In a move that
was largely expected yet sure to anger gay Roman Catholic
priests and their supporters, top-secret Vatican documents
released Tuesday reveal that men who sustain a "gay
culture" in the church may not be trained as priests.
The same goes for men who have "deep-rooted homosexual
tendencies." The edict was posted on Adista, an
Italian church news service.
The church has not issued an absolute ban on gay
priests. If men have been able to "overcome" their gay
tendencies for at least three years, they can be
admitted to a seminary.
The Roman Catholic Church officially condemned
homosexual acts in 1961 but has provided these more
specific guidelines in the fallout from the sexual
abuse scandal plaguing the church, the Los Angeles
Times reported. The church is set to officially release
the instructions on November 29.
"It should not be ignored that there are
negative consequences that result from the ordination
of people with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies," the
document states, according to the newspaper. "Such
people find themselves in a situation that is a serious
obstacle to correct relationships with men and women."
The church defines gay culture as the use of
gay-themed movies, books, and Web sites as well
as participation in gay pride events. It
encourages ordained priests to help prevent the admission to
seminaries of active gays, according to the Los
Angeles Times.
"If a candidate [for the priesthood] practices
homosexuality or exhibits deep-rooted homosexual
tendencies, his spiritual director, as well as his
confessor, have the duty to dissuade him from pursuing
ordination," the instructions indicate, according to the
newspaper. "It would be gravely dishonest for a
candidate to conceal his homosexuality in order to
pursue ordination."
Critics of the instruction say that it will
force gay priests to leave or go back into the closet.
"What I see this doing is perpetuating the
problem of a secret institution that we are trying to
overcome," Sister Jeannine Gramick told the newspaper.
Gramick is a nun who was ordered by the Vatican in
1999 to stop her ministry promoting the rights of gay men
and lesbians. She believes that gay men are being
singled out. "Does the institution say to heterosexual
men that you cannot participate in aspects of
heterosexual culture?"
The Reverend James Martin, a Jesuit priest and
author, told The New York Times that the document "raises the
bar so high that it would be difficult to imagine gay men
feeling encouraged to pursue a life in the priesthood.
It's a very stringent set of rules they're applying.
Really the only people that would be able to enter,
according to the document, would be people who had a
fleeting homosexual attraction.'' (Advocate.com)
