood that would worsen the church’s deep shortage of clergy.
“I’m hearing that some men will choose to leave, because if they don’t, it would be like living a lie,” said Rev. Robert Silva, president of the American National Federation of Priests’ Councils, who opposes a ban because it would be “extremely hurtful” to chaste gay priests who are serving the church.
Many gay men have entered the priesthood and they are increasingly open with their colleagues, their bishops and in some cases, even with their parishioners, about their sexual orientation.
Five years ago, Rev. Donald Cozzens, a former U.S. seminary rector, contended in his book that “the priesthood is or is becoming a gay profession.”
James Hitchcock, a conservative Catholic and a professor of history at St. Louis University, said some seminaries had reached the point of being “openly welcoming of homosexuals'' and “don’t even regard chastity necessary.”
“In that environment — and then you add to that the pedophilia scandals — probably the Vatican thinks strong medicine is necessary for a serious disorder,” said Mr. Hitchcock, who said he would nonetheless favour a system that allows rare cases to be decided individually.
The publication of the document will coincide with an evaluation by Church investigators into the U.S.’ s 229 seminaries.
The investigators will, among other things, be looking for “evidence of homosexuality” and whether seminarians are being properly prepared to live celibate lives.
“ There are some priests … with same-sex attractions and they’ve done very well [remaining celibate],” Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, leader of the evaluation said recently.
“But generally speaking, in my experience, the pressures are strong in an all-male atmosphere. And if there have been past failings, the Church really must stay on the safe side .... The same-sex attractions have gotten us into some legal problems.” The Daily Telegraph, with files
from The New York Times