Posted on 07/27/2002 8:06:59 AM PDT by sinkspur
In all his years as a Catholic priest, he has never experienced anything so threatening to him and his ministry: being questioned and doubted, not for what he has done or what he believes, but for who he is.
He is a seasoned priest with a record of faithfulness and commitment to the Dallas-area parishes he has served.
He's also gay, although not many people know it: some friends and fellow priests, a number of whom also are gay.
With the scandal exploding in unexpected directions, no one hears the continued ticking louder or clearer than priests who are gay.
And rightly or wrongly, he is afraid these days as Roman Catholic leaders and laity continue to reel from the church's cover-up of sexual abuse and try to figure out which way to go from here.
"I'm terrified now," said the priest, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "People are trying to make oversimplified connections between sexual abuse and being gay, and they're saying, 'Let's get rid of all of them.'
"Any priest who is gay feels at risk. We're not used to living under suspicion. We're used to being trusted."
With the scandal exploding in unexpected directions, no one hears the continued ticking louder or clearer than priests who are gay. Their numbers, like those nationally, are significant in the Dallas Diocese, church officials said.
They hear the voices in the church that equate them with sexual abusers, and that want them out as part of a move to bring the priesthood in line with church teaching that homosexual acts are immoral.
More liberal Catholics say the church should embrace gay priests and end the secrecy before devoted priests are forced out or quit.
The waves of distrust already have broken at the steps of two parishes in the Dallas diocese, offering a look at how the church's next chapter may unfold.
Two priests – including the one who didn't want his name published – came under suspicion after a conservative group resurrected 2-year-old accusations that the men participated in a defunct Internet support group for gay priests.
The unidentified priest wasn't disciplined because he said nothing untoward; the other pastor stepped down because of sexually suggestive remarks about Hispanic men in an old e-mail.
To some, the priests' sin was – and is – being gay.
The call from American bishops for openness about past abuse has not extended to homosexuality itself and what many consider the ecclesiastical don't-ask-don't-tell policy for priests.
Instead, the rising tide of scandal has floated a fundamental question that could chart the church's course in years to come: What place does the Catholic Church want for gay priests?
"There's always been a good deal of sexual activity in the church from the top down, and not just homosexual activity," said psychotherapist and author A.W. Richard Sipe, a former priest who has studied clerical celibacy for 42 years. "What's changed is the revelation of that activity, including sexual abuse of minors. The secret system has been blasted open.
"The church is in a very funny position because its teaching says that homosexuality is so immoral, and the church has so many gay priests. The church could not function without gay priests."
Polarizing viewpoints
Homosexuality in the priesthood, shoved into the glare of public debate, is polarizing viewpoints inside the church and out. Many moderates and liberals contend that gays are being made scapegoats for a corrupt system in which bishops and priests abetted abusers by failing to expose them.
Many conservatives believe that gay priests are the root cause of the church's problems and all its layers of secrecy.
Last spring, Pope John Paul II's press secretary said that besides not ordaining gays, the church should consider removing gay priests.
A cardinal in Detroit recently said the church faced "not truly a pedophilia-type problem but a homosexual-type problem." The cardinal in Philadelphia prohibits gays from entering seminary.
Bishops, who determine which candidates get ordained in each diocese, are split over acceptance vs. a crackdown on gays. The Dallas Diocese does not weed out candidates because they are gay, although scrutiny is heavy, officials said.
A few bishops and at least one cardinal have said gays aren't suitable to become priests.
Vatican officials, after American cardinals met with the pope this spring, vowed to launch the first intensive seminary inspections in 20 years, concentrating on applicants' "suitability" and the schools' "fidelity" to church teachings.
Although some Catholics fear a sexually-oriented witch hunt to bar gays from ordination, orthodox groups consider such hurdles just what the priesthood needs.
"I think that has to happen, keeping homosexuals out of the seminaries and priesthood," said the Rev. Charles Dahlby, a priest in rural Illinois. "The church is desperately trying to avoid looking at that.
"The bishops haven't shown they have that courage."
Others worry that despite a new one-strike-and-out-of-public-ministry policy for abusive priests – adopted last month at the bishops conference in Dallas – unwarranted suspicion of gays threatens to drive them deeper into their closets.
"It's a very threatening climate right now," said Mark Jordan, an author and religion professor at Emory University in Atlanta. "These are priests who have never broken their vows of celibacy, and they're afraid of being taken out of ministry.
"Rather than focus on the institutional problem, people want to go after easy targets."
The focus on homosexuality, Mr. Jordan said, pre-empts the church from discussing more complex issues. He listed the climate of secrecy and clerical power, the discipline of celibacy and its frequent failures, church teachings on sexuality and a growing gay priesthood.
There's no definitive figure for the percentage of gay priests in America. The most rigorous studies estimate 30 percent to more than 50 percent. The latter figure comes from veteran researcher, professor and former seminary rector, Father Donald Cozzens.
Can't be ignored
In The Changing Face of the Priesthood, which openly discusses homosexuality, he said that although questions about gays in the priesthood may seem homophobic, "the proverbial elephant in the living room" can't be ignored. "The longer the delay, the greater the harm to the priesthood and to the church," he said.
Catholic officials must distinguish between priests, gay or straight, who struggle and sometimes fail to remain celibate and those who exploit the priesthood for the cover it provides or its gay network, he said.
To lay activist Stephen Brady, there must be no such distinction.
"Gays should not be ordained," said Mr. Brady, a restaurateur from Illinois who heads a group called Roman Catholic Faithful. "There is justifiable discrimination against a homosexual. The church teaches that."
Parts of the church's stance on gays seem colored in gray.
Opponents of gay ordination often cite a 1961 Vatican document that said gays should not be ordained. The document, "Careful Selection and Training of Candidates for the States of Perfection and Sacred Orders," isn't widely known among Catholics.
Mr. Brady says bishops have virtually ignored that document. Bishops say canon law never specifically prohibited gays from being priests.
Homosexual acts, on the other hand, have always been immoral in the eyes of the church since they can't create life.
In 1975, a Vatican document, "Declaration on Certain Problems of Sexual Ethics," indicated that simply being gay – without sexual activity – isn't sinful. That was followed by another document that said homosexuality is "intrinsically disordered," which gets conflicting interpretations.
The church needs to clarify all this, Mr. Brady said, "so we know where the hell we stand."
Last month, he used the bishops conference to recirculate charges that Catholic officials have overly protected gay priests, including 10 that his group identified by monitoring e-mails at an Internet site.
Confession wasn't enough for the Rev. Cliff Garner, who apologized to parishioners at St. Pius X Catholic Church in East Dallas for a 1999 message about Hispanic men. It said, in part, "I do have a very special place in my heart for those Latin blooded ones!"
Among more than 300 people who attended, some were forgiving; others wanted him removed.
Father Garner asked to leave the East Dallas parish after an anonymous threat to hurt him.
This month, the pastor at St. Pius criticized parishioners for "the hate and vengeance exhibited by some people."
'What a tragedy'
"When Father Cliff begged for forgiveness, some yelled, 'How many times are we supposed to forgive?' " Monsignor Larry Pichard wrote. "What a tragedy for our parish! What a tragedy for Father Cliff!" Those close to Father Garner said the priest was traumatized and wouldn't comment.
"We just need to let him rest and let him heal," Father Pichard said.
Mr. Brady said he got no satisfaction from the victory. He blamed both Father Garner, whom he said "brought this on himself" with his comments, and higher-ups who allowed him to become and remain a priest.
"I'm not saying he's evil. I'm saying he doesn't belong as a Catholic priest," Mr. Brady said. "I feel sorry for him because he was lied to all along.
"The fact that the bishops are unwilling to discuss the homosexual issue is an indictment against them."
Like many of his peers, Dallas Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Galante concludes that the sexual orientation of a priest or seminarian is irrelevant; they should have "psycho-sexual maturity" and be spiritually and socially healthy.
This moderate view emphasizes that whether homosexual or heterosexual, a priest must fulfill his call to a celibate, chaste life.
Sexual orientation "becomes a moot point," Bishop Galante said, adding that a priest shouldn't think of or identify himself as "a gay priest," as though that were his defining quality.
"I don't like hyphenated priests," the bishop said.
He played down the fears of some priests that being gay has made them targets.
"If they're not acting out, if they're living a devout good life, they have no reason to be fearful," he said. "There are no grounds to remove anybody. They can't be punished."
Some Catholics, however, see an inherent risk in affording gays the respect of the cloth.
Although he acknowledged that many fine, celibate priests are gay, Father Dahlby said he would close the priesthood to gays if he could.
"We don't know they'll have the spirituality to live a celibate life, and we're surrounding them with incredible temptations," he said. "It's unfair to them."
Those who blame gays for the crisis often assert that most of the victims were teenage boys, not children.
Others say that there are no statistics on the victims, which include many females – girls as well as women – and that the crisis is about abuse, not homosexuality.
Many of the worst abusers came through the old seminary system as teenagers in the 1960s and '70s.
'Bing Crosby priests'
"These were Bing Crosby priests," Mr. Jordan said, "products of the supposedly ideal period of American Catholicism." Yet they seem to have had sexual problems as teens that went unresolved and arrested their development, said Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, a spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"This may be a question of late adolescent behavior and accessibility to victims as much as fixed gender orientation," he said.
Mr. Jordan said the church's mishandling of the crisis is ominous.
"The abuse is not coming from out priests," he said. "It's coming from tightly closeted priests who won't be targeted.
"Five years from now, when the seminaries have been investigated and troublesome priests have been ousted, we'll have another rash of abuse cases."
Transcending his own apprehension, the Dallas-area priest who didn't want to be identified expressed hope.
"As scandalous and unsettling as this is, it's not new in the church's history. The church survives," he said. "A period of renewal ultimately will follow from all this ugliness, a period of grace.
"I can not believe otherwise. God's grace pervades all."
Bullseye! Methinks many of the bishops don't want the spotlight of scrutiny to shine too brightly upon themselves. There are more Weaklands amongst the episcopacy.
Like many of his peers, Dallas Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Galante concludes that the sexual orientation of a priest or seminarian is irrelevant; they should have "psycho-sexual maturity" and be spiritually and socially healthy.
Orientation certainly was irrelevant in the cases of Kos, Geoghan, Shanley, et al wasn't it Joseph. Galante should change his name to P.T. Barnum and continue dodging the spotlight. He's just another cafeteria cleric. The message he sends the laity by ignoring Vatican decree is that they too can pick and choose. People like him are dangerous to the faith.
OTOH, I agree wholeheartedly with you that those who 'twist' the doctrine or teachings ought to be dealt with, quickly and firmly.
Those who preach and agitate in this fashion ought to be TOSSED!!!!
Gays are attracted to the priesthood because it guarentees ACCESS...just like gays want to be Boy Scout Leaders. I maintain a constitutional right to be DISGUSTED by adult gays who target kids and teens. The media is WAY OFF base to call them "pedophile" priests. More accurately in MOST cases, they are GAY-Pedophile priests....but the pro-gay folks don't want anyone to connect the dots between "GAY and Pedophile".
You: Then he isn't gay. Gay means active lifestyle.
You're right. The Catholic church teaches that it's okay to be gay IF you remain celibate. Of course this is NOT Christian. Catholic dont' believe that through God ALL things are possible. Catholics don't believe that. It's redefined compassion.
If you look at the Exodus website that helps gays straighten themselves out, you'll see that it is ONLY the Catholics that find being gay acceptable. Humorously they call their litel group "Courage". It is anything but that. It is "courage" to turn away from the gay lifestyle and mindset and lead a heterosexual life as God intended. ALL the other groups trying to help gays call on God to help them and they have SUCCESS! So, Catholics are soft on gays.
More importantly God abhors the unnatrualness of being gay whether it be male or female same sex attraction. God also holds religious leaders to a higher standard. I am continually amazed at what the Catholic church does in violating God's Word. NO gay is fit to be a leader in anything godly. This is akin to mocking God with this abomination as His representative. Once again, Catholicism is not Biblical and does not follow the teachings of Christ. As for me, my daughter is not permitted near of in a Catholic church. I don't want her in danger of this perversion that is protected by the Catholic church.
As long as the priest is not engaging in sexual relations (as any of his unmarried parishioners would be forbidden to do), why do we care about his sexual orientation? This priest should not fear anything, unless he is misbehaving.
Homosexuality = predispostion
Gay = lifestyle
The article & others like it (conveniently) equates the two terms, so that:
Homosexual = Gay
and, successfully confuses the underlying issue - can a priest live a gay lifestyle.
The Roman Catholic Church has decided that a gay lifestyle is an inappropriate & unacceptable lifestyle for a Roman Catholic Priest.
The very concept is diametrically opposed to God's law and Natural law, whichever holds value for you.
There are no gay priests, period. If they are actively engaged in activity which would define them as such, then they are not actively representing any interests in the name of God. When any church makes a point to recongize them they have effectively openly declared they are not a church that serves God, but instead serve the enemy.
What a telling remark.It infers that there was an "expected" direction that this "scandal"would take and that it was not a demand for a critical review of the suitabiity of homosexuals for,or,in the priesthood.
A minority of priests (homosexuals) brought about over 95% of the molestations against teenage boys. Clearly, homosexual men (and priests) are much, much more likely to involve themselves sexually with teenagers than are heterosexual men. Most parents I know will NEVER let their sons be alone with a priest anywhere, and for good reason. We have several thousand reasons (homosexual molestations)to not trust priests with our sons. Further, most of the homosexual priests are sexually active. Who trusts a priest who can't keep his vows, and who actively sins? The Catholic Church has to decide - a queerized Church, vs. one in which people can trust their priests around their kids.
Because Sinkspur, homosexual priests have shown a strong tendency in the Church to molest teenage boys. How the heck should I know if a priest is celibate? All I know now is that there are hordes of sexually active homosexual priests in my Church, and that we're supposed (ha ha) to trust our sons with them (and to teach them Catholic sexual morality too).
Read Goodbye, Good Men. We have huge number of homosexual priests actively engaged in the gay (promiscuous) lifestyle. If the Roman Catholic Church has made this decision, it hasn't enforced it one wit.
Every survey I've seen shows that the homosexual priests in the Church are 80%, 90% sexually active. They should be rooted out.
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