No gay priests ban expected

Sweet Jesus, Your humility and compassion live on in Your church . . .

"A forthcoming Vatican document on homosexuals in seminaries will not demand an absolute ban, a senior Vatican official told NCR Oct. 7, but will insist that seminary officials exercise "prudential judgment" that gay candidates should not be admitted in three cases.

Those three cases are:

• If candidates have not demonstrated a capacity to live celibate lives for at least three years;
  
• If they are part of a "gay culture," for example, attending gay pride rallies (a point, the official said, which applies both to professors at seminaries as well as students);
  
• If their homosexual orientation is sufficiently "strong, permanent and univocal" as to make an all-male environment a risk.

In any case, the Vatican official said, whether or not these criteria exclude a particular candidate is a judgment that must be made in the context of individual spiritual direction, rather than by applying a rigid litmus test. [. . .]

The Vatican official emphasized that the document is not concerned with "sacramental theology," and hence does not express a theological judgment that homosexuals are unworthy of the priesthood. In fact, this official said, Vatican officials are aware that there are a number of gay priests who live celibately and do fine work."

No ban on gays expected in Vatican document; will advise 'prudential judgement'--John L. Allen, Jr., National Catholic Reporter

Note also that as stated, these guidelines don't forbid a seminarian from being "out" as gay. I've heard hierarchical objections to gay pride events before--some think that "gay culture," as it currently exists in America and Europe, is inextricably bound up with sexual behavior. Lots of Catholics, including myself, think that sexual behavior should be part of the lives of both Catholic gays and straights in certain sacred and integrated contexts. But I understand the conflict in a situation where a seminarian living celibately participates in an event that might be seen as celebrating indiscriminate sexual practice. Since St. Paul, Christians have known that our lives aren't between us and God alone--we're responsible for the messages our actions send to others who might be hostile or might be struggling. I would be dismayed to see a seminarian--or any Catholic--up on a parade float doing Girls Gone Wild. I would love to see seminarians, lay Catholics, and theological instructors walking in the quiet back of the line as out people and as supporters, and I would hope that any local bishop would understand the difference.