Why I Thank God I Couldn’t Be A Priest

National Catholic Register ^ | December 14, 2005 | SCOTT McDERMOTT

[bornacatholic]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VATICAN CONGREGATION RULES MEN WITH HOMOSEXUAL TENDENCIES CANNOT BE ORDAINED

Vatican has confirmed that men with homosexual sexual orientations should not be ordained. The December bulletin of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments contains a letter indicating that men who have homosexual tendencies should not be ordained priests.

Catholic News Service reports that the letter written last May was signed by Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez who retired as the head of the Congregation in October. The letter was in response to a query on the matter from an unidentified bishop. The letter said ordaining such men would be imprudent and "very risky."

While a new document on the matter is set to be released soon, a prominent Vatican document dealing with the issue was released as early as 1961. The 1961 document from the Sacred Congregation for Religious prohibits the admission of homosexuals to the diocesan priesthood and religious orders. The document states: "Those affected by the perverse inclination to homosexuality or pederasty should be excluded from religious vows and ordination," because priestly ministry would place such persons in "grave danger".

Earlier this year in the midst of the exploding scandal around sexual abuse, Pope John Paul II's official spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls cited canon law on homosexuality and said, "People with these inclinations just cannot be ordained."

[DirtyHarryY2K]

Homosexual Agenda Ping.

If you want on/off the ping list let me and little jeremiah know.

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[dsc]

"It has taken me three seconds. There WAS a law against this. In 1961. AmChurch queers ignored it."

Yes, but when John Paul II was still with us, a lot of us wondered why he let them get away with it. People seem awfully sensitive about such things today.

[NYer]

but when John Paul II was still with us, a lot of us wondered why he let them get away with it.

A while back, I came across an article that offered the best explanation of this. Unfortunately, I forgot to bookmark it. According to the journalist, during the war years, when the communists wanted to destroy someone's credibility, they would accuse him of being a homosexual. JPII, he claimed, upon learning that certain high ranking church leaders were homosexual, dismissed these claims as efforts by others to denigrate them.

[dsc]

"JPII, he claimed, upon learning that certain high ranking church leaders were homosexual, dismissed these claims as efforts by others to denigrate them."

I guess that's plausible, but it is not, ultimately, satisfying.

How many times can you dismiss charges on those grounds without starting to wonder if there's truth to them? Was he so insulated that the information never reached him? And if so, was that not negligence?

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Many scientific studies have shown that homosexuals have a much higher incidence of clinical depression, suicidal tendencies, and drug and alcohol addiction than the general public.

You mean they're not gay?

[GAB-1955]

"For myself, painful as my disappointment was, I soon realized that priesthood was not the only way I could strive to do “something beautiful for God.” I should have known that my real calling was to be a writer, and shortly after I accepted my lay vocation, God gave me the opportunity to publish a book. He rescued me from a vocation to which I was ill-suited, and led me to a fulfilling apostolate in keeping with my natural aptitudes."

Well said. I would have been a terrible priest, but I'm a better apologist and lay worship leader. Thanks be to God!

[bornacatholic]

The reason is that every Bishop has the Divinely-Bestowed authority/power to Bind and Loose and Popes are famously reluctant to interfer in the Jurisdiction of another, preferring to instead Build up their Brother Bishops.

I know I wish things were different but Rome and the Pope takes a long term view. Sadly, pederasty and open queerdom was worse in the old days - google St. Damien + Gomorrah

[Coleus]

I wonder what Hubbard thinks about this?

[NYer]

He would probably give him a personal tour of his seminary.