Bombshell on gay seminary teachers: Vatican letter prompts fears of purge

[Thom Little]

In a letter accompanying its directive against the ordination of men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies," the Vatican has told bishops that gay priests should not teach in Roman Catholic seminaries.

The Rev. Donald Cozzens, a Catholic author and former seminary rector, called the letter a "bombshell" because it affects current priests, not just future ones.

Some experts on church law said Thursday that the letter was nonbinding and could simply be ignored by bishops. But others predicted it would usher in a gradual purge of gays from leadership positions in the church, even if they kept their vows of celibacy.

Because priests who teach in seminaries are frequently transferred to serve in parishes and vice versa, "it could be implemented gradually, without anybody knowing" for certain why a clergyman was moved, said Sister Katarina Schuth, a professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota who is a leading researcher on Catholic seminaries.



http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/02/MNGQUG1PPU1.DTL

[closeupready]

1. Why would anybody not a homophobe continue patronizing this organization?

Huh? I'm mystified. Someone tried to get me to go to mass last weekend, and I just couldn't. I can't do it anymore. I really, really can't. I have too much self-respect to subject myself to the leadership of an organization that preaches homophobia.

[logicalthought]

8. Maybe they found a Bible somewhere

It's interesting that it has taken this long for them to realize the "mens/trans/womens,whatever, club" is not biblical. As a matter of fact it is Satanic. So is kissing the ring and praying to someone other than God! Kind of looks like the Catholics have a Josiah in their leadership now. I wonder who the messenger was.

[newyawker99]

9. Hi logicalthought!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[kevinbgoode]

2. You know. . .it's past time to put this crazy church

on cult status and remove their tax exemptions. Frankly, the Pope himself should be brought up on criminal charges for intentionally covering up that pedophile scandal for decades, along with every official who has ever had any hand in that doing.

We already know that purging gays is nothing more than a scapegoating move - like most rightwingers, they never do anything to ever really cope with a problem - they just practice cosmetic alterations to cover up the same thing. That is precisely why there were so many social ills for decades that people were taught to just ignore or turn a blind eye to in this country.

I know that many regular practicing American catholics do not think the way these officials do - but if they cannot demand some ethical change within their church, the rest of the population certainly needs to confront them with their defamatory and damaging behaviors. It is disgusting enough that this Church covered up something so horrible and then tried to avoid criminal prosecution by offering monetary bribes to victims.

[tocqueville]

3. apply that to every church in the USA to be fair

besides the fact that Churches shouldn't have any tax exemptions, since it's contrary to the principle of separation of Church and State, I don't see a principial difference between the Catholic Church standpoints and the standpoints of the vast majority of the other non-catholic Churches in the USA and elsewhere. Even the Anglicans are split on the matter.

Basically the Christian standpoints are against homosexuality as such.
It shows up more or less depending on the times. The difference between the Catholics and the other "free Churches" is that we skip the creationism BS...

[heidler1]

4. The Catholic Church does seem to agree that curing Priests does not

work and over time that might lead to a more realistic view that it is not a sin, but it is genetic. If some God made you that way it can't be a sin. This is like saying every Downs Syndrome kid is sinful for being that way. One thing is for certain, you can't fix a problem unless you approach it realistically.

[kiraboo]

6. I think you're too optimistic there.

A priest told me that in his opinion the Church recognizes that homosexuality is not a choice; yet gay sex and love remains a sin. His point was that simply because we are born with certain tendencies doesn't mean we can act on them if they are contrary to God's laws. If I believed anybody has a clue about God and It's laws, then that argument might work for me. But it doesn't. If there is a god, nobody can do anything but guess about what It wants.

[heidler1]

7. I wish that I was optimistic about things, I am quite pragmatic and seem

able to avoid being angry about the way humans behave. I'm 80 and pretty used to the ignorance that reoccurs all of the time. Religion serves no real purpose in my life. IMO religion causes more trouble than it cures,but if you do believe in it your pretty much stuck having to make it work for you.

[teenagebambam]

5. I worked in a Catholic parish for awhile

Me, the entire music staff, a good handful of priests, and about half the parishioners were gay. I imagine a good number of American churches will just ignore this, or at the very least there'll be a near-schism situation like the Episcopalians.