Posted on 07/11/2005 9:27:03 PM PDT by Coleus
Update on this Issue in the Comments section below this article:
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican has prepared a draft document containing directives against the admission of homosexuals to the priesthood, informed Vatican sources said.
The document takes the position that since the church considers the homosexual orientation as "objectively disordered" such people should not be admitted to the seminary or ordained, the sources said Oct. 8.
The question of excluding homosexuals from the priesthood had been quietly considered at the Vatican for years without finding a consensus. It received new and more urgent attention in the wake of U.S. clerical sex abuse cases, many of which involved homosexual acts.
The Congregation for Catholic Education prepared the draft document in collaboration with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and other Vatican agencies, the sources said. The draft was being circulated for comment in October among a wide range of consultants, including theologians, canon lawyers and other experts, they said.
At the same time, the education congregation has finished work on a separate document that examines how psychological sciences can be used in discerning vocations -- another hotly debated issue at the Vatican in recent years. Its publication was expected before the end of the year.
The document on psychological testing will take the form of guidelines or orientations for bishops to use in their seminaries, the sources said.
However, the draft document on homosexuals will take the form of directives or norms, to be used throughout the universal church, they said.
"The document's position (on admission of homosexuals to the priesthood) is negative, based in part on what the 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' says in its revised edition, that the homosexual orientation is 'objectively disordered,'" said one source.
"Therefore, independent of any judgment on the homosexual person, a person of this orientation should not be admitted to the seminary and, if it is discovered later, should not be ordained," he said.
Last year Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation, said in a Catholic News Service interview, "Persons with a homosexual inclination should not be admitted to the seminary."
In September a U.S. Vatican official at the Congregation for Bishops, Father Andrew R. Baker, articulated arguments against acceptance of homosexuals as priesthood candidates in an article published by the Catholic magazine America.
Father Baker said that if a man has a predominant or exclusive same-sex attraction that in itself is grounds for bishops to have "a prudent doubt regarding the candidate's suitability" for receiving the sacrament of orders. Church law says if such a doubt exists the person should not be ordained.
Father Baker said homosexuality was a "disordered attraction" that can "never 'image' God and never contribute to the good of the person or society." He cited potential difficulties for homosexual seminarians or priests; they included problems dealing with their tendencies in a largely heterosexual society, questions about adherence to church teachings, and possible temptations presented in male environments like the seminary or the priesthood.
Father Baker said his article reflected his personal opinion and not the official position of the Vatican. While some Vatican officials have expressed similar views, others are concerned that such an attempt to "weed out" candidates to the priesthood would rely too heavily on interpretive evaluations of an individual's sexuality.
The officials who spoke to Catholic News Service said there was no definitive time frame for the document on homosexuality and admission to the priesthood.
"Only the Holy Spirit knows that," said one official.
Because of the sensitivity of the issues involved, Pope John Paul II and other top Vatican officials will be carefully reviewing it before publication, the sources said.
"There could be changes, especially because this is an interdicasterial (interdepartmental) work. There are some passages that must be written with very careful attention," said one official.
The wording in the catechism that describes the homosexual inclination as "objectively disordered" was added when the definitive Latin text of the catechism was released in 1997. Earlier editions of the catechism said homosexual acts were intrinsically disordered and said homosexual tendencies represented a trial for most people.
The document on psychological testing, titled "Orientations for the Use of Psychological Methods in the Admission and Formation of Candidates to the Priesthood," was discussed at the education congregation's plenary assembly in February.
At that time, the pope told the congregation's members that guidelines on the use of psychology to evaluate seminary candidates could help identify real vocations and ensure that such decisions are made with "a wider sense of awareness."
The pope said the support from psychological sciences should be used in a balanced way as part of the overall vocational path, integrated in a candidate's formation program. He said recourse to psychological methods can only be understood in the context of the "climate of faith" that marks the vocational decision.
Psychological methods "do not eliminate every type of difficulty and tension, but favor a wider sense of awareness and a freer exercise of liberty" when it comes to the challenging choice of a priestly vocation, he said.
Many Vatican officials have privately voiced apprehension about over-reliance on psychological methods to screen candidates to the priesthood. The document is said to address those concerns by stressing a balanced approach that recognizes the potential contributions of psychology, but within a limited sphere of competence.
ROME, July 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - One of the best known English-speaking Vatican reporters, John Allen, reports that the long-expected Vatican document calling attention to the fact that homosexual persons are not to be admitted to the priesthood is "now in the hands of Pope Benedict XVI". The document will come as no surprise to Vatican watchers since Rome has previously released two official documents barring homosexuals from the priesthood. As Allen puts it, with the new document, the teaching won't "change, but the level of authority and clarity" will, since the new document will be directly authorized by the Pope.
The former Church documents make it clear that not only men who have been sexually active as homosexuals but also those inclined to homosexual sex would be barred from the priesthood. A 1961 document produced by the Sacred Congregation for Religious states: "Those affected by the perverse inclination to homosexuality or pederasty should be excluded from religious vows and ordination," because priestly ministry would place such persons in "grave danger". (See coverage here: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/mar/02032701.html )
In a 2002 statement, Cardinal Estevez of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments stated in answer to a question by a bishop: "Ordination to the deaconate and the priesthood of homosexual men or men with homosexual tendencies is absolutely inadvisable and imprudent and, from the pastoral point of view, very risky. A homosexual person, or one with a homosexual tendency is not, therefore, fit to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders." (see that full letter here: http://www.adoremus.org/Notitiae-Ordination.html )
However, Allen suggests that some American bishops are hoping the Vatican shelves the document since they contend it will "generate controversy and negative press".
Last month, as the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was meeting, Chicago Cardinal Francis George spoke on the subject. The Chicago Tribune quoted the Cardinal as saying, "Also, anyone who has been part of a gay subculture or who has lived promiscuously as a heterosexual would not be admitted ... no matter how many years in his background that might have occurred."
See John Allen's 'Word from Rome' column: http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
I believe this is the hand of God.
A vow of celibacy and reflective worship may actually be the answer to homosexual tendencies. I'm not sure preventing someone who has taken (and living) a vow of celibacy from becoming a Priest is the answer. Now if they break the vow (homo or hetero) that is a whole different story.
Vaticanologist? John Allen is a gossip. There is no such thing as a Vaticanologist.
It's VERY encouraging!
I agree with you that a vow of celibacy and reflective worship may actually be the answer to homosexual tendencies, and homosexuals are free to adopt these without becoming priests.
What if they are already a Priest? Should they renounce their religous vows and ordination?
I like that term "objectively disordered." I'm going to start using it.
if it was the church would never have allowed it to happen.. man has made this and it is time for priest to marry
No, they should keep their pants zipped, keep their hands away from little boys, and stick to the vow of celibacy. Just like all of the other priests.
If they can't do that they should be defrocked.
We must be careful with the use of the word "celibacy", as it often refers only to those taking a vow "not to marry". As I read it, one can be "celibate" and still practice sexual activities.
See below from:
http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/faith/living/celibacy.htm
Celibacy
The Church sees great value in the way of life of those who renounce marriage so that they can dedicate themselves to serving the kingdom of God. For spiritual as well as practical reasons, the Catholic Church in the West also requires priests and bishops to live lives of permanent celibacy, unless they have been given special dispensation.
Definition
The dictionary definition speaks of a celibate person as someone who is not married and is bound or committed to remaining unmarried (so while two people who are engaged, for example, are not married, they are not committed to remaining unmarried).
The word 'celibacy' is often confused today with 'chastity', which means "abstaining from unlawful or immoral sexual activity" (Oxford English Dictionary). Strictly speaking, the word 'celibacy' does not govern sexual activity. So, while some people may be technically celibate, they may be having sexual relations and yet are committed to remaining unmarried. Nonetheless, many will describe themselves as 'celibate' because they are not having sex, when strictly they mean they are 'chaste'.
WooHoo!
What good news!
Pope: Priests Must Stay Celibate
Giving Thanks for the Good Shepherds ( A Defense of Priestly Celibacy)
Don't end celibacy for priests
The celibate superhero
Priestly Celibacy And Its Roots In Christ
How to Refute Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy
Priestly Celibacy Reflects Who - and Whose - We Are[Father George W.Rutler]
Celibacy
Tracing the Glorious Origins of Celibacy
God’s call to celibacy for the sake of His Kingdom - by Card. George
Vatican Says Celibacy Rule Nonnegotiable
Bishop Attacks Move to End Celibacy
A response to Fr. Joseph Wilson's defense of mandatory celibacy
The gift of Priestly celibacy as a sign of the charity of Christ, by Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Archbishop Dolan:"We Need to Be Renewing Our Pledge to Celibacy, Not Questioning It"
Celibacy is gift cherished by church
Celibacy Will Save the Priesthood
Celibacy Defended by EWTN's Fr. Levis
Call To Action: Dump Celibacy
The (Catholic) Church Has Always Prospered When Celibacy Is Honored
John Paul II Hails "Inestimable Value" of Priestly Celibacy
For Priests, Celibacy Is Not the Problem
Fr. Shannon Collins Discusses Celibacy
5 Arguments Against (Catholic) Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them
Why A Married Priesthood Won't Remedy the Priest Shortage
New Vatican Document on Homosexuality and the Priesthood Coming Before Fall 2005
Catholic priests demand the right to marry
Catholic priests urge Church to reconsider celibacy rules
Alternative Priests´ Council Hits Back on Mandatory Celibacy
Married Priests? The English Experience
Saying Yes to God: a Look into Vocations
New Vatican Document to Eliminate 1961 Papal Ban on Ordaining Homosexuals
Saying Yes to God: a Look into Vocations
Is it time to ordain married men to the Catholic priesthood?
40% of Scots priests want end to celibacy
A small, sturdy band of 'John Paul priests'(JPII legacy of conservative priests)
Yes, Gay Men Should Be Ordained
Cardinal says Priests will marry
Fathers, Husbands and Rebels: Married Priests
An Unneeded Headache (Vatican document on [NOT] admitting homosexual to the priesthood)
Vatican Prepares Draft Directives Against Admitting Gays as Priests
Given the Church's view of homosexuality, yes.
Do you think that maybe left wingers are objectively disordered?
Can anyone explain the difference between "objectively disordered" and "intrinsically disordered?" Sounds like it's important. Thanks in advance.
"A vow of celibacy and reflective worship may actually be the answer to homosexual tendencies. I'm not sure preventing someone who has taken (and living) a vow of celibacy from becoming a Priest is the answer. Now if they break the vow (homo or hetero) that is a whole different story."
*****
Unfortunately, if he breaks his vow of celebacy, it is already too late. A child, or another "consenting adult", has already been harmed - either physically, spiritually, or both.
Putting a man who is a homosexual into an all-male environment, such as the priesthood, would be highly distracting to him, and constantly subject him to sinning (such as the sin of lust) - even if he never breaks his vows. Along with the much greater temptation for a homosexual priest to break his celebacy vow, there will come a consumately greater chance the he WILL break his vow, just because he has more "opportunities" to do so. That is not a spiritually healthy environment for anyone, much less someone who needs to be focusing their entire being on ministering to the needs of Christ's flock here on earth. As Catholics and Christians, we are called upon to avoid not only sin, but also "the near occasions of sin".
All of this would be like forcing normal heterosexual priests to live in the same house as a bunch of hot college co-eds or playboy bunnies. Sure, they might be able to do it, and remain celebant, but it is just not a position any priest should be in. In fact, if I recall my Catechism correctly, the church considers unmarried men and women living together in the same dwelling to be "scandalous" - even if they are not having sex with each other. The same concept would apply to a homosexual priest having to live in the same house with a bunch of other priests.
If a homosexual man is able to control his lusts, and remain celebant throughout his entire life, then there are many other ways in which he can serve the church, and his fellow man, besides being a priest. There are many roles into which God calls men to serve, and there is much work to be done out there. "A vow of celibacy and reflective worship may actually be the answer to homosexual tendencies", as you put it, may very well be true. However, there are ways to pursue these things outside of the priesthood.
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