I give you a moment to get over the shock of the premise of that question. Seriously, though, a recent scandal in Rome has prompted a new inquiry into investigating gay priests according to this report from Newsweek.
The case has raised questions about the extent of homosexuality in the Vatican. Those who dismiss Stenico's explanation believe the priest may be part of a small "underground" gay community of Vatican officials. Some officials readily admit such a community exists, but according to one, "it's not a formal network through which they are able to protect themselves." Others have long regarded Rome as a haven for gay priests, sent to the Vatican because they would not survive in a parish. "Rome's famous for it," said one parish priest in Italy who asked not to be named. "They've got to go somewhere, and so are given something innocuous to do in Rome." For some, that perception was underscored last year, when a senior ranking monsignor was involved in a high-speed police chase after being pulled over in a Rome district known for male prostitution.
Ultimately I suspect this will only result in more unwanted publicity for an organization that really didn't need any more, the Roman Catholic church. Let's face it, the church has trouble attracting priests these days anyway, and given their requirement of celibacy, who do you THINK would be most likely to sign up for that? Not anyone who wants to have sex with women, that's for sure. If they start outing priests, the church's doctrine would require them to be removed from the priesthood, and one would think there would HAVE to be an awful lot of open spots they would be unable to fill.
I just don't see it happening, but either way there there will probably be yet another black eye for the Roman Catholic church to deal with.
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It's just time to rid ourselves of all the gay priests worldwide. I'd rather have only a handful of Good priests, than a whole world full of bad ones. It may be time to start over from scratch despite the shortage of priests.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen The Changing Face of the Priesthood by Donald Cozzens? Although I'm far from Catholic, a friend recommended it, and it's a good read (I gave it to a friend whose son is considering the priesthood).
ReplyDeleteMuch of it is about how the priesthood has changed - less respect, for example - but there are chapters on both the (homo)sexuality and sexual abuse issues.
The former music director at my church said that in the 90's in the local diocese, he believed 50% of the priests were gay, although some may not have been sexually active.
Doug S from Youngstown