Gay, Catholic, Priest

One of the most enduring mysteries to me is how gay people are drawn to religion.

I maybe wrong, it is a personal observation…. But, given the fact that our numbers are small, and have always been so, it seems as if a disproportionate number of us is drawn to the priesthoods… depending on the religion.

If one is to believe Ssempa in Uganda, many Pentecostal pastors are, the likes of Kayanja, etc, etc. But that may be just a case of professional jealousy. Diversion.

I have been thinking of that, because apparently the Catholic Church is seeking ways of making sure that no gay men, or homosexuals make it into the priesthood.

I am not lying. And, this is the 21^st Century. It is the last day of May 2010. The report is in the New York Times.

You see, there were the sexual scandals in the Catholic Church. And, they were blamed on homosexuals. Though there is this caveat.

the questions are also aimed at another, equally sensitive mission: deciding whether gay applicants should be denied admission under complex recent guidelines from the Vatican that do not explicitly bar all gay candidates but would exclude most of them, even some who are celibate.

 Scientific studies have found no link between sexual orientation and abuse, and the church is careful to describe its two initiatives as more or less separate.

But, the gist of what is happening is that it has been decided that gay and Catholic priest should not be something that is possible.

Still, since the abuse crisis erupted in 2002, curtailing the entry of gay men into the priesthood has become one the church’s highest priorities. And that task has fallen to seminary directors and a cadre of psychologists who say that culling candidates has become an arduous process of testing, interviewing and making decisions — based on social science, church dogma and gut instinct.

“The best way I can put it, it’s not black and white,” said the adviser, the Rev. David Toups, the director of the secretariat of clergy, consecrated life and vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “It’s more like one of those things where it’s hard to define, but ‘I know it when I see it.’ ”

Many church officials have been reluctant to discuss the screening process, and its details differ from diocese to diocese. In the densely populated Diocese of Brooklyn, officials are confident of their results in one respect.

“We have no gay men in our seminary at this time,” said Dr. Robert Palumbo, a psychologist who has screened seminary candidates at the diocese’s Cathedral Seminary Residence in Douglaston, Queens, for 10 years. “I’m pretty sure of it.” Whether that reflects rigorous vetting or the reluctance of gay men to apply, he could not say. “I’m just reporting what is,” he said. 

So, will it be possible?

Personally, I dont think so.
We gay people are attracted to religion. And that manifests itself in many ways, part of which is that despite a lot of persecution, we still count ourselves as believers. And, of course, people have been looking for that litmus test for a very long time. To know what makes us gay, to be able to identify it. The Catholic church has fallen back to 'gaydar'? Well, mine works not so well, but am sure that a few of us will slip through that hoop.

And, of course there is that reality that quite a few of the most ardent homophobes are usually homosexual....

But, the church's initiative is only so much homophobia. A needless, baseless fear of all things gay or homosexual. For crying out aloud, all priests are supposed to be celibate. Homosexual celibate and Heterosexual celibate seem to be different. Hypocrites.

Here is to Mary Glasspool, and to Gene Robinson.

And to all gay people who try to break through that glass ceiling. I was in one of our bars last night and someone was pointed out to me as being a Pentecostal pastor.... Power to you, as long as you dont see fit in the near future to go on a gay bashing trip. [I must say that my solution to the whole religion and sexuality problem looks to be much more logical, but, I am not everyone, am I?]


gug