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Fr. Donald B. Cozzens, Ph.D., is president-rector and professor of pastoral theology Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Cleveland. He is editor of best-selling The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest (The Liturgical Press, 1997) and an associate editor of Emmanuel Magazine.
Introduction page xii
The present state of the priesthood, of course, reflects all the ambiguities, all the heroism and fidelity, all the cowardice and weakness present throughout the Church's history. It remains a human priesthood anointed by God's grace and itself redeemed by Christ's paschal mystery. In spite of the serious challenges recorded here, I am convinced that the priesthood is at the edge of a new day following a painful yet purifying dark night. My hope is grounded in God's promise to remain ever with this holy, yet human, Church. My hope for the priesthood, in other words, is situated in my hope for the Church.
The Changing Face of the Priesthood, 2000 A.D. – pages 98-101 – Considering Orientation
For more than a decade, now, voices have been heard expressing concern about the growing numbers of gay priests and seminarians.' Their call for serious reflection and candid discussion of the issue has largely gone unheeded. Attempts have been made, nonetheless, to address the issue administratively. In 1985, Cardinal Silvio Oddi, then head of the Congregation for the Clergy, said, "Candidates for the priesthood must be wisely culled, with particular attention paid to character weaknesses occasioned by the unnatural tendencies common in contemporary society" Although Oddi did not explicitly mention homosexually oriented candidates, the meaning of his remarks is evident.
Earlier in 1985, the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors published Assessment of Applicants for Priesthood, carefully addressing the issue:
Is the applicant's sexual orientation public knowledge? If so, how will this affect his ministry? If not, does the applicant live with anxiety that it might become public? Does the applicant feel it should make no difference? Is this realistic in the setting of the diocese?
Clearly, the issue is real.
The Estimates
Vicars of priests and seminary administrators who have been around awhile speak among themselves of the disproportionate number of gay men that populate our seminaries and presbyterates. They know that a proportionate number of gay priests and seminarians would fall between 5 and 10 percent. The extent of the estimated disproportion, naturally enough, will vary depending on general perceptions, personal experiences, and the frequency of first-hand encounters with self-acknowledged gay priests.
The general perceptions, in turn, are often shaped by various studies and surveys which attempt to measure the percentage of priests who are gay. An NBC report on celibacy and the clergy found that "any where from 23 percent to 58 percent" of the Catholic clergy have a homosexual orientation. Other studies find that approximately half of American priests and seminarians are homosexually oriented. Sociologist James G. Wolf in his book Gay Priests concluded that 48.5 percent of priests and 55.1 percent of seminarians were gay. The percentage appears to be highest among priests under forty years of age. Moreover, the percentage of gay men among religious congregations of priests is believed to be even higher. 7 Beyond these estimates, of course, are priests who remain confused about their orientation and men who have so successfully denied their orientation, that in spite of predominantly same-sex erotic fantasies, they insist that they are heterosexual.
7 I heard a religious order priest with long experience in both formation and leadership state publicly at a conference on AIDS and the mission of the Church that 80 percent of his large East Coast order was gay.
The Significance
So what, it may be asked, if the Catholic Church is developing a heavily homosexual priesthood? Few would deny that throughout the Church's history many priests, bishops, popes, and saints were homo sexual in orientation. Aware that holiness of life and goodness of heart transcend orientation, that charisms for ministry and preaching are bestowed on God's people as God freely disposes, seminary admission committees tend to focus on the applicant's overall suitability for priestly service.
As a matter of practice, if not policy, many dioceses and religious congregations are open to ordaining gay men if they demonstrate a commitment to celibate living. They tend to be men who are nurturing, intelligent, talented, and sensitive-qualities especially suited to ministry. Often they excel as liturgists and homilists. Without question, gay priests minister creatively and effectively at every level of pastoral leadership. The vast majority keep their orientation to themselves. Close friends and other gay priests know, but more often than not, parents and family are seldom informed. Perceptive parents and siblings may suspect, but in most cases let the matter rest.
Is homosexuality really a growing phenomenon in the priesthood or are we simply more aware of it than in past generations? I think both. Probably many of the gay priests of generations past had but the faintest notion of the nature of their sexuality. The closing decades of the twentieth century, however, witnessed a radical change in gay self-consciousness and awareness. While relatively few priests are "out" in the vernacular of the day, they are much more likely to be aware of and to acknowledge their gay orientation to a trusted circle of confidants. Nonetheless, it does appear that there are more gay priests at the turn of the century than there were at the middle of the last.
Approximately twenty thousand U.S. priests now have left the ministry, most in order to marry. Their absence, it can be argued, has dramatically changed the gay/straight ratio and contributed to the disproportionate number of priests with a homosexual orientation. Furthermore, the need gay priests have for friendship with other gay men, and their shaping of a social life largely comprised of other homosexually oriented men, has created a gay subculture in most of the larger U.S. dioceses. A similar subculture has occurred in many of our seminaries. 8 The growing numbers of gay priests and seminarians impact, of course, the priesthood's own self-awareness, even if on a subliminal level of consciousness. At the same time, it affects the laity's perception of their clergy. How would the laity respond should the priesthood become a heavily homosexual profession? Andrew Greeley answers:
My impression is that most lay people react sympathetically and compassionately and respectfully to a priest who might be gay so long as he is a good and hardworking priest, keeps his celibate promise and does not become part of the homosexual subculture. They would, I should note, also object to a heterosexual priest who became part of the singles bar scene. The lay reaction I describe would be quite independent of any conclusion they might have on the theoretical question of whether gay is "as good as" straight.
- The laity, I suspect, would say it is one thing to accept a homosexual priest and quite another to accept a substantially homosexual clergy, many of whom are blatantly part of the gay subculture. 9
8 Andrew Greeley believes that U.S. bishops, unclear on how to address the issue of expanding numbers of gay priests, have simply resorted to denial. Among the effects of this psychological defense mechanism is the toleration of lavender rectories and seminaries. "Bishops Paralyzed Over Heavily Gay Priesthood," National Catholic Reporter (November 10, 1989) 1,3-14.
9 Ibid., 14. See also, Pastor Ignotus, "What Are We Advertising?" The Tablet, April 24, 1999:
Equally disturbing is the tendency of bishops to overlook the fact that a disproportionate number of homosexuals are being recruited into our seminaries. I know of one seminary where, two years ago, 60 percent of the students identified themselves as "gay," 20 percent were confused about their sexual identity, and only 20 percent considered themselves to be heterosexual.
Legal but not Moral priesthood Priests Morally May Marry Homosexuality - Index
Homosexuals not to be ordained – Congregation for Religious, 1961 A.D.
Suffering in Hell Relating to God God is Love
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