I’m a bachelor myself, and celibacy itself doesn’t cause anything. However, when you make celibacy required for priests—you will limit the pool of available men to either those who have lots of self-control...OR those who are running away from something.
Everything I’ve read—from Roman Catholics knowledgeable of the facts—indicates AT LEAST 35% of priests have a homosexual inclination. I bet most are celibate—great, more power to them—God bless them.
The fact though that so many are oriented toward homosexuality—MORE THAN 10 TIMES THE GENERAL POPULATION—tells me there is a problem.
I admit that I have been troubled by what seems to be a percentage of Catholic priests with a homosexual orientation that is higher than the general population. I hope they’re not acting on their orientation. I think the pool of well adjusted men coming forward for the priesthood is fine. I see two other problems though. One, a number of conservative candidates have been weeded out by liberal bishops and seminaries in recent decades. And two, the powers that be in recent decades have seemed unwilling to admit that the homsexual orientation is disordered and a sign that a young man or man has emotional difficulties.