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  For Area Catholics, Vatican's Policy on Gay Priests Creates Controversy
Some Consider It an Overdue Crackdown on a Permissive Subculture; Others View It As Counterproductive Scapegoating

By Jay Tokasz
Buffalo News [New York]
December 9, 2005

On at least one point, most Catholics agree: The American church needs more priests.

But the latest directive from the Vatican regarding whether gay men are eligible for that role is creating little unanimity.

Some Catholics are concerned that the document scapegoats gay priests for the church's clergy sex-abuse scandal and ultimately will shut out highly qualified gay men from the priesthood.

Others applaud the Vatican instruction as a long-overdue crackdown on a permissive "gay subculture" in seminaries. They think the directive will spur new vocations, especially among heterosexual men put off by the gay subculture.

"I pray to God that this will go a long way toward correcting the situation," said Raymond Duggan, a Hamburg resident and parishioner of SS. Peter & Paul Church. "I hope it works. I think it's badly needed."

Duggan also hopes the document brings some semblance of closure to the clergy sex-abuse scandal.

Critics of the instruction view it as another attempt by the Vatican to exclude people from the church rather than welcome them.

"I can't imagine Jesus saying, "Let's strain out all of the people we find displeasing to us,' " said Sally Orgren of Amherst, a parishioner of the Newman Center at the University at Buffalo. "It seems as though gays are not really welcome in the church; they're excluded."

Orgren said some of the finest priests she knows are gay. She worries that some gay clergy will leave the priesthood and that qualified men will steer clear of the seminary because of the new edict - further depleting the ranks of an already seriously dwindling priesthood.

Already, a Mesa, Ariz., priest resigned shortly after last week's release of the document. The Rev. Leonard Walker cited the church's "aggressive anti-gay positions" as the reason for leaving, according to the Arizona Republic.

The instruction, prepared by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education and approved by Pope Benedict XVI, labels "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" as "objectively disordered." It declares that men with such tendencies cannot be admitted into seminaries unless the tendencies are "clearly overcome" at least three years prior to their ordination as temporary deacons.

Some leeway apparent

The instruction clarifies the church's stance on what it deems essential for its candidates for the priesthood, but the document does not spell out anything new, said the Rev. Leon J. Biernat, vocations director for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

The diocese, Biernat said, has no plans to change its procedures in light of the instruction.

"It basically reaffirms what we've been doing," he said.

The Catholic Church is among many faith groups struggling with how to handle gay clergy. The 2003 installation of an openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, caused a huge rift in the Episcopal Church USA.

The United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America all have had contentious national meetings over the last several years on the issue of ordaining gays and lesbians to ministry.

Although some Catholic bishops across the country interpreted the Vatican instruction as an outright ban on any gay man becoming a seminarian, Biernat and others said that it does not automatically bar all homosexuals from pursuing the priesthood.

The Rev. James F. Joyce, a Jesuit who is pastor of St. Ann's Church in Buffalo, also said the document appears to leave some leeway for gay men who are clearly committed to a celibate life.

"I don't think it's looking to eliminate all gay candidates," he said.

Joyce said the document appeared to emphasize the maturity level and psychological health of men entering seminary, and would likely lead to even more psychological testing for men who feel called to the priesthood.

Biernat described deep-seated homosexual tendencies as "actively living out" feelings by participating in a "gay culture," such as attending gay pride parades or frequenting gay bars - events that promote a gay sexual lifestyle incompatible with church teaching.

Such men, even if not sexually active, would be unacceptable candidates, he said.

The same holds for heterosexual men, Biernat said: A man who lives with his girlfriend or is otherwise heterosexually active also would not be suitable for the priesthood. The church believes that sex should be limited to married men and women.

But the Vatican focused on the gay issue because of its prevalence in the media and society worldwide, Biernat said.

"Culture, as a whole, is so fixated on an acceptance of this as morally good," he said. "The church is saying, "You're more than your sexual orientation.' "

Biernat emphasized, however, that the instruction was not a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, like the one in the U.S. military, and that candidates for the priesthood needed to be honest about their sexual orientation during their spiritual formation.

"Victims of convenience'

Some Catholic conservatives viewed the instruction as another concrete effort by the Vatican to stamp out the sex-abuse scandal.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights described the scandal as a "homosexual crisis in the priesthood all along," citing a 2004 study that found the overwhelming majority of victims of Catholic clergy sex abuse nationwide were postpubescent males.

But Biernat said the clergy abuse scandal and the new instruction, which began being drafted more than five years ago, prior to the outbreak of the scandal, were unrelated.

And no research suggests that there is a link between homosexuality and sexual abuse of children, said Thomas G. Plante, a psychologist at Santa Clara University and author of the 2004 book "Sin Against the Innocents: Sexual Abuse by Priests and the Role of the Catholic Church."

Plante has treated and evaluated about 40 sex-offending clergy - most of whom described themselves as heterosexual but abused teenage boys primarily because they had easier access to and more trust with boys.

They were "victims of convenience," he said.

"Someone's homosexuality is a different thing from whether someone is going to be a predator of children," he said. "The bottom line is, we don't feel there's any research or good clinical evidence that suggests homosexuals are at higher risk of being sexual offenders."

Deterrent effect cited

While the Catholic Church has not conducted any official studies on the sexual orientation of its clergy, an often-cited review of research by Donald B. Cozzens in his book "The Changing Face of the Priesthood," suggests that a quarter to half of all priests are gay.

James R. Orgren, a former Trappist monk who, with his wife, Sally, formed a local chapter of the Catholic reform group Call to Action, predicted that many men would now be deterred from pursuing the priesthood.

Still, he said, "the greater harm is to those who are in the priesthood. They're going to be fearful. They're going to understand that they're not respected."

Biernat said he doubted that the instruction would hurt vocations, even among those with a "transitory" inclination toward homosexuality.

"I don't think this document is going to push away a serious candidate," he said.