What would the consequences of that be? If their ordinations were invalid, then every sacrament they performed would be invalid as well, correct? How could any Catholic ever be certain, then, that his child had been validly baptized?
The Church will not begin to nullify ordinations of already ordained priests. It could attempt some kind of forced laicization, but even this would be problematic because somebody's got to start hunting down the homosexual priests, most of whom are celibate.
I know it's popular around here to keep repeating the bizarre statements of Navarro-Valls, but I find it interesting that no other bishop or theologian in the world has repeated them, nor did Cardinal Ratzinger ratify them.
The best thing to do, of course, is to prevent active homosexuals from being accepted into seminaries in the first place.
What would the consequences of that be? If their ordinations were invalid, then every sacrament they performed would be invalid as well, correct?Not every Sacrament, but certainly the Eucharist, Reconcilliation, would be.
How could any Catholic ever be certain, then, that his child had been validly baptized?Anyone can baptize, and it is valid so long as the form is followed, so these would still be fine. Confirmations are done by Bishops.
Regardless, the Church isn’t going to issue a blanket statement saying any gay priest’s Holy Orders are invalid, so you all be careful about where you go to Church. If it does anything about existing priests it will defrock individuals, but not declare past Sacraments invalid.
patent +AMDG