Posted on 11/11/2005 4:52:12 PM PST by tuesday afternoon
Well folks, we lose.
Reuters correspondent Phil Pullella points us to an article in today's edition of the Milanese paper Il Giornale, whose author claims to have seen the final version of the seminary instruction -- dated November 4th and signed by Cardinal Grocholewski, he says -- and giving several direct quotes.
Titled, "Instruction on the Criteria of Vocation Discernment concerning Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of their Admission to Priesthood and Holy Orders," the eight-page document is divided into three sections, "Affective Maturity and Spiritual Paternity," "Homosexuality and Ordained Ministry," and "Discernment of the Fitness of Candidates on the Church's Part."
Some quotes:
"The Church cannot admit to the priesthood those who practice homosexuality, who display deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or who support the so-called 'gay culture'."
"Tendencies that were merely the expression of a transitory problem, such as that of an extended adolescence, must be clearly overcome at least three years prior to diaconal ordination."
"This discernment must be made in the light of a notion of ministerial priesthood in harmony with the teaching of the Church."
Bishops Reggie Cawcutt and Patrick Ziemann will be doing cartwheels of glee if and when Il Giornale's text proves genuine. They got everything they could have expected and more. After all, no bishop and no religious superior anywhere in the Church will claim to have conducted his admission and formation program differently from the new norms over the past decades ("OK, we used to admit and ordain sexually active homosexuals who were deep into the gay scene, but in light of this Instruction I guess we won't any more..."). Thus the only concrete change is that, henceforward, those who notice homosexual tendencies in priests and seminarians and raise concerns will be told they are in the wrong for so doing, since the Church has declared there is no intrinsic obstacle in the propensity itself, and it is the formatores and superiors who are to determine how the norms are to be applied.
If the text is as reported, the Holy See will have handed a victory to Saint Sebastian's Angels -- at least in the short run, say, the next hundred years or so. A setback, but not an occasion to despair. Eventually the current generation of clergy will be replaced by one with a different set of liabilities and problems and enthusiasms, and they will read the Instruction through eyes other than those of Diarmuid Martin. I know it sounds grotesque, but I can imagine the Bishop of Greater New England in 2105 perusing the document and taking the words "affective maturity" to mean "affective maturity." In the meantime, backs to the wall, lads.
Related CWN stories:
Details emerging on Vatican gay-seminarian ban
Boy, I hope Il Giornale is wrong. I read a quote by a homosexual priest who said if these were the rules, it would be he first time the Catholic Church had ever openly ordained homosexual men.
That seems pretty clear. Am I missing something?
Report: Vatican says practicing gays and men with strong gay tendencies cannot be priests
"Those tendencies that might be just an expression of a passing problem, such as from adolescence that hasn't been acted on, must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination as a deacon," the document says, according to Il Giornale.
So there is another obstacle: namely, the candidate can never have been a practicing homosexual. But that still leaves the door open to homosexual priests. How do they know if a seminarian has "clearly overcome" his homosexual tendencies? They would have been better off doing away with all the psychological mumbo-jumbo and just staying, "No homosexual priests period."
Several experts told the Times it appeared the new rules will make it more difficult even for celibate men who identify as gay to get ordained.
"In principle, I think, the document seeks to establish that men shouldn't become priests if their homosexual identity is clear -- to themselves or to others," wrote Philip F. Lawler, editor of the conservative Catholic Web site Catholic World News.
Of course, the old rules banned those with homosexual tendencies outright.
I am afraid that I must read the document differently than you. You hold that the instruction declares that "there is no intrinsic obstacle in the propensity itself." Yet it states:
The Church cannot admit to the priesthood those who practice homosexuality, who display deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or who support the so-called 'gay culture'.Thus the inclination or deeply rooted tendency is itself a obstacle to ordination. The provision that homosexual tendencies must be overcome is a recognition, contrary to the popular culture, that homosexuality can be treated.
Doesn't it seem to you that the two terms express degrees of difference? What about a shallowly-rooted tendency?
One article I read said the problem was how to define homosexuality. It looks like the Vatican paper sees degrees of homosexuality. I think that's a problem.
The document instructs bishops and seminary rectors to supervise a candidate's spiritual direction, denying admittance to candidates in cases of "serious doubt." But it was unclear how such supervision would take place without violating a candidate's confidentiality.
Okay, I see.
http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/11/111105vatican.htm:
[Pope Benedict] opposes contraception and the use of condoms to combat HIV/AIDS, advocates a diminished role for women in the Church and has called for mandatory celibacy for priests.
They report mandatory celibacy like it's a new thing. (Given that this is from a gay news site, maybe it is).
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