2005 Vatican instruction on homosexuals in the priesthood
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Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders is a document published in November 2005 by the Congregation for Catholic Education, one of the top-level offices of the Catholic Church.
Although the preparation for this document had started 10 years before its publication,[1] this instruction is seen as an official answer by the Catholic Church to several sex scandals involving priests in the late 20th/early 21st century, including the American Roman Catholic sex abuse cases and a 2004 sex scandal in a seminary at St. Pölten (Austria).[2]
Two months before his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II, troubled by the sex scandals in the US, Austria and Ireland,[1] had written to the Congregation for Catholic Education: "Right from the moment young men enter a Seminary their ability to live a life of celibacy should be monitored so that before their ordination one should be morally certain of their sexual and emotional maturity."[3]
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[edit] Quotes from the Instruction
- The Catechism distinguishes between homosexual acts and homosexual tendencies. Regarding acts, it teaches that Sacred Scripture presents them as grave sins. The Tradition has constantly considered them as intrinsically immoral and contrary to the natural law. Consequently, under no circumstance can they be approved.
- In the light of such teaching, this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called "gay culture".
- Different, however, would be the case in which one were dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem - for example, that of an adolescence not yet superseded. Nevertheless, such tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate.
[edit] Commentary and implications
There is no new moral teaching in the instruction: the instruction proposed by the document is rather towards enhancing vigilance in barring homosexuals from seminaries, and from the priesthood.
The document restricts itself to homosexual candidates. It does not mention paedophilia as a separate topic, nor any instruction regarding nonchaste heterosexual candidates. The Belgian college of Bishops elaborated that the sexual restrictions for seminary and priesthood candidates apply likewise for men of all sexual orientations.[4]
There is some question as to whether the document states that all men with a fixed homosexual orientation are barred from Holy Orders, or simply those whose sexuality is obsessive or neurotic.[5]
The document has also attracted criticism based on an interpretation that the document implies that homosexuality leads to pedophilia.[6]
[edit] See also
- Congregation for Catholic Education
- Homosexuality in the Roman Catholic priesthood
- Roman Catholic sex abuse cases
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b "'Nothing Extraordinary'?" in Inside the Vatican (ISSN 1068-8579), January 2006
- ^ In New York Times:
- ^ quoted in "'Nothing Extraordinary'?" in Inside the Vatican (ISSN 1068-8579), January 2006
- ^ Press communication of the Belgian bishops (29 November 2005):
- Website of the Catholic Church in Belgium (French): "A propos de la recente instruction concernant l'admission de candidats à la prêtrise" – Regarding the recent instruction concerning the admission of candidates for priesthood
- VRT website (Dutch): "Belgische bisschoppen reageren pragmatisch" – Belgian bishops take a pragmatic stance
- ^ The Guardian November 30, 2005 Editorial argues that only neurotic gay men will be barred from Holy Orders.
- ^ "Statement From The Board Of Directors and Staff of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries" November 29, 2005. Accessed June 18, 2007
[edit] External links
- English version of the Instruction on the Vatican website
- SFBG Cover Story The Vatican directive would threaten one of the most vibrant Catholic parishes.
- PLFAG New Vatican Instruction Drives Wedge Between Priests and Vocations, Families and Faith.
- A Dominican interpretation of the document Former Master of the Order of Preachers offers alternative view that not all gay men will be barred from the priesthood.
