BishopAccountability.org
	Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church Sad, Risky Policy of Exclusion By Mary Sanchez The Kansas City Star [Missouri] September 27, 2005 My favorite priest was gay. I never knew that when he was alive. Few did. Father Thom Savage died of AIDS in 1999. So this can be said about him now, without fear that new decrees from the Vatican will out him, somehow canceling his work for God. The Vatican plans to send investigators to the 229 seminaries in the United States. Even gay men who remain celibate will not be allowed to become priests. How they will determine who is and who isn't gay is not being disclosed. The decree is not retroactive, so homosexuals already ordained can apparently remain priests. I wonder how Father Savage would have fared under such policies. Father Savage was the enigmatic Jesuit priest who became president of Rockhurst University in 1988, when it still was Rockhurst College. To say Father Savage was brilliant is an understatement of massive proportions. He graduated summa cum laude, made Phi Beta Kappa and held two master's degrees and a doctorate. While some newcomers take years to build the social connections and clout to make an impact, Father Savage seemed to have carried the ability with his luggage from the East Coast. He simply had it. No need for cultivation. During his eight years in Kansas City, Father Savage served on many prestigious boards and co-chaired the city's master plan. I met him during his first days in Kansas City. As a young reporter, writing about higher education was among my duties. At 41, Father Savage was the youngest president of any Jesuit college in the nation. Savage's impressive resume had been well-documented. A short feature story to add a few details was all editors wanted. I requested half an hour, 45 minutes tops, of his time. I stayed in his office for three hours. The afternoon was the best type of interview — more a conversation than a question-and-answer session. Father Savage was gregarious, savvy and clear about his vision for Rockhurst. Later, the topics were less about social planning and more about faith. He became less the college president, more the Jesuit priest. I was less the reporter and more the young woman still wrestling with qualms spawned in parochial grade school. We laughed at my memories of strict nuns and playgrounds where boys were separated from girls by a yellow painted line. We talked about how as a youngster my questions about doctrine were dismissed as being too questioning. We discussed the church's teachings at levels I'd never heard before. He thought my problem was not a lack of faith but more an analytical mindset that had clashed with the way I had been first instructed. I always say that had I known Jesuits earlier in life, many of my frustrations with Catholicism would have been lessened, if not eliminated. That is a generalization. The truth is that the Jesuit who made the difference was Father Savage. I suspect many people have stories of how this man affected their lives, as Catholics, as city planners, as elected officials, as professors and as students. I applaud the church for attempting to further address the horror of priests who have abused young children. But homosexuality is not the same as pedophilia. In fact, some priests and scholars who study the church have already suggested this move may aggravate, not solve, the problem of child abuse. Their reasoning is sound. The priests who were convicted of sexual assaults did not go though seminary in more recent years, when the church began to be more pro-active and open about dealing with the difficulties of celibacy. The priests who caused the harm were more a function of the years when the church didn't discuss such things. The approach inadvertently formed a haven for pedophiles. And as a Catholic, the latest news from the Vatican saddens me. The God I pray to created all human beings. I believe he made some of them gay. I thank him for the Rev. Thom Savage.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.