Well, I doubt the priest are actually letting the flock know they are homosexuals. Do you? The number of 30 to 50 percent is a number that was stated by a RC priest that wrote an opinion piece in the wake of the troubles in Boston. I thought the number was very high as well, but who am I to argue with someone in the know?
BTW, how many homosexual as a percentage of priests does your experiance indicate there are? If the doctrine of the RC church is that homosexual activity is sinful, why does the church not defrock these men and tell them are unfit for ministry after it have become clear that these men have not merely backslide but are in fact indulging in this sin as a practice.
Well, I doubt the priest are actually letting the flock know they are homosexuals.I can smell one from a good distance :-)
how many homosexual as a percentage of priests does your experiance indicate there are?Very, very few from my experience. It may depend upon a particular diocese, and it REALLY SHOULDN'T. On another thread I read the following,
For Father John Canary, rector of the University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, outside Chicago, homosexual "orientation" does not necessarily exclude a candidate. But Father John Folda, rector of St. Gregory the Great Seminary of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., said simply, "We don't take homosexual candidates." The reason, he said, is the same as that given by the Holy See. "Because of the way of life a priest lives, there would be a great deal of temptation for someone like that," he said. "You'd be calling a man to something unsuitable for his circumstances."I am looking forward, with a great hope, to the outcome of the media-orgy. I think it will be, in the end, v. good for the Church :-)
Fr. Richard John Neuhaus (of First Things) writes that he has heard estimates of from 2% to 40%; he himself estimates 10%. He also wrote, though, that there has never been a reliable study of the question (i.e., anyone can take his own number and plug it in). I would assume the figure varies widely by diocese since the various dioceses are uneven (to put it mildly) in their enforcement of the official ban on homosexuals in the priesthood.
I think you hit on the key concept, and one which has been ignored by the American seminaries: that is, that there should be absolutely ZERO toleration of any kind of homosexual practice by the priests. I've read that there are at least 2 seminaries where teachers and seminarians alike flaunt their gayness, dress in drag, and go down to gay bars together (I believe I read this from a snippet from "Goodbye Good Men"). I'm not entirely certain that you can also say that a person who would otherwise be homosexually inclined, but has worked through prayer and devotion to Jesus to control those urges and aberrant appetite so as not to either act on it or indulge in the thoughts, should be declared ipso facto to be unfit for the priesthood; after all, on the other side of the coin, heterosexually-inclined priests aren't automatically adulterers just because they're heterosexual. However, if they cavalierly flaunt and exhibit the attitude that they think it's OK to break their vows of celibacy, then they too should meet with an immediate dismissal from the priesthood.
That was my original belief before all of this mess started (that any form of sexually deviant behavior should be automatic grounds for dismissal from seminaries; and that the seminaries should be tightly controlled to be on the lookout for anyone exhibiting suspicious behavior -- hetero or homo); however, I recently was aware of a still-standing Church decree that any seminarian who is found to be homosexual-inclined is automatically unfit for the priesthood (I'm sure a knowledgeable Catholic can cite it here: it was from the Congregation on Divine something or other, circa 1960-something).
If that's the case, then maybe it's just better, as a rule, to just bar all homosexually-inclined men from the priesthood, even if they are able to control their thoughts and actions, just because of the potential danger of just one of them slipping up.
Of course, even as I say this, it seems incongruous in that would it be any less damaging for a heterosexually-inclined priest to molest a young girl, or to indulge in a sexual affair? My viceral reaction though, even though I know it's absent any logic, is to say a homosexual molestation is worse. I don't know why; it just feels worse.
Many investigations have been done on homosexuals and priests, and the highest numbers I have heard from a respected scientist is 5% ... and this is total homosexuals, not the total ACTIVE homosexuals which is estimated at between .02 and 2%.
Yes, there is a problem with some seminaries recruiting effeminate men and keeping out masculine men. But the problems do not for one minute prove that the Catholic faith and beliefs are wrong.
We must solve this problem. It is a real tragedy and something that needs to be fixed, ended, the victims cared for. But the Church is still standing, and will stand. We might not think so today, but the Church has been through many other scandals over the past 2,000 years and survived. We can and will get through this one.
Because the Catholic faith is focused on one thing: God. All prayers, all petitions, all devotions, are finally directed to God through Jesus Christ, His Son. Our faith, our doctrines, our love has not changed, even though some in the Church have failed to uphold the commandments, the morality, or the doctrines.
God bless.