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You know, St. Augustine might have had a problem with blackmail, too, but he didn't. He realized the grace by which he was saved was far more effective than a bunch of whiny babies crying about his previous indiscretions. I repeat: If there are gay priests who have maintained chaste lives after taking their vows of celibacy, then stand up and take a bow. There's no shame in the way you were made, the Good Lord gives new life to all who follow him. It's a moot issue for anyone who is truly in Christ because they're not looking for a way to sin, rather they are looking for a way out of it.

Be that as it may the Church has long had restrictions on who could be a priest.
For instance, if you were a bastard—I mean of illegitimate birth, it was rare for you to be made a priest. Exceptions were made. I think Erasmus was born out of wedlock. Until the ‘70s there was a real effort to weed homosexuals out. Then, after so many seminaries were left empty, many homosexuals were allowed into the priesthood. It was an experiment based in large part on the recommendations of mental health persons, party on the need to fill “slots” So we had a hollow priesthood just as in the ‘70s we had a hollow Army. The scandals showed what mischief “progressive” reforms can have.